Pantsing is just writing a very long, expensive outline
There's a long-running debate in writing circles between “plotters” and “pantsers.” Plotters outline their stories in advance. Pantsers fly by the seat…
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The mistakes everyone makes in their first chapter
First chapters are hard. They're ones I always spend the most time worrying at. You're trying to do everything at once: establish character, set up the world,…
The three questions every scene must answer
David Mamet — playwright, screenwriter, and famously direct writing teacher — articulated three questions that I now use constantly. Whenever a scene isn't…
Wear the silly shirt
Robert Rankin — the wonderfully strange author of *The Antipope* and *The Brentford Triangle* — once gave me a piece of advice that sounded like a joke but…
Tropes that need a long rest
Every genre has its clichés. Patterns that once felt fresh, got repeated, and are now so worn that readers groan when they see them coming. Here are some SFF…
Rule of ten
When you're stuck, force yourself to generate ten ideas. Not three. Not five. Ten. The first few will be obvious — the same tired solutions everyone reaches…
Contraints create genius
Quentin Tarantino had $1.2 million to make Reservoir Dogs. No money for elaborate heists, car chases, or fancy locations. So he did what every good filmmaker…
Trust your readers
One thing I've really had to rely on while cutting the book down was the idea that your readers are smarter than you think. They don't need every connection…
Say it loud
Following on from yesterday's post on how I cut 45,000 words without losing my story, I've realised there's one more trick for getting your word-count down.…
Write what makes you happy
I mentioned yesterday how the editor I'm working with immediately saw the flaws in my novel. The crucial issue was that I'd got confused with my target…