creative writing | creative life
What I've Been Doing by Jen Storer Researching and writing The main character in my new middle grade novel is from 'old money'. She lives in a rambling country mansion. Indeed she does. So I went to Buda in Castlemaine and had a poke around. Got the 'old money vibe'. Fantasised. Pretended. Reminisced. (I have …
We had an amazing thread going in the Duck Pond, last week. We were talking about ‘quiet’ books. You know the type. Gentle, nuanced, often deep. The kind of books that leave a mark, make you think. Perhaps even make you clever… Manuscripts (whether adult fiction or kidlit) often get rejected on the grounds …
WordPress just sent me a screaming message, 'You haven't written anything yet!' (Their exclamation mark btw.) How rude! I'm going to ignore that and write anyway... A quick blog post on a brisk winter's morning, dear reader. I've been creating an eCourse of late. Dum de dum. I've created several eCourses in my time. But …
Continue reading "How to find clarity in a muddled project. Plus, final call for my FREE eCourse."
Here at HQ (aka The Palace) I’ve been thinking about narrative arcs. Story arcs. Those things what you hang a story on… Pesky, aren’t they? Exposition Rising action Climax Falling action Resolution My friend refers to stories with saggy arcs as ‘souffle stories’. They sink in the middle. Nice! Here’s my simile: Writing fiction is like skiing. The …
Continue reading "Story arcs made simple! Plus, how I wrote my first book."