the business and craft of writing
Now that I’ve wiped the tears from my eyes, I can finally put together a post on this beautiful book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
For those of you new to the Book Club, we discuss best-selling novels from a writer’s perspective to see what makes them tick. As in the last Book Club discussion, I’ll pose some questions under the following headings:
Sometimes literature is defined by its content and other times simply by its target readership. There is ‘black’ literature, ‘feminist’ literature, ‘Christian’ literature and ‘gay’ literature; and somewhere I’m sure there’ll be black, feminist, Christian gay lit too! It may be argued that these are simply marketing niches rather than literary categories or that they are sub-genre of broader literary categories. For example, is gay literature just romance with homosexual characters? Is a Christian historical any different from an ordinary historical? Is there a more overt ‘message’ when a niche readership is catered for?
The Crafty Writer interviewed gay novelist and short story writer Jay Mandal in the hope of shedding some light on the debate. Continue reading ‘Gay literature: separate genre or marketing niche?’
For Valentine’s Day the Crafty Writer has asked Texan romance novelist Pollyanna Williamson (aka Tambra Kendall and Kelia Greer) to tell us a bit more about writing for this genre. And if you’re more interested in how much the flower industry generates than sighing over the roses, perhaps these figures will turn you on:
Do we have your attention? Good. Now over to Polly: Continue reading ‘Romance fiction: more than just sex’
Welcome to the very first Crafty Writer Book Club discussion. As promised, we’ll be looking at Val McDermid’s The Grave Tattoo from a writer’s perspective. I’ll get the discussion rolling by posing a few questions or making comments relating to the following:
American author Marvin Wilson has released his second novel, Owen Fiddler, as an E-book and is currently on a whirlwind cyber book tour. Being a bit of an e-book skeptic, I was so intrigued by his in-your-face and innovative promotion tactics that I decided to find out a bit more about the project: Continue reading ‘An e-book story’
It’s a new year, so time for a new initiative: the Crafty Writer’s Book Club. Unlike most other book clubs or reading groups, this will focus on learning the business and craft of writing.
At the beginning of each month we will nominate a book to read from the current bestsellers’ lists, then, at the end of the month we will discuss the book and see how the author put together a top-selling product. We will look at creative writing techniques such as plotting, characterisation, style and structure and see what we can learn, as well as considering the book’s genre and market placement. Although I will be leading the discussions, my hope is that you all will be willing to contribute and that we can learn from each other’s views on what makes (or does not make) the book tick. If you have not already done so, you may want to work through my free Introduction to Creative Writing course, which will give you a foundation from which to start commenting. Continue reading ‘Crafty Writer’s Book Club Launch’
In this final session in the Crafty Writer’s Introduction to Creative Writing course, I would like to leave you with some advice on how to develop your writing further. If you’re so inclined, you can join a writers’ group (for UK groups; for US and international groups) or an online critiquing group (for poetry and short stories). Be warned though, you may have to ’shop around’ as many of these groups are filled with people who will just nod and smile and not give you constructive advice. Sometimes, you may have to pay for a critique to ensure you get a truly objective and constructive perspective. Continue reading ‘Creative Writing - markets, competitions and opportunities’
This is the sixth session in my eight-part course on creative writing. This week we’ll be looking at
In my experience as a creative writing teacher I’ve discovered that there are two types of writers: those who are good at dialogue, and those who are not. If you are good at dialogue, make sure you’re not just writing a script; if you’re poor at dialogue, you need to allow your characters to break out of their headspace and address the reader face-to-face. Continue reading ‘Creative writing - dialogue’
In this fifth session in my free creative writing course, we will be looking at characterisation. In creative writing we become, in a way, like God. In short stories, novels and poems, we construct a world then fill it with people who take on a life of their own. Iris Murdoch described a novel as ‘a fit house for free characters to live in’. How far a literary construct can have free will is an ongoing philosophical debate; more pertinent to writers is whether plot should follow character or the other way around. Continue reading ‘Creative Writing - Characterisation’
When you start writing, just showing your work – especially fiction – to anyone else is a nerve-wracking experience: assuming, of course, you don’t have such a gargantuan ego that you believe everything you do is wonderful. To those people, you may move along, nothing to see here, for you will learn nothing and never become a better writer. To the rest of us mortals who are prepared to have our hopes, dreams and very sense of self crushed beneath the withering sarcasm of others, good. There may be hope. Continue reading ‘Fiction know how - getting feedback’
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