Those of you who have been following this blog from the beginning will know that the relationship between character and plot is one of my favourite subjects. The way the two run together, informing and supporting each other, is what makes brilliant writing. In a recent post I mentioned that I had a run-in between... Continue Reading →
The title of this post comes from Fringe, the excellent sci-fi show about parallel universes. I used it because this post concerns parallel universes of a sort: the kind that come about in different drafts of a novel. Things can change drastically from one draft to the next, and I believe the draft below demonstrates... Continue Reading →
The question I most get asked is, "Where do you get your ideas from?" In second place is, "How do you do it? I could never write a book." There's a saying that everyone has a book inside them. I agree with this. But not everyone has the right combination of motivation, enthusiasm, inspiration and... Continue Reading →
The rather extraneous title of today's post serves to illustrate the feeling all writers get when their characters start running away from them in new and often unwanted directions. It sounds clichéd, but it really is true: your characters will come to have a life of their own. Hopefully this post will help you corral... Continue Reading →
So I've started work on the next book, wasting no time. I thought it would be fun to keep you all updated with progress reports, all under the banner of 'Lifting the Lid'. So far I have sketched out a rough plan and finished first drafts of the prologue and chapter one. This is as... Continue Reading →
Matthew Wainwright, Children's Author 