“Ted Hughes gave me this advice and it works wonders: record moments, fleeting impressions, overheard dialogue, your own sadnesses and bewilderments and joys.” ~ Michael Morpurgo
mystery
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Apply the Carrot and Stick to Your Story
“Carrot and stick – have protagonists pursued (by an obsession or a villain) and pursuing (idea, object, person, mystery).” ~ Michael Moorcock
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Tip to Write a Short Story
“For a good melodrama study the famous “Lester Dent master plot formula” which you can find online. It was written to show how to write a short story for the pulps, but can be adapted successfully for most stories of any length or genre.” ~ Michael Moorcock
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Stuck? Here’s Help
“If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don’t just stick there scowling at the problem. But don’t make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people’s words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.”
~ Hilary Mantel
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ How to Use Description
“Description must work for its place. It can’t be simply ornamental. It usually works best if it has a human element; it is more effective if it comes from an implied viewpoint, rather than from the eye of God. If description is coloured by the viewpoint of the character who is doing the noticing, it becomes, in effect, part of character definition and part of the action.” ~ Hilary Mantel
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Don’t Chase Perfection
“Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.”
~Neil Gaiman
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Write in Third Person or First Person?
“Write in the third person unless a really distinctive first-person voice offers itself irresistibly.”
~ Jonathan Franzen
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Write What You Like The Way You Like
“Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn’t matter how “real” your story is, or how “made up”: what matters is its necessity.” ~ Anne Enright
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Listening to the Rhythm of Dialogue
“Listen to what you have written. A dud rhythm in a passage of dialogue may show that you don’t yet understand the characters well enough to write in their voices.” ~ Helen Dunmore
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Be Kind to Yourself
“Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph. ~ Roddy Doyle
