Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated


Book Description

How do you create characters with depth? How do you write the opposite sex, authentic teenagers, plausible antagonists and chilling villains? How do you inhabit a character who isn't like you? Whether you write literary or genre fiction, this book shows you how to create people who keep readers hooked and make you want to tell stories




Writing Plots With Drama, Depth & Heart


Book Description

What keeps a reader curious? It's the story. You might have a dazzling prose voice and plausible characters, but if they don't do anything, the reader is likely to lose interest.So where do you find story ideas? How do you make them into a captivating read?Do you know what genre you are best suited to write? What is literary fiction and how do you write that? How will you give your book depth without seeming preachy or bringing the plot to a standstill?What are the hidden patterns that ply the reader's emotions, regardless of your genre or style? How can you use them with originality? If you want to write a story that breaks the usual conventions, how do you do it?Whatever type of novel you want to write, this book will show you, in down-to-earth tutorials, games and exercises.Use it before you write and when revising, to diagnose your story's strengths and weaknesses, to decide how to begin, what to put in the middle, how it should end. If you've had feedback from critique partners and editors, use it to decode what's really wrong - instead of what they think might be.Most of all, use it to find out where you already have spellbinding plot material. Discover where your best ideas are hiding and how to tell stories with drama, depth and heart.By a bestselling ghostwriter, literary author, creative coach and book doctor.




Not Quite Lost


Book Description

As featured on BBC radio For Bill Bryson fans. An eccentric couple take the road less travelled through the English countryside and meet lovelorn tourist guides, pushy shopkeepers, ESP students, immortality seekers and weary bodyguards. Cornwall, Devon, Shropshire, Lincolnshire, Somerset, Suffolk,




My Memories of a Future Life


Book Description

'Spellbinding... a hypnotic experience' 'I was hooked - grabbed immediately' 'Beautiful, simple, evocative' 'Absolutely gripping' 'Don't plan to read just a few pages' 'A strange and stubborn book, visual and visceral, original and odd... will stay with you long after finishing its final pages' - For Books' Sake If you were somebody's past life... What echoes would you leave in their soul? Could they be the answers you need now? It's a question Carol never expected to face. She's a gifted musician who needs nothing more than her piano and certainly doesn't believe she's lived before. But forced by injury to stop playing, she fears her life may be over. Enter her soulmate Andreq: healer, liar, fraud and loyal friend. Is he her future incarnation or a psychological figment? And can his story help her discover how to live now? A novel in the tradition of The Time Traveller's Wife, Vertigo and The Gargoyle, My Memories of a Future Life is much more than a 'who was I' tale. It is a multi-layered story of souls on conjoined journeys – in real time and across the centuries. It's a provocative study of the shadows we don't know are driving our lives, from our own pasts and from the people with us right now. An examination of what we believe, what we create and how we scare and heal each other. Above all, it's the story of how one lost soul must search for where she now belongs. 'I was always fascinated by tales of regression to past lives,' says the author Roz Morris. 'I thought, what if instead of going to the past, someone went to a future life? Who would do that? Why? What would they find? 'Another longtime interest was the world of the classical musician. Musical scores are exacting and dictatorial - you play a note for perhaps a sixth of a second and not only that, there are instructions for how to feel - expressivo, amoroso. It's as if you don't play a piece of classical music; you channel the spirit of the composer. 'I became fascinated by a character who routinely opened her entire soul to the most emotional communications of classical composers. And I thought, what if she couldn't do it any more? And then, what if I threw her together with someone who could trap the part of her that responded so completely to music?'




Nail Your Novel


Book Description

By bestselling ghostwriter and book doctor with a top London literary consultancy This book is used by award-winning authors and university creative writing departments. 'A how-to-write book that actually DOES tell you how' 'There are shedloads of books on how to write novels, and a lot of them are longer and considerably less useful' 'I wish I'd had this book a long time ago' 'The author has a proven track record as a writer of fiction, as opposed to writers of "how to write" books' Are you writing a novel? Do you want to make sure you finish? Will you get lost and fizzle out? Will you spend more time reading about how to write than actually getting the words down? Most books on novel-writing will make you read hundreds of pages about character arcs, inciting incidents, heroes' journeys. It's great to know that - but while you're reading about it you're not writing your book. And what these books don't tell you is how to use this learning and get the job done. Nail Your Novel is a writing buddy - and mentor - in a book. In 10 easy steps it will tell you: *how to shape your big idea and make a novel out of it *how to do your research and how to use it *how to organise your time *how to plot and build characters *when you're going to hit problems and what to do about them *how to write on the days you don't feel inspired *how to reread what you've written and polish it. Along the way, Thumbnail Notes give tutorials about storytelling and storycraft - strictly when you need them. The author has written nearly a dozen novels that have made it into print - and this is how she did it. You don't even need to read the whole book before you get started. You read a section, then do as it says. And, once you're finally satisfied, Nail Your Novel will tell you how to sell it to publishers and agents. A FULL index means you can find what you want, when you want it. You've dreamed of writing a novel. Don't procrastinate with another theory book. Don't launch in, get stuck and throw your hard work in a drawer. Nail your novel.




Jumping the Nail


Book Description

YA. The jumping place was called the Nail and it was ninety feet from the top of the cliff to the water below.




Story Genius


Book Description

Following on the heels of Lisa Cron's breakout first book, Wired for Story, this writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story. It’s every novelist’s greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite. The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think). In Story Genius Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.




Lifeform Three


Book Description

"'Marvellous, powerful, beautiful' KIJ JOHNSON, multi-times winner of the HUGO AND NEBULA AWARDS 'Beautifully written, meaningful, top-drawer storytelling. An extraordinary novel in the tradition of great old-school literary science fiction like Atwood and Bradbury' - LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY AUTHORS" Misty woods; abandoned towns; secrets in the landscape; a forbidden life by night; the scent of bygone days; a past that lies below the surface; and a door in a dream that seems to hold the answers. Paftoo is a 'bod'; made to serve. He is a groundsman in the last remaining countryside estate, once known as Harkaway Hall and now a theme park. Paftoo holds scattered memories of the old days but they are regularly deleted to keep him productive. When he starts to have dreams of the Lost Lands past, Paftoo is thrown into a nightly battle for his memories, his soul and his cherished connection with Lifeform Three. Includes an appendix of suggested questions for reading groups. "'I really didn't want this book to end; it's that good' - BUILD ANOTHER BOOKCASE"




Tooth And Nail


Book Description

The third Inspector Rebus novel from the No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES 'No one writes better crime novels' EVENING STANDARD They call him the Wolfman - because he takes a bite out of his victims and because they found the first victim in the East End's lonely Wolf Street. Scotland Yard are anxious to find the killer and Inspector Rebus is drafted in to help. But his Scotland Yard opposite number, George Flight, isn't happy at yet more interference, and Rebus finds himself dealing with racial prejudice as well as the predations of a violent maniac. When Rebus is offered a serial killer profile of the Wolfman by an attractive female psychologist, it's too good an opportunity to miss. But in finding an ally, he may have given his enemies an easy means of attack. **** Ian Rankin's A HEART FULL OF HEADSTONES was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 10th October 2022 and w/c 1st May 2023




Brightly Burning


Book Description

“One of the most anticipated YA debuts of 2018, Brightly Burning is a gothic, romantic mystery with hints of Jane Eyre, Marissa Meyer, and Kiera Cass.” —Entertainment Weekly “Brightly Burning delivers a brooding gothic mystery and a swoony romance, all set in space. Donne’s atmospheric, twisty update of a cherished classic will keep you up late into the night!” —Elly Blake, NYT bestselling author of the Frostblood Saga Stella Ainsley leaves poverty behind when she quits her engineering job aboard the Stalwart to become a governess on a private ship. On the Rochester, there’s no water ration, more books than one person could devour in a lifetime, and an AI who seems more friend than robot. But no one warned Stella that the ship seems to be haunted, nor that it may be involved in a conspiracy that could topple the entire interstellar fleet. Surrounded by mysteries, Stella finds her equal in the brooding but kind nineteen-year-old Captain Hugo. When several attempts on his life spark more questions than answers, and the beautiful Bianca Ingram appears at Hugo’s request, his unpredictable behavior causes Stella’s suspicions to mount. Without knowing who to trust, Stella must decide whether to follow her head or her heart. Alexa Donne’s lush and enthralling reimagining of the classic Jane Eyre, set among the stars, will seduce and beguile you.