5 December 2014
How many pages in a chapter?
The message used to be, keep it simple. Now perhaps we should rephrase that to, keep it short. Global best-seller Patricia Cornwell reckons it is increasingly hard for a novelist to keep their readers engaged and interested. Attention spans have shrunk. Which is why she has reduced the number of pages in each chapter to… Continue Reading
The message used to be, keep it simple. Now perhaps we should rephrase that to, keep it short. Global best-seller Patricia Cornwell reckons it is increasingly hard for a novelist to keep their readers engaged and interested. Attention spans have shrunk. Which is why she has reduced the number of pages in each chapter to… Continue Reading
Once more I ponder the age-old question: what is it about apostrophes that so many people fail to understand? I am wading my way through a book edit in which two-thirds of the corrections require the deletion, placement or shifting of an apostrophe. In case you are among the perplexed masses, apostrophes do not denote… Continue Reading
My letterbox – such an old-fashioned device in these days on inboxes and outboxes – is becoming more cluttered than ever. Perhaps I should be pleased for this increased influx consists mainly of seasonal greetings. I am being wished all manner of goodwill, bonhomie and success by so many people. Well, not so much people,… Continue Reading
Well, that was some book. And for once it lived up to all the hype and praise highlighted on its covers and frontispiece. Having earlier devoured the superb The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (and now looking forward to the much-praised stage version in a few months time), I have been even… Continue Reading
A message came from a client who has written (compiled?) a 140,000-word manuscript that is in severe need of revision and correction: “I will do a bit of research on apostrophes etc as I dont (sic) know much about that stuff,” she wrote. Why are apostrophes such a big problem for so many people? Why… Continue Reading
The blackberry season is almost over. It came with great abundance and lingered long beyond its usual span. But now the fruit is squishy on the bramble and almost too fragile to pluck. Thus another blackberrying season has come and gone without the involvement it merits. The promise to oneself to carry containers on the… Continue Reading
Today I lunched in a ghost town called Lerryn. Or rather, a ghost village. And there were no actual ghosts. In fact, there were the spasmodic signs of life by way of vehicles passing through, an occasional dog-walker and one or two locals calling into the village store. Totally idyllic; so serene, picturesque and peaceful. Almost… Continue Reading
Top advice for all would-be writers and authors. “You keep your tools sharp by working all the time. We are professionals. You can’t wait for inspiration. I try to do it every day. When something good comes, you have to be prepared to polish it, carve it and chisel it; that’s the work.” – Troubadour Leonard… Continue Reading
9 September 2014
Rowling along regardless
It had to happen eventually: I have ventured into the many-worded world of the writer known as JK Rowling. I say “known as” because, fortuitously for the maintenance of her ever-growing wealth, she was revealed (with PR precision timing) as labouring also under the name of Robert Galbraith. It is through her use of this… Continue Reading
As yet another birthday approaches (the years are clearly getting shorter) two questions persist in engaging my ailing brain: why am I slowing down … and how much longer have I got? They are not issues that those of lesser years will understand; that only comes with age, and therein lies the rub. Here I… Continue Reading
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