Category Archives for Author

Road disappearing into dark night, with stop sign

Going Through the Motions

For a while, I lost my trapeze mojo.I looked everywhere: down the back of the sofa, at the back of the wardrobe, in the Kitchen Drawer of Doom… but it was no good.Mojo was gone.I’d drag myself into

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Hand rising from water holding sparkler

The One True Way to Write a Book

If you Google “how to write a book” you’ll get 10,850,000,000 results. Ish.There are “ridiculously easy” methods.“Proven guides.”“Simple steps.”Many “foolproof” systems.Some of

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Writing for Joy

A few weeks ago, I had a moment (several, actually) of despair.Despair about everything that’s going on in the world. Despair because I had created some things I thought were really cool, but nobody

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How Long “Should” Your Book Be?

Who says a book has to be 80,000 words and 300 pages?I wonder if that’s what puts amazing people off writing one: the idea of slogging out tens of thousands of words, over thousands of hours, all those

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3 Pieces of Writing Advice I Hate

(And What I Do Instead)No fucking about today.I’m getting right to the heart of the writing advice I’ve tried and profoundly disagree with.There’s a bunch more writing advice I take issue with

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Neil Gaiman smiles

Writing Advice from Neil Gaiman

Every now and then I like to grab a favourite writer of mine (metaphorically speaking I do not assault authors) and share some writing advice I love.This week: Neil Gaiman!I discovered Neil Gaiman’s

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Toronto Walk of Fame star for Margaret Atwood

Should You Imitate Your Favourite Writers?

“I’ll never be able to write like that!” is a thought that occasionally crashes through my mind like a rhinoceros in bovver boots—usually when I’m reading Terry Pratchett or Anne Lamott or

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Halle Bailey as The Little Mermaid

We Need to Feel Seen

There is a new Disney movie coming out, and it’s a live-action version of The Little Mermaid!Hurrah!Except… this one is somehow, incomprehensibly, controversial.Because Ariel is played by Halle Bailey,

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Googly eyes on the side of a caucasion hand

Turn Off Your Reader

You’ve got writer’s block?That SUCKS.Have you tried turning it off and on again?Your reader, I mean.If you’re stuck and you can’t get your book moving—turn off the reader inside your head lest

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Terry Pratchett in his signature black hat, tinted glasses, and white Father Christmas beard

Writing Advice from Professor Sir Terry Pratchett

Professor Sir Terry Pratchett, one of the most successful authors in the world ever, continues to delight me with his Discworld series. I’ve read every single book, except the last one (because I can’t

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