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How to Get an Agent: "Follow your instinct – more often than not it will be right." » Read more on securing the services of a good agent by Philippa Milnes-Smith-
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Finding a voice
A guest post from Derek Neale, Lecturer in Creative Writing at The Open University:
This is the second of my blogs, offering some thoughts about how drama can be used to improve your fiction.
Actors impersonate. And in many ways that’s just what we do when we write a story – we put on the voices of our characters, and the voices of our narrators too. I think voice is very important in fiction.
In a film or play the mimicry is partly achieved by the actor’s intonation and performance. But a significant part of it is orchestrated by the scriptwriter, who provides the actor with a character’s specific diction and speech rhythms, as well as a subtext of that character’s fears and Read more
Making a scene
A guest post from Derek Neale, Lecturer in Creative Writing at The Open University:
This is the first in a short series of blogs I’ll be writing about how drama can improve your fiction, each containing an activity for you to try at home.
‘Dramatise! Dramatise!’ was Henry James’ famous maxim to himself and to would-be novelists – and it remains true today. Your storytelling can gain momentum and finesse from looking at how dramatists do things.
More often than not a character’s emotional state is better revealed by being shown in action, rather than the narrator saying ‘he was sad’ or ‘she was angry’. The reader is happier interpreting what characters do, rather than forever being told what is happening.
Drama can inject the vital ingredient that will bring a story alive. I know this from my own writing and from the work of my students. And in most cases Read more
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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
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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 »