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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.
Read the interview with Stephen Poliakoff » -
"One of the most satisfying things about blogging is the immediacy. You think it up, type it out on your keyboard and then publish."
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Are you a copycat?
Filed under: Writing Advice
Copyright law is an issue that I get lots of questions about, and rightly so, because it can be a complicated business.
The most recent enquiry was from a gentleman who wanted advice about using an extract from another author’s work in his manuscript. This is what I told him: Read more
“It’s a no” – rejection can be swift
The hardest thing for a writer to cope with is rejection. We all pour so much of ourselves into our writing, we invest it with so many of our hopes, that it’s impossible not to take rejection as a personal blow.
So, what should you do? Partly it depends on the form of the rejection. If your work is returned to sender with the flimsiest of covering notes – ‘unfortunately we don’t believe we Read more
Rule 2: Establish your goals
Filed under: Writing Advice
Many of you had lots to say on the subject of writing groups and how to find readers in response to my founding rule number one: every writer needs readers.
This month we’ll focus on rule number two, which many of you have already hinted at: establish the writing group’s goals Read more
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)
When do you become a writer?
This guest post from author Thomas E. Kennedy is the first of four, each focusing on a question that has empowered him – and could also empower you – as a writer.
Q: When do you become a writer?
Thomas E. Kennedy: When you’re starting out and have published little, maybe nothing at all yet, it is hard to believe in yourself as a writer. Back when I’d only published two or three stories, although I had been at it for years, when someone asked me what I did, I felt funny claiming to be a writer.
Did I really have to identify myself with the day job that paid my bills even though I considered writing the most important thing I did?
I asked a Read more
Do you ‘diary forward’? I don’t.
Based on its excellent review in The Guardian the week before last, on impulse I rang and booked tickets for The Rivals at the Southwark Playhouse. It was just wonderful, and re-exposure to Mrs Malaprop (played by Celia Imrie) was a delight.
Whereas I have heard actors give the misplaced words greater emphasis, the particular pleasure of Imrie’s performance was that they simply flowed out of her, increasing the sense that the character is entirely unaware of her inappropriate vocabularly; indeed that she remains as relaxed as an ‘allegory on the banks of the Nile’.
The experience set me thinking about other examples of the infelicitous use of language. 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
Copyright – can someone steal my idea?
Filed under: Writing Advice
Do you worry about how to protect your literary efforts?
Many writers are concerned that submitting their book to publishers or agents runs a risk – a risk that their work might be stolen (gasp!).
Isn’t there a chance that an agent would pick up their idea and pass it onto to an already established author? Or perhaps ‘sell’ it to a publisher who in turn might go and commission a book on that very subject? Read more
Every writer needs readers
Filed under: Writing Advice
I’ve just spent four hours with 13 other writers, immersing ourselves in a workshop that involved ‘prompt writing’: exercises that you get entirely fresh, no preparation, and with a time limit.
The goal is to generate as much material as possible – first draft writing – and the emphasis is on the act of generation, rather than grammar, spelling, or the tasks that come with revision.
This is the fifth such session I’ve organised for the writers’ workshop I run. Despite it being the first day of the weekend (here in the Middle East) we left more energised than when we straggled in at 2pm.
After the 15 or so minutes of writing (or typing) as fast as you can, you have the opportunity to share your work out loud. The electricity felt as 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
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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 »