Yearly Archives: 2019

Read more about the article Crime Writers’ Daily Writing Habits

Crime Writers’ Daily Writing Habits

Crime Writers’ Writing Habits I thought it would be fun to select a few crime writers and discuss their writing – or not – habits! Much emphasis is placed on ritual and routine when it comes to art, but as these few examples show, every writer is different. Ian Fleming (1908-1964) Ian Fleming described himself as a writer rather than an author and writing in an article on the topic or writing he suggested that writing 2,000 words per day, five days a week for six weeks enabled him to produce his first draft for his Bond novels. The novels he produced were around 60,000 words which is acceptable in series writing even to this day. Agatha Christie (1890-1976) Agatha Christie didn’t have a special room to write in and carried notebooks around and jotted down plots, labelling her notebooks. She wrote longhand and then typed it up later. In later life she dictated her books. She never had a daily routine of writing and would nip off to write when the opportunity presented itself it. Strangely, it appears that Agatha Christie was the only one of these four to admit to having difficulties writing with the process causing her much stress at times. And yet it is Christie’s works that are among the world’s top bestsellers with her estate claiming she is third only to Shakespeare and The Bible. Her books are still enjoyed today with Miss Marple and Poirot being crime mystery staples. I remember seeing The Mousetrap on stage in London, the longest running play in London still enjoyed by so many readers today. Dorothy L Sayers (1893-1957) Dorothy L Sayers wrote at night as she worked full time for a London advertising agency. I couldn’t find  anything written about her habits but would assume that as one of…

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Read more about the article An author’s take on reviews

An author’s take on reviews

Bad Reviews: Do they make or break authors? I’ve recently come across a number of posts by authors on social media feeling hurt by negative reviews. The temptation is to want to hit back, have the reviews removed (not going to happen), or be reassured by others that the reviewer is the enemy which is not the case.  When I received my first one-star review, like so many authors before me, I was devastated. How can someone dismiss my work out of hand when it took months and months to create something decent enough to put out there? It turns out, quite easily in fact because mostly it’s not personal. It was amazing how, in spite of loads of positive reviews, all I could see was that one-star - I read it over and over - it was almost like self-mutilation. Many authors respond in the same way because we are seemingly programmed to focus on the negatives! I have since realised that bad reviews are quite acceptable and the one and two star reviewer is entitled to his/her opinion, after all that’s what the review process is all about. Not only that, but when I got things in perspective, I realised I had arrived as an author. Every author has one-star reviews at some point. The reality is that not everyone is going to like your book. Once an author puts their work out there, its in the public domain and someone, somewhere is not going to like it. Some reviewers will be just plain rude about it.  Since that first low star review, I have developed a thicker skin in terms of reviews but if the reviewer offers any useful nuggets of information as to why they didn’t like the book rather than comments like, ‘utter drivel’, I will…

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Read more about the article Writing a Memoir

Writing a Memoir

By Dawn Brookes, bestselling author of  Hurry up Nurse: memoirs of nurse training in the 1970s. Recently I gave a talk at a local church to an interesting group of people, most of whom could write great memoirs if they had a mind to. We all have a story to tell, so if you've ever considered writing your own memoir but don't know where to start, read on... Memoir or Autobiography First of all you need to decide whether their focus is on your whole life story (an autobiography) or on one aspect of your life, bringing in themes, memories and anecdotes that highlight that theme (a memoir). To be honest, unless you're famous or writing for posterity, a memoir is likely to be more readable that an autobiography! Having said that, who knows? Reasons for Writing People have different reasons for writing a memoir or autobiography, some of which are listed below: Personal–writing for posterity, familyAs branding –e.g. running a businessTeach somethingPublishing–writing to publish You don't have to be famous, but it helps! This was a screenshot of the top 17 books listed in the bestseller list of Amazon's memoir/biography section at the time I prepared my talk. Spot the famous people! That said, there are some who weren't well-known prior to writing their biography or memoir. When you niche down, it makes a difference as shown in this screenshot of the bestsellers in nursing category where two of my books feature in the top 18! If I'd taken a screenshot of the US Amazon store, niching down, my book would be top, where it has been for the past 16 months, but hey, that's just showing off! My point is, you can do well within your area of expertise if you're writing a memoir. This only matters if you're considering publishing of course.…

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Read more about the article Spring & Seasonal Reading

Spring & Seasonal Reading

Spring is Here! Spring is probably my favourite season. As that first flower emerges, new life starts to appear after the winter when everything that lay dormant comes to life again! I always feel invigorated at this time of year, and renewed energy helps me focus on new ideas. I like to write ideas down as they come to me and have a notebook for this purpose. Seasonal Stories Some authors write seasonal books, not only to generate sales all year round, but also to capture the feeling of the season or month they are in. My plots continue all year round and are not intended to be seasonal. That said - quite by chance, I have written a couple of children’s books inspired by the seasons. Ava & Oliver’s Bonfire Night Adventure obviously centres around November 5th. I wrote that one as I’m not a fan of Halloween, and the traditional bonfire night appears to be waning. Ava & Oliver’s Christmas Nativity Adventure focusses on preparations for a church nativity play using real animals, I love that book! My favourite, because its based in my favourite season, is Danny the Caterpillar. Seasonal books for children not only sell books, they help children learn about nature and the traditions that we all cherish as part of our culture, and that’s why I think they’re important and there remains a place for them. Spring Cruise for Rachel Prince! My Rachel Prince mystery series is based on a cruise ship, and despite Rachel being able to travel the world through all the seasons, they are obviously holiday focussed. That doesn’t mean they can only be read on holiday, though. The latest book, Killer Cruise follows Rachel on a spring cruise – get the gist! It’s not my intention to make the books seasonal,…

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Plotter, Pantser or Planter

Plotter, Pantser or Planter? You may have heard the term plotter and probably pantser and I've been mulling these writing styles over in my head and while doing so I've come up with a combination of the two, planter! What on earth is she talking about? All will become clear... Plotters In terms of writing, a plotter is a person who sits down and outlines a plot of their story following a structured approach. This approach will most likely drill down to chapter headings and a rough outline of the contents of each chapter ending with a finale.  A story outline such as this is a requirement for submissions to agents and/or publishers and it is an approach many authors follow rigidly. Pantser The opposite to a plotter, the pantser sits down and writes, allowing their creativity to take over. There is no plan, the story develops itself on the hoof as the author writes. Authors who rebel against the traditional plotting already mentioned might swear by this approach arguing that the former inhibits their creative side.  Some people argue that pantsing results in better stories while others say that it is damaging. Who's right? Neither. It's whatever works for the author or more importantly, the reader as he/she is the ultimate judge of whether it is working. Planter  In reality many authors use a combination of the two approaches and you can see what I've done here - creating one word from the two. I personally use a combination and when I was playing with this word initially it was a bit of fun.  The more I think about it though, planting is what I do as an author. I have a seed of an idea, I start to write and for me as the story develops or the plant…

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