National November Writing Month – the month when writers around the world join in a quick-fire effort to complete a story of 50,000 words in just 30 days – just finished. I’ve been marking it this month by re-posting some of the material I’ve published in past years to help writers get to that goal. … More Ways to wrap up your 50,000 word writing sprint
It’s National November Writing Month – the month when writers around the world join in a quick-fire effort to complete a story of 50,000 words in just 30 days. I’m marking it this month by re-posting some of the material I’ve published in past years to help writers get to that goal. ++++++++++++++++++++++ It’s mid-November, … More Unblocking the muse: a few writing tricks for NaNoWriMo
What music do you listen to when writing? Can you listen to music at all? It’s one of the most powerful tools writers can have at their disposal – especially for unsticking the muse. Put another way, you’re pretty much guaranteed to write something different while jouncing along to Katy Perry than if you hurled … More Using music to defeat writers’ block
One force that pulls agents, publishers and readers into your novel is tension. Usually that can be generated with good characterisation, but a compelling plot can have a tension all of its own. Dan Brown is a master of that one. Tension doesn’t happen by itself. It works itself into all sorts of levels in … More How to grip your readers and hold them to your novel
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
Half the battle for writers is making writing their servant – not being a servant to the words. It’s a lesson novice writers usually only discover after they’re about half way through the first book and are finding the words mastering them, not the other way around. It has to be addressed. And there is, alas, … More Essential writing skills: how to make words your servants
Welcome to 2014 and a new year of writing tips – quick essential skill tips on Fridays, longer posts Saturdays, and sometimes other stuff during the week. I’m going to cover a fair number of things in coming weeks and months, including editing techniques and ways to publish. First off – word count. Those who’ve … More Essential writing skills: mastering word count
After four weeks cudgelling words into existence and watching that count rise, National Novel Writing Month’s over. And now …what? I figure there are three possible scenarios: 1. I hit the target and have a 50,000 word novel drafted. 2. I didn’t hit the target and have something less than 50,000 words. 3. I would … More How to write and not be driven to eat your own weight in lard
The real secret to writing quickly – and to making sure that everything you write is relevant – is to understand and control the ‘organising principle’ behind what you’re doing. This is something that is more fundamental even than structure to writing – because it tells you not only what the structure is going to … More Grab your readers by controlling your organising principle
Matthew Wright 
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