Writing
Lore, exposition & world building
Is ‘lore’ something which excites you or provokes a roll of the eyes? If you’re not a regular reader or viewer of genre fiction, especially science fiction and fantasy, you may not even have heard the term in this context. lore/lɔː/nouna body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or […]
Writing
Let’s do some plotting
The most recent free resource pack from the National Centre for Writing focuses on PLOT and, once again, is chock full of goodies. There’s Nicola Upson on the podcast, Okechukwu Nzelu on designing the plot of his novel, Inua Ellams connecting plot to style, and me going on about how […]
Writing
Download character templates
The National Centre for Writing has been producing free resource packs for writers every couple of months this year, kicking off in January. It’s been a lot of fun to put them together and they’re packed full of REALLY good stuff. This was always the plan, even pre-lockdown, but it’s […]
Writing
Digital tools for writers
Playing catch-up on a few interesting bits and pieces, first of which is to highlight a contribution I made to a free resource pack for writers over at the National Centre for Writing. This one was all about METHOD and featured insight from Jenny Offill, Eimear McBride, Bregje Hofstede and […]
Writing Life Podcast
I produce and co-present The Writing Life podcast at the National Centre for Writing, a weekly show talking to writers about writing. At over 100 episodes it’s one of the leading arts and non-profit podcasts and has featured guests including Val McDermid, Elif Shafak, Jenny Offill, Owen Sheers, Ben Okri, […]
The books
I’ve written three novels, all of which are available to read for free online. If you enjoy my work you can follow my progress and say thanks by supporting me over on Patreon. No Adults Allowed was released in 2020. It’s a coming of age, post-apocalyptic story in which adults […]
Writing
Using the right tools to edit a novel
I’ve never enjoyed editing. Have avoided it like the plague, in fact. Until now.
Writing
What is your minimum writing time?
It’s November 2016 and I write the first chapter of my new book, The Mechanical Crown. After a spot of editing, I immediately post the chapter online. The next week I write chapter two and upload that, too.
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