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It’s not a Writing Group, it’s Therapy
I have a number of books on my shelf about the art of writing. Some of them are great reads, usually because they’re funny and enable me to laugh at negative writing traits I see in myself. ‘How not to write a novel’ was particularly entertaining in that regard. Some of the best aren’t intended…
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Goregrinder by Terminal Panda
We’re absolutely on the brink of writing some prose. In fact, I had the chance to view part of Heide’s first draft for the “Dating” chapter which made me laugh out loud in a public place (always a good sign). I, unlike Heide, am afraid to just start with a cool idea and hit the…
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The Clovenhoof Bible
At this point in time, Heide and I are knee-deep in planning individual chapters of the Clovenhoof novel (have I mentioned we still need a cool title?). We’re perhaps even only days away from writing some actual prose. However, the more detailed our planning and plotting has become, the more we need to co-ordinate our…
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Why are the film adaptations of Harry Potter good but the novelisations of the Star Wars films not?
I have this theory which has almost no justification or evidence to support it but which I hold to be almost inviolably true. Adaptations of stories from one media to another can be an improvement or a degradation of the story and whether the story is elevated or degenerated by adaptation is almost wholly dependent…
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Hell: A Visitor’s Guide
In our story, Satan has been fired from his diabolical management position and evicted from hell. In our current plans, one possible reason for his removal from office is that some other fiendish individual wishes to seize the reins of power in hell. But why would they do that? What kind of real estate are…
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A work in progress
I had never realised that drawing pretty lines on a roll of wallpaper could be such a useful plotting tool. With the wallpaper activity, Heide and I were able to visualise and share our vision of Satan’s ups and downs in his story. I, because I’m a geek, went home and turned it into a…
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Mythic Story Structure
I’m only going to mention this briefly because there is far more information available on this elsewhere on the web and written by far more lucid writers than myself. The three act structure, with its origins arguably found in theatre also resonates with the mythic story structure suggested by Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell, particularly in…
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Plotting Our Story: Movie, TV Series or Novel
Yeah, I’m going to write about plotting again because, although I’ve laid out my interpretation of the three act structure, how we use that in plotting a whole piece depends upon what kind of piece it’s going to be. I’m going to consider three options: the movie, the TV series and the novel. Now, Heide…
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Plot Structure
As I have mentioned in a previous blog, I am a big planner when it comes to writing and I believe that almost any decent story beyond a certain length has to follow certain rules of story. Most of us write stories following these rules without even knowing they are there. We can also consciously…
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The Adventures of Mr Clovenhoof
After the Birmingham Writer’s Group meeting last night, we sat in the pub and played the index card game again. We asked everyone around the table to write a chapter heading from our novel beginning with the words, “Mr Clovenhoof…” Once again, the results were brilliant. Heide and I gathered them together and tried to…