Back in the 1960s, researchers looking into how people viewed their own ability to drive made a remarkable discovery: everybody over-rated their abilities. Apparently it’s a human thing. We do it a lot, particularly when it comes to ubiquitous actions such as driving, where there’s a consistent implication that we should be ‘good’ at it. … More Why writing is a learned skill – and a hard one
One of the best writing exercises I know is to emulate a specific author – ‘writing in the style of…’ – because it forces the writer to analyse exactly how the writing they’re emulating was put together. That’s how you learn things. But let’s take that further. The idea of writers figuring out another’s writing … More How to juxtapose writing style across content…and laugh…
My short book How to Get Writing…Fast has fielded a wonderful five-star review on Amazon. Childrens’ book author Janice Spina says: “Matthew Wright has written this book to help writers learn how to get writing and fast! With his thirty years as a successful author, editing, publishing and knowing the ins and outs of writing … More Five star review for ‘Get Writing Fast’
I’m sure that a lot of the stories being set up for National November Writing Month will be fantasy/sci fi. It’s a great genre – I write in it myself. Fantasy and sci-fi adds all sorts of fun ‘extras’ to the writing challenge – like making the setting ‘different but not too different’. One of … More The joys of coining words for your story
My short book How to Get Writing…Fast, is out now, and you can get it on Amazon. Those who’ve followed my blog a while will know I periodically publish stuff on how to write – how to’s, handy tips and hints, that sort of thing. What I haven’t explained is that it’s all consistently based … More Get Writing Fast – out this weekend!
My short book How to Get Writing…Fast, is being released for Kindle on 1 October. You can pre-order it on Amazon right now. Translating the perfect concept you hold in your imagination to the imperfect words of the printed page is way harder than it looks. This short book is designed as a quick-start overview … More Get Writing Fast – cover reveal!
There is a moment with every book where the author advance copy of your latest title arrives from the publisher. You open it, leaf through the pages, and find a mistake. It’s happened just about every time I’ve had a book published, and it happens despite all the care, effort and due process that publishers … More Those niggly publishing errors and how to deal with them
I’ve always been dubious about using slang in writing. Slang has to be one of the trickest things to write. Done well, it gives the material a sense of up-to-the-minute modernity – it adds colour and an authentic feel, if that’s what you’re after. It adds place. What would a story about Cockneys be if … More Slinging slang into your styling
I had a chance the other day to glance through Randall Munroe’s new book Thing Explainer (Houghton Mifflin 2015), explaining science and technology in ‘simple’ language. It’s something New Scientist has been trying for a while, too. And it’s great to see science presented in straight-forward ways. It’s important. The problem I’ve got is that … More How I got confused by Randall Munroe’s new book on science
It’s possible these days for anybody who wants to publish to do so. Bung the book up on Amazon, and hey presto – you’re published. But it’s risky without proper editing. By editing, in this context, I mean ‘editing the finished manuscript’ – not the stuff an author does to go from Draft 1 to Draft … More Essential writing skills: what editors do, and why it’s essential
Matthew Wright 
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