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Dialogue Tags: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Dialogue tags: we can’t really have a story without them… but are we using them well? I don’t mean our grammar or punctuation (though this post has some great pointers for that), but rather how we integrate tags in a way that’s smooth, skilful, and doesn’t disrupt the reader. This is, like most things (read: anything) to do with writing, an area in which, surprise surprise, lots of people have opinions. And, of course, it raises a lot of questions. I’ll start with the usual disclaimer: as with a great many other aspects of writing, there’s not strictly a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to do most things. (Except using apostrophes…
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Creative Rejection: The Hows, The Whys, The Way Through
One of the greatest battles for any creative—regardless of their medium—is dealing with the rejection inherent in creativity. There are some fields where you can be definitively right or wrong: no matter what, the knee bone really is connected to the shin bone, after all. But creative output and creative value is highly subjective (and I even feel like that’s an understatement). I wish I could tell you that you’re never going to be rejected… But in all likelihood, you will. After all, as The Writing Cooperative notes: ‘For Writers, Rejection is a Way of Life.’ And that’s okay. When Rejection Happens Creative rejection isn’t a given… if you never…
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Writers… Should You be Reading More?
There’s really no doubt reading is an important part of being a writer. Take five minutes to google ‘writer’ and ‘reading’ in almost any combination, and you’ll be inundated with support for that statement. (And our guest writer, Jennifer Worrell, reminded us of it yesterday, too!) So, on the basis of that assessment, the answer is (probably) yes. Of course, our reading metrics vary (My 2018 in Non-fiction is testament to this!), but it seems safe to say: we can always aim for more. But reading more can be a big ask: between working, families, friends, hobbies–and, of course, writing–there aren’t a lot of free hours in the day. Add…
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Writerly Wednesday with Jennifer Worrell!
I’m really excited to feature another writer friend of mine on AZ Pascoe today: Jennifer Worrell! Like Claudia, Jennifer is an online writing friend and is also published in the awesome Scribes Divided anthology, Dread Naught But Time. Please send through a warm virtual welcome for the one, the only, Jennifer Worrell! 1. Hi Jennifer and thanks for joining us! We’d love to know a little bit more about you before we get down to the nitty gritty of writing-type things… So, give us the goss on you! Where are you from, what do you do for work, and what are some of your interests (outside of writing, of course!)? …
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Ideas… & Where to Find Them
Finding ideas tends to be something writers and other artists think about a lot. Why? Because it doesn’t take much imagination to realise that ideas are any creative’s bread and butter. Want to paint something? Write something? Carve, sculpt, knit, cast, or compose something? You need a starting point: that’s just common sense. So it’s not surprising, then, that in almost every author interview you stumble across, someone has asked the big question. ‘Where do your ideas come from?’ (Let me give you a hint: they’re not in a treasure chest or underneath that really promising-looking rock.) So, what’s your point? Tell us where ideas come from! It is, at…
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Writerly Wednesday with Claudia Wair!
Welcome to our first, more formal, edition of Writerly Wednesdays: featuring an interview with the incredible Claudia Wair! Whenever & wherever I can, I’ll be getting in touch with fellow writers and authors of differing experience levels. If you’ve enjoyed the recent editions of #WriterlyWednesday (see on my Facebook Author page here), I think I can safely promise that you’ll love this new format. The questions I’m asking here are some I’ve come up by a variety of methods (*cough* the internet *cough*) that I thought might be interesting… But if there’s anything you’d like to know about our guest writers, comment below & I’ll be sure to chase up…
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Why Bother Writing at All?
If I was to pick something that’s a challenge—not just in writing, but in life more generally—it’d be the battle of ‘why bother’? Why bother going to the gym? Why bother having a blog, tweeting, running an author page, writing at all—let alone editing, submitting, (and getting rejected). Paying to attend conferences and events—why? Because You Love It…? Of course, the easy and accessible answer is that you love it. But I think it’s a little more complicated than that. After all, regardless of what we love (people, hobbies, favourite foods), that love can be a changeable, sometimes elusive beast. I mean… I don’t even love my cats all the time.…
