MacNovel on Twitter- Isabel Costello Literary Sofa
- XX or XY? Do readers care about gender of author? June 17, 2013
- Guest Author – Susan Elliot Wright on Writing a Dual Narrative June 10, 2013
- Let’s all talk about GONE GIRL June 4, 2013
- This Itch of Writing
- Guardian Book Blog
- A note on Neil Gaiman's politics June 18, 2013 Paul Owen
- Neil Gaiman in conversation – live coverage June 17, 2013 Paul Owen
- Tips, links and suggestions: What are you reading this week? June 17, 2013 Guardian readers, Hannah Freeman
- The Forest for the Trees — Betsy Lerner
- I Love You Just the Way You Are June 16, 2013
- I’m Trying To Beat Life Cause I Can’t Cheat Death June 3, 2013
- Could It Be That It Was All So Simple Then May 30, 2013
- Kathy Greethurst’s Blog
- Untitled January 10, 2013 Kathy Greethurst
- Bloody Flies by Andrew J Keir - Review by Helena Frith Powell June 7, 2012 Kathy Greethurst
- A wonderful afternoon in Avebury February 22, 2012 Kathy Greethurst
- How Publishing Really Works
- Does The Self-Publishing Review Fall For Robert Duperre? March 29, 2012
- The Self-Publishing Review Goes In Search Of The Menopause Ranch March 22, 2012
- Travelling To The Self-Published Review March 15, 2012
- Female PTSD — A Blog By A Brave Female Victim of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Help I Need A Publisher
- I'm still here... December 31, 2012
- All my advice about publishing and writing September 4, 2012
- Two last questions for DEAR CRABBIT September 3, 2012
- The Elephant in the Writing Room
- Sunshine and Showers June 15, 2013
- Not a lot of writing but a whole load of reading... June 5, 2013
- Jon and the Pacemakers May 31, 2013
- Bren Gosling’s Blog (ex-City Novel coursemate)
- Short listed for the Harry Bowling Prize ! January 30, 2012 Bren Gosling
- About - Sweeping up the Village- by Bren Gosling January 16, 2012 Bren Gosling
- A taster... December 22, 2011 Bren Gosling
- Charlotte Haigh MacNeil’s Blog (ex-City Novel Coursemate and Journalist)
- The real reason insomniacs can’t sleep June 7, 2013
- The myth of delayed motherhood May 18, 2013
- The extreme female brain February 21, 2013
- Michael Braga Writes (ex-City Novel coursemate)
- THE SIGNS -A short story by Michael Braga Oct 2010 October 10, 2010
- Friday thoughts on a Monday afternoon September 6, 2010
- The pursuit of sadness August 25, 2010
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- Some Things That
- Moira Garland’s Blog
- Partisan writing April 11, 2013
- Brain error? April 7, 2013
- Longing April 4, 2013
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Tag Archives: Structure
My Other Magnum Opus
Apart from the two novels in progress I’ve also authored a more prosaic volume over the past fifteen months or so. And — spit on me now — I’ve decided to self-publish it. I don’t have much capital so it’s … Continue reading
An Off Stage Question
I was wondering about the point in the last post where David Nicholls mentions the impact of having important event happen ‘off stage’ and their impact being made greater when viewed from the perspective of their subsequent impact on characters’ … Continue reading
Posted in Plot, Structure
Tagged less is more, narrative arc, novel length, Plot, point of view, Structure, word count
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One Day I Went to Listen To David Nicholls
I’m rather late in posting about this but last week I went along to the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival at Christ Church College, Oxford. I was hoping to spend the best part of a day there but one session … Continue reading
Posted in Influences
Tagged David Nicholls, fictional technique, internal dialogue, One Day, Oxford Literary Festival, Plot, Structure, theme
3 Comments
One Day
‘One Day’ by David Nicholls won the Sainsbury’s Popular Fiction prize at the Galaxy National Book Awards last week. I’ve mentioned this book in passing a couple of times on this blog since I read it in the summer. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in character, Fictional Genres, Plot, Publishing, Structure
Tagged adverbs, Amazon reviews, book covers, character, cinematic novels, Creative Writing Classes, David Nicholls, dialogue, Galaxy National Book Awards, genre, marketing, One Day, pop music, Publishing, Structure, the Smiths, workshops, writing from opposite gender POV
2 Comments
‘A Beginning, A Muddle and An End’?
Interesting blog on the Guardian Books website today by Robert McCrum. He talks about Ford Madox Ford’s advice that the literary quality or narrative power of a novel should never be judged by the opening alone but by reading a … Continue reading
Posted in Publishing
Tagged agents, book promotion, consistency, e-books, Ford Madox Ford, marketing, motivation, opening chapters, Page 99 test, Philip Larkin, Publishing, readings, Robert McCrum, Structure, theme
2 Comments
The Narrative Center
As mentioned in the last post, I just spent a very long weekend in Center Parcs (staying until late Monday afternoon. trying to get most value for money). I’ve been to all the Center Parcs in the country although the … Continue reading
Posted in Plot, Research
Tagged Action Company Challenge, Aerial Adventure, author, BA, Center Parcs, customer service, Disneyland, Elveden, holidays, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, MBA, motivation, narrative, narrator, Penny Lane, planning, Plot, psychology, Research, security, Structure, subconscious, The Economist, Thomson Holidays
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‘Is It Any Good?’
I would guess anyone who doesn’t ask themselves this during the course of writing a novel is not going to produce a very good one. What’s probably not such a good idea is to include this angst in comments accompanying … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, Writing Process
Tagged character, Creative Writing Classes, feedback, Structure, tutorials
4 Comments
Prologue?
Rick from the course had a look at some of the first chapters of The Angel. He made quite an interesting suggestion regarding the selection for the reading event that’s had me thinking. At the moment I have an opening … Continue reading
Looking for Inspiration
I wrote quite a bit in a short time up until the last Saturday workshop — around 7,000 words of the beginning of ‘The Angel — two sizeable chapters or perhaps three or four shorter ones. I tend to like … Continue reading
Opening the Novel?
Unlike the majority of my fellow students on the City course I’ve not approached the writing of either of my novels-in-progress in any kind of sequence — either chronologically or in anticipation of the eventual order in the book. I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Structure, The Angel
Tagged backstory, computer programming, fire, inciting action, James, Kim, non-linerar thinking, opening chapters, planning, Plot, plot points, real life, Structure, tutorials, Village Underground
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The Shock of the New
It’s going to be quite an intense day on Saturday for a few of us: Rick, Nick and myself have both a reading and a tutorial. The reading is c. 2,250 words and the tutorial extract can be up to … Continue reading
Posted in The Angel
Tagged Alan Ayckbourn, Andy Warhol, character, cliche, Cy Twombly, ending, Miroslaw Balka, Roy Lichtenstein, Structure, Tate Gallery, theme, tutorials, wine tasting scene
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‘The Angel’ Changes
I reworked the synopsis of ‘The Angel’ based on the feedback I’d received. Probably the biggest change was that I gave James and Emma a different backstory that changed the start of the novel — I married them — unhappily … Continue reading
Posted in Synopses, Work in Progress
Tagged character, feedback, Plot, Structure, synopsis
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Perils of Living in the Country
Last night I ended up getting a good knowledge of the many traffic lights along a 15 mile stretch of the A41 by crawling along at about 5mph. This was due to all the traffic coming off the M1 due … Continue reading
Posted in Fictional Techniques, Structure
Tagged Arsenal, essence of a novel, Spreadsheet, Structure, traffic
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