START THE WEEK with a writing exercise: Creating a Dark Character
AS WRITERS WE NEED people to do bad things: they create story. They may not be the heart of your writing, the central core, but they kickstart action and reaction. … Continue reading
Our stories are as unique as snowflakes – Donald Maass QUOTES FOR WRITERS
…We may have dens with trophies on the mantles, but when we tell the stories of our lives, we relate the meaning of things that happened and describe how we … Continue reading
Could you give a bad ending to a good character? Kate Atkinson’s views might be a bit unfashionable…QUOTES FOR WRITERS
The legacy of the fairy story in my brain is that everything will work out. In fiction it would be very hard for me, as a writer, to give a … Continue reading
If you want to write a story you only have one goal…
‘Good story’ means something worth telling that the world wants to hear. Finding this is your lonely task…But the love of a good story, of terrific characters and a world … Continue reading
Do all this and “it doesn’t matter a damn how well you write” – Somerset Maugham QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how well you write. Somerset Maugham
Authors really only like one kind of character – Terry Pratchett QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
For an author, the nice characters aren’t much fun. What you want are the screwed up characters. You know, the characters that are constantly wondering if what they are doing … Continue reading
Don’t expect the puppets of your mind to turn into people on the page…QUOTES FOR WRITERS
Don’t expect the puppets of your mind to become the people of your story. If they are not realities in your own mind, there is no mysterious alchemy in ink … Continue reading
Inspiring pictures for Writers – Everyday Superhero by Eric Bowman
She’s real, isn’t she? And strong. And deserves to be the star of her own story. Eric Bowman is a self-taught artist from California who was a surfboard airbrush technician … Continue reading
When you and your main character are the same person…Celia Brayfield. Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
There is is a kind of character burn-out which is more than just a temporary failure of invention. This happens when you project yourself too far into a character – … Continue reading
The Complete Character Masterclass – special offer
BEACH HUT WRITING ACADEMY PRESENTS: Under their skin: the complete character masterclass This intensive workshop with a thriller author and a senior psychologist helps you to create compelling, convincing characters, … Continue reading
How to get your character right by Ethan Canin – Quotes for Wtiters (and people who like quotes)
Don’t write about a character. Become that character, and then write your story. ETHAN CANIN photo credit: Steven Pisano via photopin cc
Writing from the Dark Side: Jane Lythell talks about the flawed characters in her novels
Jane and I belong to the same group of authors – the Beach Hut Writers – and, although we’ve met before, we really got talking when we shared a table … Continue reading
Do you know where Dickens got the character Scrooge from? It was a bit of mistake actually…
It is clear from any Dickens’ novel that the great man enjoyed names. His friend and biographer, John Forster, said that Dickens made “characters real existences, not by describing them … Continue reading
Monday creative writing exercise because it’s a good way to start the week. Character study
You are in some kind of a waiting room: the accident and emergency department of a hospital, attending a job interview, waiting to be interviewed by the police after witnessing … Continue reading
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 