If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Writer Dan McQuain, (known on these forums as Grinnel) is the winner of our October 300 Word Challenge. He wins a £10 voucher to spend at Amazon or The Book Depository, our quarterly prize. As always, participants were challenged to [...]
The following is based on discussions on these forums and materials I have prepared for clients, but I am, I think, bringing all of it together for the first time. Though it is principally addressed to fantasy writers, it applies to science fiction, too. ON WORLDBUILDING Back in the days of my youth, I used [...]
Over the years, I’ve been in a position to read a considerable number of unpublished manuscripts, and to hear (or read) a considerable number of new writers discussing their ideas. And one thing I’ve noticed is how very, very often the writer who is straining every nerve to write something that will redefine the fantasy [...]
(This article first appeared in my forum several years ago. I post it now — slightly revised — because I believe the subject is more relevant than ever. It is not intended to single out any one author, but to address a general trend.) Is Fantasy Becoming More Realistic or Simply More Cynical? After using [...]
The following was written essentially to let off steam after various discussions, and is not to be taken as an attempt to bring others around to share my opinions — excellent and worthy as those opinions may be. THE RULES — Love them? Or leave them? When it comes to the rules of good writing, [...]
REVISIONS — HOW TO HANDLE THEM AND STILL RETAIN YOUR SANITY Some writers love doing revisions. Now that they have taken care of the basics they can have fun filling in the details. Others regard the process as sheer drudgery after a purely creative phase where their ideas flowed freely. Most are intimidated by the [...]
TAMING THE WILD SYNOPSIS For many new writers in the process of preparing to submit a first novel to agents or editors, the very idea of writing a synopsis sends them into a panic. They have been told so many times how much depends on it, how difficult it is to do right, that the [...]
THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS IN WRITING For many of us, the first impulse to write a novel comes with an idea that we have only to get our wonderful story down on paper, polish it up a bit, and we’ll have a finished book, one that wins instant acclaim and makes us very, very rich. [...]
ON THE SAD IMPOVERISHMENT AND THE THREATENED DEMISE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE I was recently poking around a website I sometimes visit, and came across a thread in which members were complaining about authors who seem to do their writing with a dictionary or a thesaurus in hand. They started out (quite properly, I thought) [...]
It seems that Diana Gabaldon has caused a minor storm online, by launching an attack on fan fiction. What’s fan fiction? It’s where people create derivative works to share among friends. Usually entertaining, often funny, and also helps promote the originals. If you’ve been online for more than a few months, chances are you’re already [...]
When it comes to being an aspiring writer – ie, a writer to aspires to a range of publishing interests – the Miss Snark Literary Agent blog can serve as a valuable insight into the life of a literary agent. For one, she provides clear information on what – and what not – to do [...]
First full week in January and life is beginning to return to a semblance of normality following the festive ‘interruption to normal services’. Snow’s on the ground but hey, this is winter! Unfortunately, the economic climate is just as chilly as the weather… Even so, great joy yesterday, as I finally took delivery of Gary [...]
Man of Steel teaser trailer released
If you’re sick of comic-book adaptations and film remakes, the last thing you might expect to get excited about is a new Superman film. That’s right: there’s a new Superman film scheduled for release in 2013. However, before you run off groaning at the idea of yet another mediocre cash-in, this one comes with caveats. [...]
Penguin owner buys ASI self-publishing company
According to the BBC, Pearson, which owns Penguin books among other things, has bought Author Solutions Inc in a £74 million deal. The deal means that Pearson now has control of a self-publishing interest. The news has raised concerns among some writers that intellectual property (IP) rights for new writers may be at risk, especially [...]
The Winner of our April 300 Word Writing Challenge is writer John J Brady, (known on these forums as alchemist). He wins a £10 voucher to spend at Amazon or The Book Depository, our quarterly prize. As usual, the challenge our members faced was to write a story of no more than 300 words, inspired [...]
Forum member Teresa Edgerton is the winner of our January 300 Word Writing Challenge. She wins a £10 voucher to spend at The Book Depository, our quarterly prize. As usual, the challenge our members faced was to write a story of no more than 300 words, inspired by an image selected by our moderators. For [...]
All Zombies Must Die hits the Xbox
At the weekend, All Zombies Must Die was unleashed on Xbox Live. As you can probably guess from the title, this is a rather tongue in cheek game developed by Doublesix with a focus on multiplayer zombie slaying. Set in the town of Deadhill, All Zombies Must Die offers a huge variety of weapons (such [...]
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