Writing a novel is a bit like sighting Everest on the horizon and saying, “Sure, OK, I’ll climb that.” The struggle to reach the summit can be so overwhelming that I’ve learned to do a lot of preparatory work up front. Here’s what my novel planning process looks like: Step 1. Brainstorming When I start…
A couple of years ago, when I was battling through yet another draft of The Getaway, my forthcoming mystery-thriller, my literary agent gave me a piece of feedback: “Make it more cinematic.” My heart sank. I thought my novel was cinematic. It was set on a private island in the Caribbean, for God’s sake. There…
I’ve been suffering some body dysmorphia recently – not for my own body, but for the size of my novel. A year ago, it was a voluptuous 120,000 words (440 pages); now it’s a skinny 90,000 words (350 pages). The Getaway, a murder-mystery set in the Caribbean, comes out in November 2024 and I’ve been…
Succession isn’t only the most twisted-funny show on TV, it’s also a masterclass in great writing. Here are a few tips I’ve picked up from Jesse Armstrong and his team of writers: 1. Characters should walk into scenes fully-formed ‘Establishing character’ is often something we think we should do, either with a thumbnail sketch or…
They’re so smart (allegedly), they’re so charismatic (allegedly), but here are some of the reasons you might have a sucking black hole at the centre of your novel. Plus, some quick tips on how to fix your characterization issues. This post was inspired by the Rob and Akiva Need a Podcast episode about Entourage, which…
Like most writers, I have a ‘novel in a drawer’; an unpublished masterpiece (lol no) that I think about every now and again. It’s a YA novel about gymnastics that I finished about nine years ago. I laboured over it, sent it out to agents, and hoped hoped hoped it would be published. It’s still…
If your new year’s resolution for 2021 is to write a novel, then you’ve picked a great goal. Writing keeps your brain active and creativity feeds your soul. During pandemic times, there’s no better feeling than soaring away on flights of fancy. However, novel-writing is not without its challenges. Maybe you’re apprehensive. Maybe you don’t…
Ever been so annoyed by a book you’ve wanted to throw it across the room? Maybe it’s a character or a plot development that causes you to lose your rag. For me, it’s usually because the author has dropped one of these creative writing clangers. Newbie writers and veteran scribes alike fall foul of these…
During one particular rewrite of Dead Ringer, I felt like I’d tied myself up in knots. My protagonist was breaking up with her boyfriend, but he seemed to be taking it too well. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking or feeling during the scene. So I decided to write the entire novel from…
You might assume this is a philosophical or motivational blog post, and I’m going to tell you there’s no such thing as “can’t”. Or that the word “failure” is a lie and should be reframed as a challenge. Nope. This is a post about the word “walked”. I really, really, really hate the word “walked”….
Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl defined and popularised the psychological suspense genre. These days, the crime fiction shelves are packed with tales of marital discord turned murderous and psychopaths hiding in suburbia. I first read Gone Girl the year it came out, in 2012. Eight years on, when I decided to re-read it, I wondered whether…
Dead Ringer started life as a third-person novel, until my agent suggested I make it first-person. This was a big change, but it made the protagonists’ voices much clearer. The reader gets to sit in their heads, hear their thoughts. This, I think, is the superpower of novels (versus TV or movies). You get to…
‘Growth mindset’ might sound like one of those annoying buzzwords, but it describes an attitude shift that has helped me immensely. What is growth mindset? It’s a term that comes from Carol S Dweck’s book, Mindset, which is a study of how children learn. This is a simplification, but in her study, Dweck observed two…
In life, I’m a risk-averse person. I always weigh up my options and try to act prudently. In novels, I’ve found that prudent characters make for boring protagonists. Dead Ringer got immeasurably better when I added in a second narrator, Jem. She’s reckless and rebellious and will always throw herself into the fray. For this…
Whether you’re starting out in creative writing or looking to fine-tune your writing craft, there are a wealth of reference books out there. Here are five that I find invaluable: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers – Renni Browne and Dave King The first time I flicked through Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, I was unimpressed. A chapter…
“What’s it like to see your book in print?” is a question I’ve been asked a lot recently and the only answer I can come up with is: surreal. A huge part of that, I think, is I’m acutely aware of the alternate-universe version of events. Three years ago, another me put this book away…
