This week on the blog, I thought I’d discuss using humour in writing. As is becoming a regular habit for me, I’m basing my post on something I’ve been thinking about in my own writing. It’s become a trait for one of my secondary characters to keep making wry sarcastic comments. This made me wonder about the ways humour can be effective in writing. 1. It develops your skills as a writer Putting humour in your scene is a great fun
It’s NaNoWriMo time again! Where writers from all over the world flex their typing fingers and prepare for frenzied word sprints and quite possibly a few late nights. If you’re unfamiliar, NaNoWriMo (Nano for short) stands for ‘National Novel Writing Month’ where participants from all over the world commit to writing everyday throughout the month of November. The goal is to have a 50k word novel by the end. It will be my fourth time participating in Nano so as you
This week on the blog, I thought I’d talk more about the story snippets I’ve been sharing recently on social media. In particular, I thought I’d give some sneaky peeks into a bit more context about the character and what’s going on in the scene. Hopefully without any spoilers!. First, though, I’ll tell you how to make one, in case any writers fancy giving it a go! Story snippets – how to make one I’ve found making story snippets a relatively
This week on the blog, I thought I’d talk about editing – another in my writing craft series. Specifically, at what stage in the writing process to start editing or rewriting your WIP (work in progress). I’ve been controversial about this recently. In the last couple of weeks, I seem to be entering the editing mindset. I haven’t even finished the first draft yet! This might well go against the grain of lots of writing advice. There’s the common adage ‘write
This week on the blog, I review A Fatal First Night by Kathleen Maple Kab. This is the second novel in her historical mystery series, following her debut novel, a Fatal Finale (you can check out my review of her first book here). Here is a short blub to give you a flavour of the book: Ella returns Diva Ella Shane has made her operatic career famous by her ‘trouser role’ performances by playing the male leads. After the first night
This week on the blog, I thought I’d talk about inciting incidents, the latest in my writing craft series. It’s not a coincidence that I often end up blogging about things I’m trying to work out in my own writing as I look again at the beginning of my novel. What is an inciting incident? An inciting incident is the main event that kickstarts the narrative of your story. It might be your main character receives word that an unknown relative
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been mindful of my characters. Specifically – that it’s getting to be a pretty big cast. I’m writing what will hopefully be my 4th historical fiction novel (More info about my published books here!). It’s partly because I’m introducing a new narrator. My first 3 books in the series are 1st person from Daniel’s point of view, my new project is dual 1st POV – between Daniel and another character, Imogen. This has made
This week on the blog, I thought I’d talk a bit about tension. This topic isn’t entirely of a coincidence- it’s been a pretty dramatic twenty-four hours for me! Yesterday evening, I along with much of the rest of the world watched the football. England reached the final of a competition since 1966. Tension ran high as Italy and England battled it out neck-and-neck before Italy finally won on penalties. Then, my emotions ran much higher this morning when our dog
You might be surprised that there ere so many different kingdoms in England. Today, one united country with one king or queen. In fact, overseas England is often as a synonym for the whole of the UK, but that’s another story altogether! Last time in my ‘World and Setting’ series, I talked about the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia. One reader commented she had no idea that there used to be so many different kingdoms in Britain. So, this week on the
You might already know how much I enjoy NaNoWrimo events! June is nearly over so that means July Camp NaNoWriMo is starting on Thursday, 1st July. I’ve hit my goals for my 4th historical fiction novel and I’m ready to take part! So, this week on the blog, I thought I’d tell you a bit about my project. About NaNoWriMo If you’re not familiar with the term, NaNoWriMo stands for ‘National Novel Writing Month’ and it’s an online writing challenge. Participants