Category: Articles
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Painting By Numbers? – Exploring the Advantages of Plotting and “Pantsing”
There’s an oft-described dichotomy between writers between “plotters” – those who assiduously and diligently plan their stories, sometimes with great precision, and “pantsers” who write by the seat of their pants in seeing how the flow comes, and writing whatever comes to them in the glory of the moment. Dan Hook summarised these approaches well…
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Brevity and Briefs: Reflecting on a Short Story
Recently I submitted a new piece of work to my friend Kent Shawn as part of his short story competition. I decided to craft a brand new piece for the occasion and duly planned and wrote a lockdown-themed thriller story entitled Left Outside. This was a difficult challenge but also one I relished. If you’ve…
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Writing Thoughts: Writing Secrecy and Improving Confidence
When I first started to take my writing ‘seriously’ in 2010 I’d never tell a soul what I was working on. I’d keep it to myself until it was done (the project I started then, my first-ever Nanowrimo novel The Last of the Steamers, sits unfinished awaiting a substantial rewrite even now) – even telling…
Richard Holliday - Author 