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Tag: rewrite

An ode to blue biro

How long is a piece of string? Or, to rephrase the question, how many times should I go over this crusty old manuscript before it resembles a novel? There is no definitive answer to this, but regarding a strategy, my personal weapon of choice is the common or garden blue biro. The art of rewrite is a strange thing. Unlike…

And now for something almost completely different

Novelists often complain that reading their earlier work leaves them with a distinct feeling of unease. The passage of time between one piece of work and another inevitably leads the author to a different place – greater maturity and depth of insight, perhaps, or simply an earnest desire to improve upon his previous attempt. Writing a novel requires a considerable…

Joining the dots

Starting a new screenplay can be a daunting prospect. You’ve had the idea in your head long enough, now’s the time to transfer it to paper. But what about the groundwork – the fleshing out of the bare bones before you begin? I used to think that writing an outline was a waste of energy. Why sit and write a…

The Enemy Within

My son informed me recently in solemn tones that he had some bad news for me. Steeling myself for the worst, I waited. The news as it turned out was indeed rather distressing.  He’d found a typo in my second novel. Given the times I’ve read the manuscript, not to mention the proofreaders and editors who’ve also been over it…

Life as a QR code

Imagine how many bloggers there are out there, filling the world with unsolicited text. Solitary voices in cyberspace, looking for recognition. I began to wonder at the purpose of it all. What drives us ordinary mortals to pen these quaint little ramblings? Surely, we all have better things to do? For one thing it’s practise, I suppose. The more you do,…

Too much downtime

I shelved my third novel for a week at Christmas. Why? To recharge batteries and take a well-earned break from the ceaseless toil. The workaholic in me went haywire. To offset the sense of panic, I grabbed a notebook and began hastily penning the screenplay for my first novel, The Butterfly Collector. This would suffice until the New Year, I thought.…

Last man standing

The publishing world has changed. Authors no longer need to follow the traditional model in order to see their work in print. They can simply upload their work to Amazon and be in business in a matter of minutes – a privilege unheard of in previous decades. Forward to the deluge of grateful readers and the six-figure advance from Harper…

20,000 leagues under the sea

You write a book. Then you rewrite it several times until you’re sick of the sight of it. Then you send it out to the gatekeepers, those shadowy creatures whose job it is to pick the nuggets from the literary dross.  Two things will most likely happen. One, your book will be rejected countless times. Two, you will become disillusioned with the whole process and consider giving up.

Work in progress

Why do we put pen to paper, or index fingers to keypads, to record our thoughts for posterity? Seeing as the vast majority of writers will never experience publication in any wider context, why bother in the first place? These questions have no real answers. The fact is, people write because they are driven to, compelled by some primeval force to unburden themselves…

Notes from the wood shed

You know what you want to say, but how do you find the right way to say it? Finding the voice is one of the many challenges in writing both fiction and non-fiction. Get it wrong and your project might end up being postponed or, worse still, abandoned altogether (147,ooo words is a huge chunk from anyone’s canon, but that’s…