It’s official. I want a divorce. Not from my wife, of course. She’s the loveliest creature on this good earth, and no matter how hard things get in this marriage the D-word is one that will never come up. No, I would like a divorce from this novel. I have hit a period in the... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEDt1OxLVbM I said I would do it, and here it is: my first attempt at recording myself drafting the next section of 'The Singularity', with accompanying commentary. I'll be honest: this was a strange experience, and I'm not entirely sure of the effect it had on my output (quality, not quantity — what you see... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsPfpQuBpmE Welcome to my first ever video blog, in which I take you through my Google Docs setup and explain my thought processes behind re-drafting 'The Singularity'. I don't actually do any writing in this video — although I may upload a video later in which you can watch me struggling with a draft. Apologies... Continue Reading →
I'll say this for working at a school: the holidays are well-earned. It's quite popular these days to bash teachers and teaching staff for the amount of time they get off, but believe me: they deserve it. Imagine trying to do your job (whatever you do), with all of its paperwork, admin, on-line and off-line... Continue Reading →
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." The Bible: 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 15 A very happy Christmas, everyone. Ed
Writing a synopsis is, for most writers, nothing more and nothing less than an interminable, howling chore. I speak from experience, having struggled endlessly to condense my 150,000 word epic fantasy into 500 words or less. It was, needless to say, a low point in my creative process. Then I came upon this very helpful... Continue Reading →
As promised, here's a little peek at my process of writing. I'm just doing this in case anyone was curious. At the moment I'm doing my continuity edit on Coals of Fire: Ash, so this is a nice little interlude for you fine folk to have something slightly different. I'm also attempting to write some... Continue Reading →
The end of the first draft, for me, is always something of a cathartic experience. The ideas that have been boiling in my head for months (and, in the case of some scenes, years) are 'on the page': I've pinned them down, given them substance, made them physical. In the case of the more abstract... Continue Reading →
Well, I promised you a new Lifting the Lid, so here it is. Today I want to spend some time going over my actual process of writing; that is, the nuts and bolts of what happens when I sit down with my laptop or iPad and just write. So I'm assuming at this point that... Continue Reading →
(Slowly) making my way through sort-of second draft edits on Coals of Fire: Ash at the moment. It's interesting, the difference between writing fantasy and thrillers. I've never written a thriller before, so the experience is a new one, and I'm learning every day. One of the main lessons I've learned can be boiled down... Continue Reading →
Matthew Wainwright, Children's Author 