Monday Motivation: Emma Törzs and a question of lucidity
However grand your story idea, however vivacious your characters, the success of any writing project always boils down to the sentences you write, and the words you use to do […]
Monday Motivation: Saturday morning in the sun
We met at La Piazza in St Paul’s Square, just a stone’s throw from the river, for coffee. The sun was shining. The crowds of people browsing for vegetables at […]
Monday Motivation: Marxism v. Pear Petals
Frequently when we’re asked to assess someone’s manuscript, or help a writer brainstorm a story idea, we have to begin by stating a fundamental principle of fiction. It is, we […]
Monday Motivation: Don’t rush things
How do you communicate a character’s sense that someone they’ve encountered is somehow “off”, not right, not to be trusted, possibly even homicidal? The question arose during a discussion [...]
Monday Motivation: A short meditation on truth
We’ve often quoted a guru who urged writers to use details that were “specific, accurate and honest”. The use of that last adjective has always puzzled me. How can a detail be “honest”? I’ve come [...]
Monday Motivation: Devilishly convincing details
Creative writing is not, as some suppose, an arcane art over which only the select few are ever granted mastery, or to which there is access via a magic key, a secret skill available only to the [...]
Writing Secrets: How to leave out the bits that readers skip
I was listening to someone quoting Elmore Leonard the other day – and then she laughed. And she’s right: he is funny. I mean, “Leave out the bits that readers […]