Firstly, stop thinking about being prolific. Every writer is a different personality. If you love to write stories, you will write lots of stories. One day, you might stand back and be amazed at your own work. My point here is that writing stories and novels is not about being a prolific writer. It’s about […]
How to Get to the Heart of Your Story
Telling good stories is challenging work. Even seasoned writers, famously known for their prowess with the pen, still have to work extremely hard to make their next story shine. What makes a story ‘shine’? How do we ensure that readers are carried along through the winding roads of a good story, and don’t close the […]
The Key to Making Nasty Villains Likeable in Your Fiction
If we like the villain, surely that means we are bad, doesn’t it? Many beginning writers feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of techniques, devices, and so on, that they should remember when all they wanted was to write an enjoyable story. I always find that if I focus on character, I’ll stay on the […]
The Creative Locus of Self-Control
The self is an ambiguous idea. It’s difficult to put your finger on it, to define it as anything particular. That’s because what we call the self, is an emotional body that is always acting and reacting to the environment. Self talk is often the way to define things. The words we use to define […]
Take Action — Write and be Happy
Making decisions can be a daunting process to go through. We all do it, get wrapped up in the thought process, the weighing up of facts. We believe that we’re sifting facts from fiction, and hoping that this will help us find the critical moment of action. “Think before you speak. Read before you think.” ― Fran Lebowitz […]