Tag: writing
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James Sadler the first English aeronaut
I was walking along Dead Man’s Walk the other day when I came across a plaque commemorating James Sadler, the first English aeronaut. I’m just going to wind back a little to the beginning of that sentence. Dead Man’s Walk – what a fantastic name! And an intriguing location. You’d be hard pressed to come…
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I’ve just discovered audiobooks and now I’m a complete convert
Audiobooks are changing the way I, and many other book lovers, consume fiction. They’ve also made me rethink the way I write my own stories. It’s five weeks now since I listened to my first audiobook. That doesn’t exactly qualify me as an early adopter. But I’ve more than made up for this late start…
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The growing page length of the novel
How long is the book you are currently reading? If it’s a recently published novel, there’s a good chance it’s at least 400 pages long. It might even be considerably longer. A recent survey found that the average page length of a novel has increased from 320 to 400 pages between 1999 and 2014. My…
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Using music to imagine my way into a scene
Music has always played an important part in my writing process. It keeps me company during the long hours of staring at a blank screen. And it helps me block out the external world when the words finally begin to flow. I often use it to imagine my way into a particular scene. And it’s…