May, 2010
Wordcount
In which I attempt to chart the process of writing a new novel from conception to delivery - via the writing, the re-writing and the not writing even though I should be.
Subscribe to WordcountOn Dialogue
“You can type this shit, George, but you sure can’t say it.” – Harrison Ford to George Lucas, during the filming of Star Wars A writer’s voice is the product of many years’ learning by doing. Then — just when you start to get good at it — they’ll tell you you’ve got ‘a good [...]
Read: On Dialogue
Introducing Luther – with love to Detective Columbo
May, 2010
You may’ve noticed this occasional blog has been a bit more occasional over the last few weeks. I’m still writing at the same rate, but the “spare” time I used to maintain Wordcount and do other things (like step away from the laptop) has been used up by the impending launch of my new TV [...]
On the Peculiar Torment of Writing Outlines
April, 2010
In an early post on this not-quite-blog, I wrote …one night I woke at 2 a.m. and had the idea. It popped into my head like the answer to a random question on a quiz show. I dashed out of bed and wrote a very rough outline in about half an hour. There followed a [...]
On Acknowledgment
March, 2010
I recently stumbled across this — crime novelist Vanda Simon talking about the experience of writing of her first novel – CS: When you were writing OVERKILL, you were a mother with two very young kids, living in Hawke’s Bay, trying to also write– what was your schedule like? Symon:[...]When I first started out I [...]
Read: On Acknowledgment
On Writing in a Cage at the Airport
March, 2010
I’ve always been drawn to those magazine articles that show writers’ dens; it’s appealing to see the sanctum sanctorum. But it’s a kind of cheap thrill too, like rifling someone’s underwear drawer or medicine cabinet. The printed text is the public persona, all primped and contrived — but this messy desk, that ancient laptop with [...]
