Category: Writing
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Defrosting The Thaw: Surveying Beta Readers
I’m currently in the process of gaining feedback from a selection of beta-readers for my work-in-progress post-apocalyptic thriller novel The Thaw, which is now at draft 3 stage. I’ve had three out of the eight people who have been sent the work respond, and I’ve undertaken a couple of beta-reads myself in that time. First…
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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…
Richard Holliday - Author 