Stuart Aken's Blog, page 192
May 16, 2016
A Sense of Wonder
We live in a place of outstanding beauty, my wife and I. If possible, we walk in the Forest of Dean every day. Today, we took a fairly familiar route but followed the trail the opposite way round from previous walks. That, in itself, is a stimulus to the brain, of course. Different viewpoints bring […]
May 14, 2016
Progress on the WIP
12 days since I last gave you an update on the scifi novel I’m currently writing. I’ve been quite busy on a number of things, both domestic and in the writing arena since. Suffice it to say that progress hasn’t been as rapid as I’d hoped. But I’m not beating myself up over that: life […]
May 13, 2016
Creative #Writing #Contests Page Updated
It’s Friday, so here’s this week’s reminder that I’ve updated the contest table. Get your entries in early and see if you can gain some cash and kudos for your writing. The table updates each time I ‘save’ to the table; whenever you visit the page, it will be as up to date as it […]
Searching for the Right Words? Tip #11
Hoping to inspire readers with joy, arouse their fear, romance them with love? Or, maybe your story needs the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job.Example: “I held Leigh’s hand and looked at him. He […]
May 11, 2016
Take a Break and be More Productive
Picture courtesy Pixabay.com People often ask how I manage to get so much done (actually, I don’t achieve as much as I’d like, but that’s another story). One thing that helps is the way I break every hour for just a couple of minutes. It’s long been known that sitting at the keyboard, or bending […]
May 10, 2016
Searching for the Right Words? Tip #10
Hoping to inspire readers with joy, arouse their fear, romance them with love? Or, maybe your story needs the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. Example: “I had wine for the first time. People […]
How Soon Nature Retakes Expropriated Land!
Yesterday was my birthday (68, for those who care) and Valerie and I had planned a visit to a local feature I’ve wanted to photograph for a while. The weather, however, had different plans. The morning forecast was pretty dire, with predicted heavy rain and the possibility of thunderstorms. Not ideal weather for the 9-mile […]
Ideas and Inspiration for Fantasy and Science fiction Writers, by James Hutchings, Reviewed.
This resource is remarkably extensive and varied. There are articles on strange human behaviours, odd customs and traditions, peculiar animal behaviour, secret societies and events, curses, unusual illnesses, myths, fakes, religious peculiarities, odd individuals and many other topics. This isn’t a book to sit and read, but a research and inspiration tool to use for […]
May 7, 2016
Creative #Writing #Contests Page Updated
Sorry; a touch late this week, but I’ve been busy (that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!). Anyway, here’s this week’s reminder that I’ve updated the contest table. Get your entries in early and see if you can gain some cash and kudos for your writing. The table updates each time I ‘save’ to […]
May 6, 2016
Searching for the Right Words? Tip #9
Hoping to inspire readers with joy, arouse their fear, romance them with love? Or, perhaps your story needs the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. Example: “We went to the second hand bookshop in […]
