Armed With Pens

27/03/2013

Joseph D'Lacey inspires us on Armed With Pens today in the shape of Nature: a writer's mirror.

Yes! This is it! This is the novel; the one that will change everything. It’s the best idea you’ve ever had. The world is rich, the characters fascinating and this tale of the hardships they must o...

21/02/2013

Sam Bonner talks about youth, slang and subculture in writing.

I have this friend who works as a script doctor and he told me a story about a screenplay that he had worked on which was to be partly funded by a well known British institution. The story was abou...

18/01/2013

Salt Publishing's Steve Haynes on How to choose submissions.

Submissions really can be like buses, especially if you work for an independent publisher. You can go months without anything arriving in your inbox then ten appear in a week. This usually happens around the publication of titles from your imprint; it’s the time when authors and agents remember you’...

17/12/2012

He Said She Said We Said: simple rules of dialogue attribution with award-winning author, Gary McMahon.

Okay, what’s wrong with that sentence? You. Yes, you at the back: you have ten seconds to answer. Come on now, don’t be shy. I’m waiting…

14/12/2012

Lunchtime reading for writers and editors from Solaris and Abaddon Editor-in-Chief, Jonathan Oliver.

Stories matter: commissioning fiction and personal influences.

For me, good fiction makes sense, revealing our waking lives to ourselves (and sometimes our dreams) in ways we may not have before considered; which is a rather round-about way of saying that stories matter.

12/12/2012

Great interview with Conrad Williams over on Catching Sight.

"Like any other writer I go through long bouts of self doubt. At the moment, my novel isn’t going too well – I’ve hit a bit of a wall and I’m not sure how the story should proceed – so I’m pi**ed off about that, but you have to accept that the obstacles are as much a part of writing as anything else."

http://catchingsightfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/depression-is-wonderful-muse.html

06/12/2012

Perhaps the real cause for concern here is that the author goes from using en dashes to hyphens in her article.

A new report shows that almost all such devices monitor users' activity. This doesn't really bother me, but should I be more worried?

30/11/2012

It's a beautiful frosty morning today. Has the weather inspired any writing on this picturesque but rather chilly morning?

29/11/2012

NaNoWriMo is lightweight compared to this beast of a challenge. The 30-Hour Novel.

What next? The 24-Hour, no breaks allowed, novel?

You know those crazy Yanks who try to write a novel in 30 days? Well, we reckon you can do even better. Or, at least, do something more ridiculous. Welcome to The 30-Hour Novel.

28/11/2012

Ladies and gentlemen, an expert's guide to structural editing, with Steve Haynes of Salt Publishing and Proxima Books.

I put these thoughts upfront because a lot of what I am about to say may suggest I am promoting the butchery of manuscripts, when I am in fact demonstrating how an editor should be proactive in improving the structure of a novel.

19/11/2012

How to write for the internet -- Alex talks us through the basics.

The key to good quality writing for the web is content that is short, simple and direct. Chunky paragraphs, convoluted sentences and excess punctuation marks not only stick out – they can damage the integrity of the channel or brand you’re writing for. To avoid the pitfalls of bad web writing, there...

16/11/2012

Paul Finch on genre writing, the fifth and final part of our interview.

Quite simply – his or her work must be a page-turner. I don’t mean that it needs to have explosions on every page but it has to keep the reader interested. Whether that be through a driving storyline, taut narrative, beautiful writing, eloquent wordplay, fabulously rendered characters, or a combinat...