The Priceless Value of Story Premises
It might be a rare occasion (perhaps at a party) when someone finds out that you’re writing a book and asks you ‘What’s it about?’ — but...
Theme and ‘Losing the Plot’
Some time ago, there was a feature in the Inner Circle Writers’ Group on Facebook called ‘Thematic Thursday’. The idea was to give a...
How to Be a Writer Part 1
‘The writing life is not an easy one’ — a sentiment sometimes voiced by writers. To which my wife would probably reply ‘Woe is your...
Why You Should Avoid Opinionated Editors
Something came up recently in a social media group which I thought it might be prudent to address, as many of you are probably running...
Writing Fiction: What's the Point? Part Six
Some scenarios: To give you more of an idea on how this all fits together, let’s take a look at a series of examples of how the Focusing...
Writing Fiction: What's the Point? Part Five
If you’ve been following this series of articles, you will have discerned that the Focusing Protocol is subtle. The more subtle, the...
Writing Fiction: What's the Point? Part Four
To inject drama (and create vacuums) into any situation, polarise things: split poles apart, separate them with space and barriers,...
Writing Fiction: What's the Point? Part Three
The Focusing Protocol is a method for bringing about something called ‘analytic/imaginative dissociation’, or encouraging the prospective...
Writing Fiction: What's the Point? Part Two
We’re looking at the Focusing Protocol, which is essentially a method for inducing a reading trance — not a hypnotic trance, but that...