Category Archive

Character Experience in Deep Point of View Characters experience the story world through raw visceral and intellectual information that comes at them from other characters and their environment, but how does that translate onto the page? When you’re writing in Limited Third Person Point of View (POV), moving into Deep POV draws readers even closer to the character by removing any trace of the author. This has the benefit of enabling readers to experience the story like the character does, so they can be completely immersed in that world. When something is happening to the character, you only show what …

I’ve watched with admiration and pride at the number of fellow authors who are kicking butt in the independent publishing arena. It’s wonderful to see so many brilliant books finding their way out into the world. Many of you have unlocked the secrets to advertising and have built amazing newsletter audiences. But how many of you have the magic, all-purpose key to book publicity? What’s that, you say? Magic? All-purpose? And the best part, it will cost you as little as nothing to whatever your budget allows. It’s called … (drumroll please!) …  your AUTHOR MEDIA KIT. Media Savvy will …

Did you know that the words glamour and grammar originated from the same roots? The original Greek effectively translates as the art of letters. In the Middle Ages grammatica or gramaire usually referred to learning in general and included the study, not only of Greek and Latin, but also of astrology, magic and the occult. In Scotland, such learning was pronounced glamour and was also synonymous with enchantment and magical beauty. And isn’t this what we all aim to do with our writing – enchant our readers? Though sadly, the words glamour and grammar have long since parted company, this …

Show, Don’t Tell. It’s an adage we’ve all heard, in some form or other, during our time as a writer. But what does it actually mean? I promise you now, you’re not the first person to ask that question. It’s a pretty ambiguous statement, and over my years in writing I’ve heard a lot of different answers – which, of course, only serves to elevate confusion. Whether you’re an author beginning your journey, someone starting to find their feet or a writer with thirty books and decades of experience, I’m sure you’ve suffered from the confusion associated with this concept …

RWA Academy Online One-on-One Course Have you ever read a book where something happened, and it made you stop, and go ‘but that character would never have / couldn’t do…’? It leaves you feeling annoyed, and breaks you out of the story, doesn’t it? Have you ever written yourself into that sort of corner? Where you would have to make your character do something ‘out of character’ or beyond their physical capabilities, to get them out of that corner? If you said yes to any of that, then you’ve experienced the problems which get created when you don’t make sure …