Most Recent Blog Posts

  • What to Write Next – the Author’s dilemma

    So here I am, sitting at a desk, wondering in which direction I should let my mind wander. Here’s my problem: I recently finished a first draft; it’s out there sloshing from slush pile to slush pile, no doubt so wet by now that the ink has smudged and it’s hard to read the words.… Read more

  • RIP Elmore

    I just read on line that Elmore Leonard died. I can’t let that go by without recording this acknowledgement: everything I know about dialogue writing (which might be very little) I learnt from reading Elmore Leonard and copying what he did as best as I could. He was the guy who said, if you’re doing… Read more

  • The Problem with Sequels

    So I am, for the first time ever, trying to write a sequel, and in the first few chapters, a couple of revelations have come to me out of the blue: 1) It’s damned difficult to write when one half of an audience know nothing about your main character and the other half know the… Read more

  • The Bizarre Truth About Athletes

    So here’s something weird I learned recently:  elite athletes are generally asymmetric.   For some reason, I find this surprising.  I always thought that being good at something implied a kind of physical perfection and physical perfection always struck me as meaning you had the same perfect form on both sides.  For example, if you… Read more

  • Working on a new book with a new theory

    Today, I have a new theory about plot. Succinctly stated, it goes like this: There are only three questions that can hook the reader: what’s happened, what’s happening and what’s going to happen next? It goes along with a new theory of what questions engage readers with character: who are they, why are they like… Read more

  • Post-Olympic Depression

    OK, so the Olympics are over and we’re into the endless analysis by our endlessly illogical media who wouldn’t recognise either truth or rationality if it turned into a dog and bit them in the street. Usually, I ignore all this, but this time it’s got my heckles up. Time to man up before the… Read more

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