Roz Morris's Blog, page 8

6 questions to transform a boring character in your novel or screenplay

On a podcast recently, scriptwriter Moira Buffini was asked this question. What do you do if a character is boring? ‘Cut them out,’ said Moira. I don’t necessarily agree. Sometimes cutting a character is the right decision. If the narrative is too crowded. Or your brain is. And all writers need to be bold about… Continue reading 6 questions to transform a boring character in your novel or screenplay

For your brilliant works this year

Hello 2024, I can help with your brilliant works this year, where I'm teaching, Turn Right At The Rainbow, A little horse. In my newsletter https://mailchi.mp/30d79f499183/hello...

Reblog: keep in touch with your WIP when all is merry and chaotic

A secret dance, a deal on my audiobook

A secret dance, corridors of power, special deal on my audiobook of Ever Rest, learn from me at LBF summit, a little horse. All in my newsletter https://mailchi.mp/581c38fb4c37/a-sec...

This book was brewing for 35 years – Melanie Brooks on the memoir that took her a lifetime to write

Melanie Brooks recently launched her memoir A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all. It’s a book she desperately wanted to write but didn’t, for a long time, know how. The journey to find the book within her is in many ways as profound and changing as the… Continue reading This book was brewing for 35 years – Melanie Brooks on the memoir that took her a lifetime to write

What makes a great story? Lessons from judging the Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award 2023

Holy allsorts, I’ve been judging this prestigious prize! It’s an interesting assignment to read a bunch of books and not have to fix them. So I’m writing this post in celebration, to consider exactly what a good storyteller does. Actually, you already know what a good storyteller does. They gobble your hours and insist you… Continue reading What makes a great story? Lessons from judging the Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award 2023

Your first pages – 4 more book openings critiqued at @Litopia by literary agent @agentpete, author Jon Duffy and me!

I’ve just guested again at Litopia, the online writers’ colony and community. Each week they have a YouTube show, Pop-Up Submissions, where four manuscripts are read and critiqued live on air by literary agent Peter Cox @agentpete and a guest, or sometimes two. This time the other guest was longtime Litopian and author Jon Duffy.… Continue reading Your first pages – 4 more book openings critiqued at @Litopia by literary agent @agentpete, author Jon Duffy and me!

A trip to boneland

A trip to boneland, contributing to a book on Alan Garner, judging the Amazon Kindle Storyteller Award, consultancy spaces, a little horse https://mailchi.mp/7db03123a678/a-tri...

From critiquing to creating – literature professor Steven Belletto shares his transition to authorhood

Steven Belletto has a distinguished career as a professor of literature and the author of several critical works, and all the while he’s been brewing fiction of his own. His first novel is called For You I Would Make An Exception, and keeps the reader on their toes with a deft braiding of genre expectations.… Continue reading From critiquing to creating – literature professor Steven Belletto shares his transition to authorhood

Could you draft a novel in a month? Here’s how to nail NaNoWriMo

This post was originally written for the Writers & Artists Yearbook blog. I included it in a Nanowrimo roundup post and got a note to tell me the link was dead. So here it is, live and kicking. November is National Novel-Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. If you haven’t come across it before, it’s a worldwide… Continue reading Could you draft a novel in a month? Here’s how to nail NaNoWriMo