I’m currently in Hobart, Tasmania for the RWA national conference as I’m presenting a wokshop: Art of Deception. I’m really excited about this workshop and hope attendees get a lot out of it. My workshop explores how to write a killer plot twist – examining illusionists’ techniques, exploring tools such as Red Herrings, MacGuffins and…
Craft
Every word counts…
For a writer it isn’t just enough to have a good plot. You have to be able to craft the story so readers keep turning the page. The good thing about writing craft is that it can be learnt. And like anything, the more you practice, the better you get at telling your story. Need…
Extreme writing research: Biometrics
In 2016 I enrolled in a year of tertiary study to help my writing. Not unusual, but I didn’t do a traditional “writing 101” type course. Uhuh. Not me. I studied biometrics. This course (Certificate IV in Biometric Technologies) provided practical training in biometric recognition. Biometrics are biological or behavioural characteristics that can be used…
Opening sentence
I was talking about the opening sentence of my novel with a writing friend recently. The conversation reminded me of an old post I wrote. It’s been a few years, but here it is: Thursday, March 17th, I spent the morning in anxiety, the afternoon in ecstasy, and the evening unconscious. “Risk” by Dick Francis…
Adjectives go like this…
Did you know that adjectives have to go in a specific order in the English language or they just sound plain weird? In 2016 a paragraph from a book “The Elements of Eloquence” by Mark Forsyth went viral: Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a…