writing tips

Lights, Camera, Keyboard! 5 Tips to Make Your Novel More Cinematic

Lights, Camera, Keyboard! 5 Tips to Make Your Novel More Cinematic

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…

Killing Your Darlings is Hell. Here’s How I Edited My Novel.

Killing Your Darlings is Hell. Here’s How I Edited My Novel.

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…

5 things I learned about writing from Succession
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5 things I learned about writing from Succession

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…

6 things to know if you want to write a novel this year

6 things to know if you want to write a novel this year

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…

Write the story from the sidekick’s perspective, too – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Write the story from the sidekick’s perspective, too – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

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…

One word you should remove from your writing vocabulary

One word you should remove from your writing vocabulary

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”….

Revisiting Gone Girl: 5 things writers can learn from it
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Revisiting Gone Girl: 5 things writers can learn from it

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…

Let your readers hear your protagonist’s thoughts – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Let your readers hear your protagonist’s thoughts – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

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…

Why growth mindset is the number one thing you need to become a better writer (and a better person)
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Why growth mindset is the number one thing you need to become a better writer (and a better person)

‘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…

Make your protagonist the type of person who jumps into the fray – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Make your protagonist the type of person who jumps into the fray – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

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…

5 best books on writing for beginners and beyond
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5 best books on writing for beginners and beyond

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…

Don’t give ’em a reason to stop reading – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Don’t give ’em a reason to stop reading – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

One of my favourite pieces of feedback I’ve got on Dead Ringer is: “I stayed up past my bedtime reading it.” During one of my later re-drafts of the book, I did something bold. I re-cut all the chapters. I made them shorter and I changed the places where the chapters ended. My purpose (and…