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
Tag: writing
Milestones
Following on from my previous post where I realised that I have become a “proper writer” I thought I’d look back at some milestones in my career as a writer. I was thinking over this and realised that I started at the age of 15 when I had an article published in White Dwarf, a… Continue reading Milestones
The life of a writer
I seem to be getting into a pattern here. While I’m planning out some writing I am capable of keeping up with my author platform – blog posts, tweets and Facebook updates. But then, I get an outline all sketched out and thankfully I appear to be able to write between 500 and 1,500 words… Continue reading The life of a writer
Travelling through history
Many historical stories feature travelling from one place to another. Actually, a real journey is a common enough plot device as it can easily mirror the characters’ internal journey. But when this applies to historical fiction, whole legions of problems (or opportunities) assault the author. Everything from the names and locations of towns to the… Continue reading Travelling through history
Learning from published authors
I was lucky this morning, I caught John Grisham being interviewed on BBC Breakfast. The initial focus of of the interview was the fact that he’d sold 275 million copies of his books. But for an author, he gave some valuable insights into his success. He stated that he always knows the final scene before… Continue reading Learning from published authors