Storytelling in literary fiction: let’s discuss
There’s a tendency among many writers of literary fiction to opt for emotional coolness and ironic detachment, as though fearing that any hint of excitement in their storytelling would undermine the...
View ArticleSelf-editing masterclass snapshots – do you have a plot or a premise?
This is part of an ongoing series of the smartest questions from my Guardian self-editing masterclass for novelists. Previous posts have discussed how much extra material we might write that never ends...
View ArticleThe end of exploration – on writing a book where you can’t make things up
If you get my newsletter or follow me on Facebook or Google+ you’ll have seen dancing and jubilation as Not Quite Lost is finally ready for general parading and pre-order. It’s certainly been a new...
View ArticleMy kind of weird, my kind of wonderful – interview at Davida Chazan’s blog
Where would you most like to go? Underground, overground, back in time, out of this world? I’ll have all of them, please. (That’s the mysterious Down St Tube station in the picture, abandoned and dark...
View ArticleStory as metaphor – talking to Ann Napolitano, author of Dear Edward
As you might know, I’m fond of novels that are bold metaphorical concepts and haunting stories. A few months ago I came across an advance copy of Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano, the story of a...
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