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 →
I. It's the smallest word in the English language, yet it has the biggest implications. As writers we are concerned with the idea of self: what it means to be a human being, how people grow and develop, how we cope with problems and how we overcome adversity. Of all the viewpoints in which we... Continue Reading →
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 →
Matthew Wainwright, Children's Author 