Roz Morris's Blog, page 78

Whatever your writing dreams… post at Women Writers

I always feel a tad self-conscious when I get asked to write about what I’ve been up to. Post an entire piece without trying to help, inspire, solve problems…? Can’t I turn it into advice, just a teensy bit? No, said Women Writers, just write what you’ve been doing. Once I started, it turned out […]

Troubleshoot your novel outline

As you saw last week, I’m plotting The Mountains Novel on cards. I know the big picture – how it begins, where the characters can go and what the final note is. I’m now shuffling the events to get the strongest order and viewing the results with a critical eye. Here’s what I’m looking for. […]

‘Intensity, wildness and urban mayhem’ – The Undercover Soundtrack, Kathryn Guare

My guest this week began her debut novel with very little sense of where she was going.  All she had was a powerful scene and a yen to explore it. While she was experimenting, she happened on an audio seminar on understanding classical music. Suddenly she realised her character should be a virtuoso violinist – […]

The opening act – what the reader needs to understand (with help from KM Weiland)

It’s planning time on The Mountains Novel. I have the scenes spread out on cards and the dining table is out of bounds (see Two authors in the house). At the moment I’m taking a hard look at the set-up chapters. Of course I’ve got my own spider sense, but it’s rather fun to have […]

‘It began as a buffer to domestic chaos’ – The Undercover Soundtrack, Jan Ruth

My guest this week began using music as a sanctuary in a busy, rumbustious house. But she soon found that the music was having its own inspirational influence. For her unconventional romance novels she finds rich emotions in the music of Enya, Enigma and Clannad, which also complement the settings of her native Snowdonia. A […]

How to deal with critiques and editorial feedback

Whether you’re a first-time writer, indie or traditional, it’s always a nervous moment when editorial feedback arrives from an agent or editor. Here’s what to expect and how to cope. There will be changes Always. Even if you’ve had beta readers. Even if you’re a seasoned pro. Of the 14 or 15 full manuscripts I’ve […]

Reincarnation, future lives and ghostwriting – a couple of guest apparitions

I’ve got a couple of slightly apparitional guest spots around the web today. I’m at Candace Austin’s Tumblr blog, Past Life Ponderings. Her novel is about past lives and she collects other authors who play with those ideas. She’s also keen to know about our own claims to former lives … come this way… Still […]

‘Follow where the music leads’ – The Undercover Soundtrack, DM Jarrett

My guest this week sees his novel as a fantasy action movie in his head. He says his musical choices were long favourites before he drew on them to create a fast-paced adventure story on a planet far from Earth. He is DM Jarrett and he’s on the Red Blog with a fast-paced whirl through […]

Double trouble: two authors in the house

The other day Porter Anderson at Writer Unboxed examined the popular notion of the lonely writer hammering out a novel in solitude. It provoked some interesting discussions about the way we do our work or accommodate our hobby in a busy life. Chez Morris there are two writers. With no children. When you’ve read this […]

‘Broken atmospheres and clashes of sensation’ – The Undercover Soundtrack, JJ Marsh

I’m rather fond of Jan Garbarek and Aphex Twin, and I’m delighted to see them working their influences on my guest this week. A crime novelist, she gathers soundtracks to make sure her stories stay true to the mood she has envisaged for them. She looks for music with a sense of tension, loss, instability […]