Category Archives: WRITING

EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS OR YOUR DREAMS? YOU CHOOSE.

Posted on March 20, 2014 by [email protected]

Here’s a question for you: if you had the choice, would you take your dreams - or would you take eight million dollars? This is how it began: many years ago, a friend of mine, John, started an advertising company … Continue reading →

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WHY STAR WARS IS BAD FOR YOUR KIDS

Posted on March 11, 2014 by [email protected]

No, Star Wars is not bad for your kids because (*** spoiler alert ***) they don’t want to believe Daddy could ever turn out to be Darth Vader in disguise. It’s because of what it tells your little princess - … Continue reading →

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There is no catch like Catch-22

Posted on March 6, 2014 by [email protected]

Heller’s opus Catch-22, is often mentioned in the same breath as Joyce’s Ulysses, Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, or Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby. But unlike those novels it also added a word to the English lexicon - ‘Catch 22’, the law … Continue reading →

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TIPS FOR A LONG TERM WRITING CAREER

Posted on February 12, 2014 by [email protected]

Does writing get any easier after forty books? You might be surprised at the answer. This week I talked to Joanna Penn at The Creative Penn about writing historical fiction and tips for a long term writing career. You can … Continue reading →

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WHY I HATE AN AUTHOR CALLED ALEXANDER COLE

Posted on January 31, 2014 by [email protected]

Let’s get one thing straight about my feelings around Alexander Cole. It’s nothing personal. I’m sure he’s a very nice bloke deep down. At least I hope so. He’s me. But boy, he drives me nuts. Because I don’t want … Continue reading →

Posted in WRITING | Tagged , , | 25 Comments

18 gems about writing from 16¼ great authors

Posted on December 11, 2013 by [email protected]

1. If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor. - Edgar Rice Burroughs 2. I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil. - … Continue reading →

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So yew want to bee a riter?

Posted on December 9, 2013 by [email protected]

Last week we took a look at some of the entrants in the Bulwer Lytton contest. They were all, you’ll agree, very good at being very bad. But they were trying to be awful. What about the writers who weren’t? … Continue reading →

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ARE THESE THE WORST 12 OPENING LINES EVER?

Posted on December 4, 2013 by [email protected]

1. “She strutted into my office wearing a dress that clung to her like Saran Wrap to a sloppily butchered pork knuckle, bone and sinew jutting and lurching asymmetrically beneath its folds, the tightness exaggerating the granularity of the suet … Continue reading →

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THE BEST 43 OPENING LINES IN NOVEL WRITING HISTORY

Posted on November 30, 2013 by [email protected]

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. A good cover may make us pick the book up and think about buying it. But it’s the first lines are crucial in helping us decide whether we are going … Continue reading →

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15 GOOD REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN’T WRITE FOR A LIVING

Posted on November 25, 2013 by [email protected]

Do you want to make a career out of writing? Here’s 15 damn good reasons to think again, straight from the trenches, from those who have been there before you. 1. Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, WRITING | Tagged , , | 11 Comments