You've got to pitch perfectly if you want to attract a literary agent's attention....

Fingers on keyboard, eyes straight ahead, type, write, delete, repeat....

The film script is no different from a novel. The first 10 pages must set up the story and prepare for conflict, a significant twist. The first 10 pages must also ask a really good question or two. “THELMA & LOUISE” by Callie Khouri delivers the significant question pretty much straight of...

There’s nothing like a cyclone to kickstart a book into action. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz did just that. L. Frank Baum understood that danger and fear add sizzle to the first 10 pages. Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up. “There’s a cyclone coming, Em,” he called to his wife. “I...

The reason why everyone has a book inside them is because their character arc got stuck on the way out...

There are a million ways to begin a book. How will you begin yours?...

To write successfully within the first 10 pages of your novel or film script, you need a really good ear. You need to hear how the storytelling is unfolding. You need to listen out for repetition (boring), cliches (boring) and too much information (boring). Cut to the chase, include the good stuff, and del...

Oh just bash the first draft out, get your thoughts down, drive your word count up. That’s what people say. Well, yes, there is a sense of achievement when you’re churning out creating content but how much will be deleted in the end? No one said stare at a blank page. Someone once said a [&hell...

I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose....

The “Speech” feature on Scrivener, the content-generation tool for writers, can be found in the Edit menu. Activate the feature and a voice starts to read out what you’ve written. No, it doesn’t sound like your best friend but at least this robotic voice delivers your words in a rea...

Writers, lone wolves with Macbooks, are solitary creatures who spend a great deal of time listening to the voices in their head. There is no casual chit-chat or banter in the office or around the water cooler to fill in the gaps, there is no one else to finish a chapter when you’ve run out […]...

The truth of the matter is, no one will read our book if it fails to promise that exciting times await just around the corner within the pages behind the front cover. Where does this promise happen? The opening sentence. The first words should be the loudest, the shiniest, the most intriguing and captivati...

The first 10 pages will make or break a writer’s reputation....

[dropcap custom_class="normal"]Ask anyone, we've all got a book inside us. We're all storytellers, we're all dreamers, we're all good at imagining incredibly exciting scenarios that exist outside the realm of real world. There's an enormous attraction in escapism, some of us will even go as far as sharing ...

[dropcap custom_class="normal"]We're not saying first-sentence symptoms should be similar to that of a nasty tropical water-bourne disease that leaves one burning up and retching but we are serious about some sort of writhing under the covers and waking up in cold sweat. Is the opening sentence good enough...

Write about what you know about, is one of the most shared advice-bites in a writer’s life. It’s true, yes. Knowledge is power and power is useful when it comes to marketing a book. Then there are dragons. [blockquote]We write about what we know about because we are experts in that field. We kn...