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Insider tip
Enthusiasm is infectious... It is essential to convey enthusiasm for your work and for the job of meeting people and selling to them. Art is a luxury, so people need to enjoy buying it. The Artist's Guide to Selling Work by Annabelle Ruston-
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Notes from a screenwriter
We’ve just added a new interview with the award-winning dramatist Stephen Poliakoff to the site, whose new film Glorious 39 starring Romola Garai and Bill Nighy is released in cinemas later this month.
In the Q&A he talks about how he researched the historical details for the film’s First World War setting, immersing himself in diaries and books:
“A lot of the research had been building up over the years as I got more and more interested in this period and began reading diaries…
“So diaries were great because people don’t know what’s going to happen the next day, they’re not writing in retrospect, however much they might have touched them up to make them read better. There is an authenticity of sorts 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
Buy the 2011 Yearbook
The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is available at a discount from our online bookshop. Get all the information, contacts and advice you could need.-
Win, Win, Win! We are giving away 5 copies of Qatari Voices, a collection of essays which will inspire new writers. For details of how to enter this giveaway go to 'The Accidental Writer' >
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 »