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"Yes, the ending was as I planned it." Stephen Poliakoff explained the writing process behind his new thriller, Glorious 39, at his recent Waterstone's signing.
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A fantastic collection of advice
Filed under: Writing Advice
The Guardian has just published a collection of Ten rules for writing fiction from some amazing writers. They are funny, apt, and useful. I’ll have this article to hand whenever I need a pointer – and I suggest you do too.
Cressida
(Editorial consultant)
Found on an agent’s slush pile
Filed under: Getting Published, Literary Agents
A heartwarming tale for writers: Stephen Kelman’s book, Pigeon English, was spotted on an agent’s pile of unsolicited submissions, and went on to be hotly fought over by no fewer than 12 publishers, before being snapped up by Bloomsbury.
This story of violence on a council estate is narrated by a 12-year-old boy, and in an interview Read more
Agents – what’s the point?
Filed under: Getting Published, Literary Agents
To an aspiring writer, literary agents can seem like a parasitic race – they take their percentage, but what do they give back? And is it worth having one?
The short answers are ‘lots’ and ‘yes’. Read on!
An agent sends your manuscript out to see Read more
Pacing your plot
Filed under: Writing Advice
Do you find yourself 90% of the way through writing your novel, but with a lot of action left to cram in? Or have you galloped through your main ideas, only to find there’s another 40,000 words left to write?
Pace is one of the trickiest things to get right, and one of the most important things to Read more
Whatever the weather
There’s been so much snow recently and more is forecast for parts of the UK today, but the nice thing for writers is that you can continue regardless of such extremes.
We’ve been lucky and haven’t had any power cuts, so my work carries on largely as usual. (The only slight flaw was when the children didn’t make it into school – it can be tricky to think about the history of Islam with Spongebob Squarepants in the background!)
As a nation we spend an incredible amount of time talking about the weather, complaining about the weather, changing our plans for the weather. It’s easy to forget Read more
Dying to get an agent
Filed under: Authors and Books, Literary Agents
It has been reported in the American press that the author John Updike has finally acquired an agent. And this despite his having died a year ago.
When alive, Read more
The 7 secrets of a covering letter
Filed under: Marketing Yourself, Writing Advice
You’ve written your masterpiece. You’ve conquered the synopsis stress. And now it’s just a case of sending it off to the publisher or agent you have identified as your target.
But suddenly it strikes you that the last thing you have to think about, the covering letter, is the first thing your audience is going to see… Read more
What presents did you get?
Filed under: Writing Advice
I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that you managed to give and receive some thoughtful gifts.
I think the ideal gifts for a writer are notebooks to jot ideas in, book tokens to enable a relaxing hour or two browsing in a favourite bookshop, tasty nibbles to have to hand as you write, and much more!
I did discover that Margaret Atwood has a gift list for beginning novelists, which would work equally well for birthdays too, while this Bookaholic blogspot features some interesting items – such as bookshelf wallpaper!
What gift did you most want this Christmas, what did you get, and what did you give this year to your writer friends? Read more
Warning – this post contains expletives!
Filed under: Writing Advice
Have you been following the recent fight for the Christmas number one? The ’surefire’ winner – Joe McElderry, winner of The X Factor – has been beaten by an internet campaign to get the anarchic (and expletive-filled) ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine to the top.
Despite being asked very nicely, the band couldn’t resist letting fly with their not-safe-for-radio version when they performed on BBC Radio 5 last week. The clue might be in the lyrics: ‘F*ck You, I won’t do what you tell me’…
But what does this have to do with writing? Well, two things really. One is that the public are not always catered for and Read more
A different way of working on a picture book
Filed under: Art and Illustration, Writing Advice
I’ve come across a website that gives artists a new outlet, and anyone who feels inspired, a new creative tool. It’s very much in the beta stages at the moment, so you will have to bear with its quirks for a while yet.
Storybird is a site where you can set out a short story using the library of images they have uploaded, and then see your very own picture book on screen. They will Read more
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Buy the 2010 Yearbook
The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is available at a discounted price from our online bookshop. Get all the info, contacts and advice you could need.On camera: Jon McGregor
"Being longlisted for the Booker Prize changed everything - it was the launchpad for my writing career." Click to view our video with novelist Jon McGregor »
On camera: Justin Cartwright
"Just write... If you're any good you may not know it, but certainly someone else will." Click to view our video with novelist Justin Cartwright »
On camera: Julie Myerson
The novelist and journalist Julie Myerson on how she got that all-important first publishing deal. Click here to view our video exclusive »