Precious Prose – Killing Your Darlings

Did you ever write something you really liked - but deep down you knew it wasn't really working? Perhaps it resonated with you to the point you dug your toes in and refused to cut it - preferring to perform major plot surgery to keep it in? Maybe you told yourself a few lies about …

When Writing Gets Hard – A Light For a Dark Place

Trust me; we all have days when we wonder what we're doing.  When we've read our work so many times it seems to blur on the page and we couldn't spot a spelling mistake in our name.  These are the days we need to dig deep, to remember why we thought we were writers at …

Multiple POVs – When Everyone Has An Opinion

If, like me, you're going to start out writing epic fantasy, create a whole new world from scratch,  and attempt a trilogy to boot - why not go all out and write in multiple POV's too?  I mean why not tell two stories - or five while you're at it?  Sure I question my sanity …

When Lightning Strikes

I felt a bit like Dr Frankenstein today - raising my paddles above my WIP and infusing it with life.  It was a heady mad-scientist moment and I've been coasting on the rush all day.  So how did it happen?  And more to the point am I going to be able to recreate it? In …

A Little Light Relief

A new character breezed her way through my WIP this week. Against a backdrop of betrayal, grief, scheming and murder, she burst onto the scene fluttering her eyelashes and began flirting with my oldest, crustiest, and to my mind most unattractive character.  I didn't see it coming.  Neither did Artemis (the crusty old librarian) - …

Ready, Brain – Storm!

There comes a time when it finally hits home - if you keep doing the same thing, you'll keep getting the same results.  This week it was clearly my turn for the revelation.  I was trying to write myself out of a hole and failing miserably. I've been writing fairly consistently for a while now, …

Lost in Transition

Sometimes you have a clear vision for where your story needs to go.  You have a goal, you know what needs to happen to get there.  You move your characters around, manipulate events, drop in foreshadowing and if you can keep the inner editor under control it's fairly straightforward drafting.  That is until you hit …

Injured in the Line of, er… Writing

There are a series of TV advertisements in NZ with the catch-phrase "Want Better Work Stories"?  Today I find I can relate, because this week I've been in a world of pain.  And the thing is, no matter how creative we like to think we are, there is no way to make an injury exacerbated …

A Case of the Wobbles

I read a lot of writing blogs, and craft books, and hope that I am on my way to becoming a good writer.  However this week I came across a blog that popped my fragile bubble of self-confidence and made me really doubt myself and my writing dream. The subject of this blog?  The first …