Are you a plotter or a pantser?

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Don’t let anybody kid you into believing there’s an overall formula for writing novels. The plain fact is that there isn’t. Authors are individuals and will do it twenty-ways-from-Sunday differently than the guy next door.

The Quiet Man – made the year I was born!

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Even the most convoluted thriller, or detective whodunnit, starts with a basic outline that can be quickly summarised, in much the same way as we try to provide readers with a flavour on our dustsheet summaries.

The difference between an author and a scriptwriter

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The scriptwriter’s biggest friend is dialogue. He must devise and use it non-stop. It’s what breathes life into his characters and the story he is trying to get across.

The importance of research

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Research leads to writer-confidence in relating key information or capturing the atmosphere of a setting. More than that, it informs the reader by adding to his/her knowledge bank (no matter how subliminal). To do it properly, however, requires a balanced approach

To prologue or not to prologue

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It seems nothing is guaranteed to start a debate among readers…

Who would you get to play your lead role?

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Paramount raised eyebrows a few years' back over the choice of…

A strong opening chapter is akin to a shop window

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The first chapter is your shop window. You simply can’t afford to take any risks with it.

Best screenplay – for a silent film!

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How on earth do you go about writing a screenplay for a film without dialogue? Imagine trying that with a full-length novel?

Character names really do matter

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If you think about it, the average novel will introduce about 20 or 30 different characters – from the hero or heroine (and their closest friends & family) right through to all the people they need to encounter in the various twists and turns of a story. So where does an author start the naming process?

Writing a book is like starting a business – well almost!

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At the top of the tree are authors, many of whom have to pursue their passion on a part-time basis in the hope of establishing themselves to an extent that will enable them to make the jump to a full-time profession. In the meantime, they sacrifice family life, social life, and a whole lot besides, in a single-minded – yet realistic – determination to turn their creative skills into a career.