Characters are a reflection of life – have fun with it!

Characters develop as you write

Writing is about realising dreams – my dream of being a writer, my dream world, and also the dreams of who I wish to be, reflected through characters.

One of the joys of being a writer is being able to be the person you always wanted to be through your characters. You can create someone […]

From hobbyist to pro – the writer’s journey

The journey to become a writer is a strange one. In particular you have to be a writer first – and only then can you do it for a living.

That doesn’t mean you need to have had 10 best-sellers before you can call yourself a writer or anything like that. (Mind you, I was […]

The bits and pieces that make a character

Once or twice, people have asked me who I base my characters on. The moment they ask, I know that they are not fiction writers.

What makes me say that?

Simply because character development isn’t about ‘lifting’ a real person you know and dropping them into a book. Let me give you an example of […]

Stage 2….

Image of the back cover of my next book

I’m faced with mixed feelings this week.

In the past few months, my focus has been on getting my business up and running, so work on Age of Oppression took something of a back seat. But, as my coach often says, “passion+discipline are what are needed for achievement,” and, if story telling is what I […]

Pressing on!

Here I am again.

The draft is written and now, all I need to do is review and polish the next bestseller-to-be. And, of course, half way through the second set of revisions, all I can hear in my head is “Oh, this is a really weak story. This is terrible. Everyone is going to […]

Sub-plots and backstory

Image of the back cover of my next book

The first round of editing one of my books is a slow process (especially when you procrastinate as much as I do!) and usually identifies some big gaps that need to be filled. Occasionally (if I’m really unlucky) they appear in the main plot. More frequently, they show up in the sub-plots and backstory.

Or […]

Inspiration is for amateurs

Image representing inspiration

Anyone who has been following my blogs for a while will know that I’m part of an online community called Mi365. You may even be a Mi365er yourself and, if you are, the title of this blog will be familiar to you. It is an idea which we’ve heard a few times.

Those who haven’t […]

Putting people into the landscape

Characters develop as you write

My blog over the past couple of week has been all about the creation of the landscape for The Bremmand Chronicles. It is one of fun parts of narrative fiction – inventing your own geography. It isn’t just the geography either – it’s the society too. So, having created the Kingdom, I also had to […]

The view from the top

Image of the back cover of my next book

This week, I finished the first draft of my next book Age of Oppression.

Writing a first draft is hard work – don’t let anybody tell you otherwise!

I liken it to walking up a steep hill. You start off full of enthusiasm, with a clear view of the end and knowing exactly how […]

Scaling the hill

Stormy skies

Have you ever done any hill walking?

If you have, you will no doubt recognise the feeling of setting out and seeing the peak you are aiming for as an eternity away. The eventual destination is hazy in the distance, perhaps obscured by clouds and a long way off. You walk and walk and walk […]