Will Once's Blog, page 9
March 7, 2016
Writing update March 2016
The best laid plans, eh? We had it all mapped out, my wife and I. We knew where we were going and what would happen in which order. It was all mapped out on the calendar. There would be the new science fiction book “To Know the Dark”. A brooding non-comedy – a sort of…
March 3, 2016
Painting with holes 2
Becky made a very good point yesterday. If we take too much detail out of our writing, our readers can feel that it is too sparse. That begs the $64,000 question – how much hole? Do we have to say whether a living room is modern or baroque? Can’t it simply be a living room?…
March 1, 2016
Painting with holes
I’m having a discussion on Goodreads about writing in the first person. For those who don’t speak writer-geek, that is telling a story as if the narrator is talking directly to you. I did this, then I did that. That’s the first person. We got into an interesting discussion about how much information to include…
February 28, 2016
How to write a best seller
So what makes a best seller? Whether it’s a book or a movie, what is the magic ingredient, the recipe for success? I think there are four things that you need for a bestseller: An easy-to read writing style An “I wanna see that” setting or premise A journey A person with skills and/ or…
February 26, 2016
Why do people like books I hate?
Why do people like books I hate? And vice versa. How can a book (or a film or a play) send some folks into raptures of delight whilst sending others rushing for the exits? I didn’t like Harry Potter. There, I admitted it. My name is Will Once and I didn’t like Harry Potter. And…
February 16, 2016
Is the Da Vinci Code a “bad” book?
It has to be one of the greatest mysteries of our age. Ignoring the Harry Potter series, Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code has sold more than 80 million copies and yet there are many who will say that it is a “bad book”. How can a bad book be so successful? As an aspiring author,…
February 11, 2016
The wood is shy
The Mem and I realised with a little “ooh” that we have been married for 16 years. If our marriage was a person, it would be old enough to have sex. Which is an odd thought. We decided to treat ourselves with a couple of nights at an “OMG – how much?” expensive hotel. Put…
February 6, 2016
Mickey and the pen
“You’ve got to be nice to me now,” says Mickey. The Devil appears in the form of a serpent. He coils around Mickey’s feet, slithering and looping in an endless knot of nocturnal nastiness. “I’m always nissss to you,” says the Devil thpraying Mickey with therpent thpit. “You’re my favourite lost soul.” Mickey steps out…
February 2, 2016
Mickey goes to the horse races
“Go on, my son! Giddee up!” Mickey is at the horse races. He is holding a scrap of paper in one hand and his hopes and dreams in the other. “Go on, Tinker’s Boy!” he shouts, as half a dozen nags gallop around the course. The Devil appears at his elbow, dressed as a country…
January 31, 2016
Mickey gets a lardon
“I don’t need you any more,” says Mickey. He is in the best of good moods. He bounces from foot to foot, like a Dad dancing embarrassingly at a wedding. The Devil has appeared as a little red sprite, little bigger than your thumb. It is one of his weekend forms. Think of it as a…
