Writing and reviews with an environmental, science fiction, and fantasy touch
subtitled: How to edit yourself into print One of the most helpful books I’ve read. Distils each of the main issues into easily assimilated chapters, with good ‘before and after’ examples, checklists, and exercises. I suspect some editors could do
I think writing a book is the easy bit. Then comes editing. And re-editing after your editor has been through your carefully edited version. And then you have getting it ready for publication, which turns out more complicated than you think, after
quinquennial adj. and n. OED Word of the Day (last Tuesday): quinquennial, adj. and n. A fifth anniversary, among other things… It’s five years since I started this blog. That’s quite a milestone. Amazingly (by missing out Monday) THIS IS
Not only is it time for the Insecure Writers Support Group again, it’s time for me to sink into that depression known as September Blues. It creeps on through August: my book needs editing…, my book needs a rewrite… , my
Have you noticed it’s the end of September already? In theory, I should now be sitting with a completed and published book of my dad’s memoirs and have set up the new paperbacks for the Princelings series. Those were the
July has arrived, So I’m writing a book at Camp NaNoWriMo! Yes, I’m off to camp today. I’ve packed my backpack and remembered my swimming things; I’m looking forward to canoeing on the lake, singing songs round the campfire,
Something different this week. Chuck Wendig gave us a writing exercise in place of the usual flash fiction challenge. “I want you to take one thing and describe it ten different ways. That thing can be… anything. An object. A person.
This Monday I’m delighted to be part of an initative to launch a book, developed by its community and sold in aid of an important charity. The community writing project, Scripting Change, is justifiably excited to announce the release of
Technically this is my last Summer Camp post, although I’ve ‘won’ as I’ve passed my 50,000 word goal and got my ‘winner’ stamp. There’ll be a badge appearing near the bottom of this page sooner or later. The weather is
Ok, so I’ve left Camp NaNoWriMo for another year. It’s a really good challenge to keep me focused on writing every day. What it stops me doing, really, is reading long books (I can read something that takes me one
Well, I reached the stage where I couldn’t put the book down last weekend, and thanks to taking my laptop downstairs in front of the TV and watching the Open Golf Championship all weekend, I wrote for over five hours
My fourth week at Summer Camp. The weather’s been hot, very hot for us wilting roses in England, but I still got into the spirit with my Camp Nano tee shirt. This week’s haiku is a kind of plot summary:
Thank you all for your good wishes. I’m feeling lots better, thanks to antibiotics, inhalers, anti-inflammatories, fruit, water and rest! Once I was up to sitting at the keyboard I found I caught up my word-count quite quickly. I think
My third week at Summer Camp, and the new version of the story is going – well, ok, slowly – choose your adverb. I’m now about a week behind schedule, but that’s largely due to my flu. Still time to
Well more or less as soon as I sent my last postcard I went down with a virus that kept me in bed (or at least on the sofa snuggled under a blanket) for three days. Amazing how good the