Searching for the Right Words? Tip #8

On 03/05/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Word Choice2 Comments

Hoping to inspire readers with joy, arouse their fear, romance them with love? Or, perhaps your story needs the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. Example: “She’d gained confidence and was becoming an attractive …

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Research Done: Re-Writing Begun!

On 02/05/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Progress2 Comments

Following on from my post on research a couple of days ago, I thought I’d quickly update you with progress so far. I started what is effectively a re-write, rather than an edit, on Saturday. It was late in the day when I began, but I was determined to get something down, something started as …

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Research or Write? That is the Question.

On 30/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress11 Comments

How much research should a novelist undertake before setting out on the creative journey? How much should be done before editing to produce the final work? These are questions that probably occur to most of us at some time during the writing process. I was inspired to visit these questions this week when I finally …

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Searching for the Right Words? Tip #7

On 29/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Grammar, Word Choice5 Comments

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Searching for the Right Words? Tip #6

On 26/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice

Want to inspire readers with joy, arouse their fear, romance them with love, or does your story need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. Example: “I had only ever seen a television briefly …

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The Bridport Prize Anthology 2015, Reviewed.

On 22/04/201622/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Literature, Prizes, Review2 Comments

I bought a copy of this paperback to see what sort of work might win the prizes in this much respected annual contest for writers. I’m intending to enter this year, so I wanted to discover what quality and style of work is considered good enough. Each year, the judges for the three categories of …

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Searching for the Right Words? Tip #5

On 22/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar2 Comments

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Fear of Dying, by Erica Jong, Reviewed.

On 20/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Review

I was introduced to Fear of Dying by a friend after I’d read and reviewed Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying. Inevitably, there’s a temptation to compare, which I’ll attempt to resist. I’m of the same generation as the author, though a few years younger, so I’ve lived through the years she’s experienced and understand many …

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Searching for the Right Words? Tip #4

On 19/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice2 Comments

Do you want to inspire readers with joy, arouse their fear, romance them with love, or does your story need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. I started out this series with the …

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A Walk in the PuzzleWood from the Movies.

On 19/04/201624/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature15 Comments

Valerie and I have often wondered about a place called Puzzlewood that lies close to Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, about 5 miles from our home. We decided to give the place a visit for her birthday, yesterday. It has been used as a location for scenes in Dr Who, Merlin, Arthur, Starwars and is considered …

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Searching for the Right Word? Tip #3

On 15/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice

Do you want to inspire readers with joy, arouse fear, romance with love, or does your story need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. Delicate Delicate is an adjective with many subtly different …

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Searching for the Right Word? Tip #2

On 12/04/201612/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice

Do you want to inspire readers with joy, arouse fear, romance with love, or does your story need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts looks at ways of influencing mood by selecting the ‘right’ words for the job. Abundance: Listed in Roget’s under the header, Productiveness (noun), …

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Searching for the Right Word? Tip #1

On 08/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice

In this series of posts, I’m looking at how certain words can influence readers. Do you want to inspire with joy, encourage fear, romance with love, or does your story now need the reader to sink into despair along with your protagonist? This set of posts will look at ways of influencing mood by selecting …

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Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 50.

On 05/04/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice2 Comments

This series, concentrating on ways to trim writing, whilst providing examples aimed at stimulating imagination, has come to its natural end with this post. Next, I’ll be looking at expanding effective vocabulary by using the right words to convey the idea, mood, or meaning. Lift up: It’s pretty difficult to lift in any other direction, …

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Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 49.

On 31/03/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice4 Comments

In this series, I've aimed at trimming our writing. I’ve tried to include examples that might seed ideas for your writing. Our readers will appreciate the absence of common redundancies and flabby expressions. This post, however, is the penultimate offering on the topic. Next, I’m going to be looking at expanding effective vocabulary by employing …

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