All Entries Tagged With: "novel"
Skull Cinema
I get no time to write creatively these days, and I don’t do a whole lot of reading outside that which is required for my work. I miss both, and for the same reason: Skull Cinema. This was a phrase coined by Stephen King. It describes the imaginary movie projector inside a reader’s head that [...]
Grow Up
I was amused the other day to read that JK Rowling is writing her first adult fiction novel. Did you hear that, all you post-pubescent Potter fans? Her FIRST adult fiction novel. Well, doesn’t that just pee all over your fiery protestations that the Harry Potter books are not children’s books? Straight from the horse’s [...]
Amoebas
Who out there is ambitious about their writing? Who wants to write a blockbuster novel or pen a Hollywood screenplay? I don’t expect anyone will admit to it. That’s okay, I get it. No one really wants to engage when the topic of ambition rears its ugly head. It all seems a bit seedy and [...]
Internet Killed the Writing Star
The Buggles wrote a little ditty back in 1979 called “Video Killed the Radio Star”. It bemoaned the coming age of music videos, portending a career death to all those singers and groups who had once made their living from the radio. Stupid song, really. The singers and groups all inevitably ended up making music [...]
Morsmorde
Apparently, in Harry Potter spell-speak, that word means to “Conjure the Dark Mark”. I don’t know what that refers to in Harry Potterland, nor do I give a crap, but I like it. I think I may have a website called that. I’m a dour sod at times. Dark Mark. That’s me. Dark Mark Pepper. [...]
Floating Boats
I’m going to do something strange: I’m going to be constructive. I have donned my Tumblemoose trapper’s hat, and I’m going to offer some advice, á la George. Note that I didn’t say I’m going to be positive. That may also happen, we’ll just have to see. Let’s chat about novels. I know you’re writing [...]
Do You Really Wanna Write? Do Ya?
In a cinematic precursor to his current real-life lunacy, Mel Gibson played a nut-job cop in the Lethal Weapon films. In his first outing as Detective Martin Riggs, he grabbed the chance to talk a jumper out of throwing himself off a high-rise. Having handcuffed himself to the potential suicide, Riggs (suicidal himself) quickly gets [...]
Raising the Stakes
Most creative writers spend their lives searching for the concept that will take the world by storm. If you’re attempting to write a novel and you’re not thinking this way, I would say your chances of making it are on a par with Iran’s chances of not getting bombed into oblivion by Israel if it [...]
The Online-Offline Chestnut
I’m not sure how much debate really exists about this. I have seen one or two blogs arguing on this topic, and the issue surrounding the pros and cons of online versus offline freelance writing nowadays would surely have to favour the online argument in terms of your chances of earning regular money, if not [...]
