CLARENDON HOUSE PUBLICATIONS

Writing fiction is a wild thing.   Writers who just want to write can do whatever they like. They can take words, or even letters, and put them in any order; they can even make up letters of their own. If they form words, they can string them together randomly for as long as they like. Whole paragraphs, chapters, page upon page, can be devised in whichever way they wish, if they just want to write.   Just like a painter can take a brush and splash colours at random over a can

Let’s talk about the alchemy of dreams.   Many writers enter the fray wanting to become rich from their writings. Very many of them hope to be able to write a best-selling book which will not only make them famous, but will provide them with money for the rest of their lives. Just one book. So good, though, that Hollywood will call and offer vast sums to turn it into a movie. Then the movie will take off at the box office, thus ensuring abundant wealth for decades…   It’s a c

There are seven types of writer.   At the top of the writing tree are master authors.   Master authors can write something of any length, in any genre. They can transport readers from almost anywhere to almost anywhere else, mentally emotionally, spiritually. They are experts in conjuring up grand ideas and images, capturing attention, gaining commitment, structuring masterpieces, commanding respect and enchanting readers with style. Their works resonate with fulfilment and c

In earlier articles about marketing for writers, we learned that marketing is largely the same as writing.   ‘What??’ I hear you protest, especially if you haven’t read the earlier articles.   It’s true though: just as our imagination selects out key elements from the depths of our imaginations and then places them in a carefully crafted sequence to build an effective story, so does marketing select out key publics from the populations of the planet and then places a campaign

Why would writers not want to improve their craft?   One possible answer is that many writers don’t realise that there is such a thing as ‘craft’ or that it has anything to do with them.   ‘Craft’ is defined in the dictionary as ‘an activity involving skill in making things by hand’ and comes from the Old English word cræft , meaning ’strength, skill’. I think the problem probably arises because writers have a misunderstanding about the ‘thing’ which they are making. They thi

If you have been following this series of articles about marketing, you should know by now that it is a lot less mysterious than it seems, provided that you apply certain principles.   What happens more often than not in practice is that a conventional writer crafts a book, which is hopefully designed to create a particular impact upon readers; this is then prepared for publication; then, in traditional publishing, a separate entity called ‘the publisher’ pumps it out into th

In the last article in this series, we pictured writing as the practice of digging attention-controlling channels to guide your readers towards the protagonist, along the line of the plot and then finally to the great ‘lake of fulfilment’ where the story achieves its success in the hearts of readers. For more about the craft of writing, please see the book How Stories Really Work .   In the earlier article, we weren’t looking at the craft of writing particularly - we were loo

Most writers see ‘marketing’ as a distinct activity. You finish your book, you go through the rigmarole of editing, and you get it out there into the marketplace. Job done.   In fact, unless you are working closely with a traditional publisher - and in many cases these days, even if you are - your job is far from over.   It goes like this: you have an idea for a story. You are driven by that idea and the images that go with it to eventually sit down and extract from yourself

I’ve read a lot lately about morality in art. You might have seen the same kind of thing, especially with the current wave of allegations against senior figures in the entertainment industry. Corruption, crime and immorality should be shunned and cast out wherever it is found. The issue of how this affects art has been around for much longer though: it’s the question of to what degree should we modify our views about a work of art (including a performance) based upon what we