When I’m editing fiction and making notes in the margins of a manuscript, there are a couple of comments I make more often than any others. One of them is ‘show, don’t tell’, and another is ‘focus on the story’. What’s my book about? A piece of advice I often give to writers is to…… Continue reading #Writing: How to keep focused on the central idea of your story, and why it matters
Some books contain unforgettable characters. Those that spring to mind for me straightaway are Cormoran Strike in the Robert Galbraith novels, Lila and Lenu in My Brilliant Friend, Anne of Green Gables, Miss Jean Brodie, Scarlett O’Hara, D’Artagnan and the three Musketeers. The characters in these books are almost like real people to me. I have…… Continue reading How to Develop Characters That Live and Breathe #writing
It’s another month, and time for a Round Robin, and this month author Rhobin Courtwright has given us another excellent topic to mull over: Secondary characters have many functions in stories. Have you ever had a secondary character surprise you in some way? How? Who are your favourite secondary characters – in your own work…… Continue reading The greatest secondary characters in fiction – and when they aren’t really secondary
It’s time for another Round Robin post, and this month’s topic is: Do you feel certain genres stereotype men and women? Why do you think that happens? How do you prevent it in your writing? My short answers to those three questions are: I feel all genres are guilty of stereotyping, not just some of…… Continue reading Gender stereotyping in books: why it’s boys who really suffer
Helena Fairfax 