Tag Archives: Slush Pile Slam

Light and Dark, Sunrise and Sunset : Do they matter?

Joanna welcomes longer dayslight and dark, a brick wall under torchlight

Ages ago, I wrote a blog about creating atmosphere with light and shade. You can read it here, if you’re interested. But today’s blog is about more factual aspects of writing: the light and dark that go with the time of day.

I reckon light and dark matter in writing. Yes, they add atmosphere. Think of the magic of twilight over a silent, snowy landscape, for example. But light and dark can also make our writing feel more real to our readers.

What started me thinking about light and dark?
Two things.

First that at the end of January as I’m writing this, the days are getting noticeably longer which is very welcome. I hate it when it’s dark at four in the afternoon. Don’t you?

Second, because of vampires 😉 Continue reading →

Off-putting Openings : how not to start a book?

key in lock in door

Image by MasterTux from Pixabay

Recently, I’ve started reading several books that I have swiftly put aside. Why?
Because they had off-putting openings.

What did I mean by off-putting openings? I’d say the kind of start that left me—as a reader—confused, or bored, or annoyed. The kind of start that made me say something like, “if this is the best this author can do, then I have better ways of spending my precious reading time.”

Off-putting openings #1 : a crowd of named minor characters

name badge: what is my name?When should an author give a character a name?

That’s not easy to answer. It may seem obvious that all characters have names—of course they do—but does the reader want to know the name, or need to know the name?

Not necessarily, I suggest. Continue reading →

Points of View

I’ve called this blog Points of View because that is what I’ve been thinking about, off and on, since the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference two weeks ago.

Not just in a relation to writing, either, as you will see.

I admit, however, that I have been struggling for some time with POV issues. I’m in the process of an Absolutely Last Edit of a book that, when I first imagined it, had a first person vibe. It didn’t last and it has much improved as a result. But in some places the “I voice” has left an uncomfortable shadow.

At least, I think that’s the answer. Especially after a really excellent workshop on Psychic Distance from Emma Darwin.

RNA Conference

Continue reading →