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My Seven writing rules
First of all, I want to make it clear there are no rules for writing or story-telling. These are simply my rules, or perhaps more accurately ‘preferences’, that I have adopted for my own purposes....
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How many story lines in a novel?
A story is about a character or characters who desperately wants something and pursues a goal through a series of actions and outcomes that escalate to the climax of the story, and the eventual...
View ArticleA Sci-Fi Writer’s Dilemma
It’s July 2023, and I have just realised it’s over a year since I wrote my blog on “Taking stock”. At that time I had decided to take some time out from writing to pursue a research project and set up...
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Another look at sequences for writers
Recently I was going through my kindle library and I came across the “10-Day Screenplay” by Darrin Donnelly and Travis Donelly. It’s been a long time since I read it, and so I started to flick through...
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Sequences and Tension
In last month’s blog, I covered some aspects of sequences for writers, and in particular Darrin and Travis Donelly’s ’10-day Screenplay’. This month I want to look again at sequences from a slightly...
View ArticleForeshadowing and Chekhov’s Gun
In my last blog, I looked at the importance of creating tension around the dramatic question of a story. For example, will Luke and Obi Wan get the Death Star plans to the rebels? Will Indie find the...
View ArticlePlot Points, Turning Points and Reversals
If you’re a writer and interested in the art of storytelling then you can learn a lot from the world of movies by breaking down stories into their component parts. In my previous blog I focused on how...
View ArticleBuilding Heroic Characters
All good stories are about character. The job of a good storyteller is to create an emotional bond between those characters and the reader as they endure the conflict in the story. It’s a vicarious...
View ArticleEvaluating New Story Ideas
As a writer, the hardest choice to make is what to write about. Ideas for novels are everywhere, but can they be developed into a good story? How do we choose the best ideas for the best chance of...
View ArticleDark endings and the Monster in the house genre
Recently, as a family we were going through our movie collection to find a movie to watch that evening. We found an old one that none of us could remember, so we watched it again. Big mistake – it was...
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