Apologies to those of you who don’t read Harry Potter, but I am father to three boys, aged 4, 8 and 11 so it is common currency in our house. Thinking about the series of books (and films, etc.) I realised something. By the end of the book, a lot of things that were axiomatic… Continue reading Burning down Hogwarts!
Author: Graham H Miller
Word count and free time
Nine weeks ago I finished planning and outlining my novel. I looked at the calendar and worked out that I had eight weeks of typing available. This is because I am house-husband to three lively boys, one at pre-school and two at school. This means that most of my free time is in the morning,… Continue reading Word count and free time
Enhanced books
I was looking for something to read this morning so I picked up a Kate Mosse. I vaguely remembered that she’d started one of the big fiction prizes (the Orange Prize for Fiction) so I flicked through the back to find her bio. I was a bit surprised to find that there was more than… Continue reading Enhanced books
Editing strategy
Everything I’ve read about editing suggests that you should write lots and then cut out the superfluous words to create tighter, leaner prose. I think Stephen King aims to lose at least 10% on the first draft rewrite. I have a problem with this. Ever since I was at school, I’ve always been very terse… Continue reading Editing strategy
Writing a page-turner
As I mentioned in my last post I’ve read On Writing by Stephen King, and while I don’t agree with many of the points he makes one thing really stuck with me. If you want your writing to be exciting, page-turner stuff, then write it quickly. I worked out that I only had eight weeks… Continue reading Writing a page-turner