All posts tagged: writing tips

Great Fantasy Prophecies.

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Prophecies can add a fascinating plotline to a novel, giving the book depth, mystery and intrigue.  It also instills the story with a great sense of importance – as if the ages were just waiting for this one conjuncture of events, or particular character to come to prominence.  It can sometimes be found in historical novels, but it is fantasy writing that the use of prophecy is far more common, becoming almost an art form in itself.  Many readers may think that creating a fictitious prophecy would be straightforward, but it certainly isn’t, and it is especially difficult if you wish to imbue it with a high level of mystery and complexity.  After sprinkling prophecy throughout Game of Thrones, George R R Martin said ‘Prophecies are, you know, a double edge sword.  You have to handle them very carefully; I mean, they can add depth and interest to a book, but you don’t want to be too literal or too easy…’ http://www.adriasnews.com escume.deviantart.com George R R Martin, Game of Thrones So let’s look at how …

A Spanish adventure to write about…

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Sometimes starting a new novel can be difficult, not least because the sheer scale of the work involved can be daunting.  Do I really want to commit so much of my time to such an arduous project? Fortunately, it isn’t all hard work, and the pluses always out-way the negatives.  One such example is going away to do the groundwork for a historical novel.  I recently took a holiday to Northern Spain to research the sequel to my novel Roman Mask.  Spain might seem a surprising destination for those who are familiar with Roman Mask, as so much of that story is set in the forests of Germany, and I’m guessing many readers would expect any sequel to also be entwined into that dark mist-shrouded and menacing landscape.  However, without giving too much away, my story involves the brother of Julius Arminius, and takes my main character Cassius to a completely different land and will show how the disaster in the Teutoburg forest had far reaching effects throughout the Roman world. Spain was always an incredibly …

10 books that will teach you to read like a writer. Guest Post by Kory M. Shrum

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What are the first steps we take to become writers?  The most important starting point, is to love books ourselves, and to be avid readers.  Kory M. Shrum The successful author of the Jesse Sullivan fantasy series, who has well over 300 Amazon reviews for her  novel Dying for a Living has taken this a step further and explains in this insightful guest post how a writer should read.  She has given strong examples to support her case and shows how much we can learn from other masters of the craft.  So I will pass you over to Kory… Thomas M D Brooke 10 books that will teach you to read like a writer. Before I tell you about the books, let me answer this question: Why SHOULD you read like a writer? It’s important to read like a writer for a couple of reasons.  A reader who is reading like a reader does so for pleasure mostly. Or to be informed about a certain topic or idea. Contrastly, a writer reads to study to the craft. A writer will be …

Somewhere to write…

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So far in this blog I’ve written a few articles on the process I use when I write, the aspects of writing that are important to me, and also how I avoid issues such as writers block.  This time I want to discuss WHERE I write.  This may seem strange topic, as everyone’s situation is different, and a where a writer lives should never be a hindrance to writing – after all, most of my writing is done from my South London flat which is hardly exceptional.  However, sometimes London doesn’t provide the necessary inspiration, or the peace and tranquility to write my best work.  It may be because I am approaching a particularly difficult section of a novel, or I just feel flat and not in the correct frame of mind.  In these situations there is just one place for me to go, and that is my family’s cottage in Northumberland.  Far from the nearest city or town, the cottage truly is isolated in the Cheviot Hills, alone on a hilltop miles from the …

Thinking of writing your first book? This is my writing process.

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Recently a friend of mine sent me an email.  She told me how much she used to enjoy writing, but over the years she had let her passion fall away.  She told me that the release of my novel rekindled her desire to write, but was unsure how to start.  She wondered if I could help.  I wasn’t sure if I could, as I have absolutely no idea whether my method of writing could be of any use to anyone other than myself.  But I figured it couldn’t hurt to try, so I sent her a breakdown of the process I use in constructing a novel.  There are no big secrets here, so if anyone else is interested in how I write, this is it.  I must make it clear that different writers, have different methods, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers. This is just the process I use when writing. Please forgive the informal and personal tone of this post, remember, it was written in the form of a letter originally. …

Process of building a character #books #writingtips

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If you want to write a novel, you will need well rounded and believable characters to pull your readers along with the story.  For readers to care what happens at the end of a book, you will need to forge a connection between them and your characters. Different authors will have a variety of different approaches to constructing characters for their novels.  Some will take a more ad-hoc approach, and develop them along the way.  But for myself, if I am going to create realistic characters, it is important to map out their characteristics at the planning stage of a novel – after all, you wouldn’t start writing a book without knowing what your plot is going to be, so why should the characters be any different?  They are just as vital to your novel so it is worthwhile spending some time on character development before you start writing.   These are the stages I go through when putting my characters together – you can play around with the order, nothing here is set in stone. picture from …

What I love about writing… #writing

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picture from en.wikipedia.org What do I love about writing most? Well, it’s the same things that made me such an avid reader in the first place.  Books have the ability to transport us to new worlds, or periods of time that are otherwise completely locked away from us.  The immersion can be so deep from a novel that we can imagine every step that any given character makes, and it is bringing those same characters to life that is the greatest joy for me as a writer. A book needs to be well written and full of descriptive passages, as they play an essential part in setting a scene and giving the writer’s world depth.  But it is the characters within that world, their hopes, wishes, loves, and desires that will make the story come to life.  When constructing a character for a novel, you want to be able to really get under their skin, understand all their passions and frustrations, their strengths but equally their weaknesses.  Only then can you understand how they will …

A new widget has appeared…

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You may notice that a new widget has popped up to the side of my blog.  This is my Goodreads bookshelf that shows a few of the books I’ve been reading recently.  Goodreads is like a Facebook for book readers, where readers can compare the books they read, write reviews, and join discussion groups.  As an author I get an author page so others can follow me, and this blog now feeds directly into my Goodreads page – so if you’re reading this there, welcome!   I am new to Goodreads and to be honest I’m a bit lost navigating my way around it, but it looks to have lots of features I’m looking forward to exploring in the coming weeks.   Being so new, I don’t have many followers or friends on it yet, so if you’re on Goodreads already come find me, or if you want to join make sure you add me as a friend as soon as you do as I could do with some company on the site!  However, I already have …

How to avoid writer’s block whilst writing your novel #writing #writingtips

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Writer’s block can come in many different forms.  For some it will mean they literately cannot write a word and stare at the screen, for others it means they can write but hate everything they do.  Others will get stuck coming up with ideas, whilst some will never finish a story as they don’t like the direction it is heading.  So what can we do about this? Well, there are no hard and fast rules here, and no cure-all fixes.  Each writer is different and they may have their own way of tackling this issue.  I’m not saying mine is any better or worse than theirs – this is just what has worked for me when I wrote my two novels. Firstly, let’s think about our writing environment.  If the only time you think about writing is when you sit yourself in front of your PC or typewriter you might be making life hard for yourself.  People often ask me how long I spend writing – as if it is a quantifiable amount of work that …