The Chopping Blog

If you respect the twist, it can do great things for you, but when a twist is included as a matter of course, or at least without enough attention, it can sink your tale right at the most crucial moment. 

We don’t usually choose our obsessions. They’re built-in, ready-made. You don’t need to justify a love for dragons or aliens or cowboys. You just need to own it.

When the work finally arrives back, a fait accompli, we sit over a kettle of coffee or something stronger and read it aloud before putting it to one side and taking HG Wells's advice, going back with the element of surprise and attacking the piece at an hour when it isn't expecting it.

If you’re not sure what POV best suits your narrative, play around. Write a scene from one character’s close third, then shift into their first-person perspective, then take a step back and rewrite the scene from the angle of another character altogether, or even a ghost or alien who is observing the action as a complete outsider.

Finding the right literary agent for your manuscript requires a lot of homework. And then, once you've found someone with aligned interests, convincing them that your project is polished and marketable is another battle altogether. Therefore, if you want to work with the agent of your dreams, make sure you put in the time, effort, and research required to make your dream a reality. Remember, you only get one shot.

A lot of mainstream fiction is formulaic and predictable. It is the rebels of self-publishing and the web who find the courage to experiment, to carry the fire through the darkness like mediaeval troubadours. But writers fail in their mission when substance is outweighed by cleverness. Stream of consciousness passages may floor us by the power of their beauty. Like Belgian chocolate, though, a little goes a long way.

I really don’t think I’ve ever had a breakthrough moment, where I thought I’d arrived. I’m still learning, trying new genres, looking at new ways to write. I guess in a way, I hope I never have a breakthrough moment, because I don’t want to ever stop learning something new.

The result is the final version of Girls Need Not Apply, a book that looks at sexism, lack of belonging, and mental health issues in the armed forces. The reception so far has sparked conversation amongst other female veterans, but also men who have bought the book and said they want to be part of change. That’s what the book is all about: change. 

A great novel is a work of balance. When all aspects of a story are in harmony, readers can become fully immersed. If even one element remains unpolished, readers will notice, and in noticing, they will be pulled out of the story. Characterization is an integral part of this balancing act. The storyteller’s ultimate goal is to craft lifelike characters who grip our attention as they struggle, make choices, and take risks.

I started one story, and then another, putting each one into the drawer about a hundred pages in and feeling like a failure. It took me years to realize that I needed to give myself permission to write badly and push through to the end of a draft. The real magic happens in revision. 

A local theatre troop wrote a brilliant musical called Ride the Cyclone, which ended up on Broadway. A few years ago they held a fundraiser show in which they performed several numbers that had to be cut because they didn't end up fitting the story. This was an eye-opening experience for me. The songs they cut were amazing!

Gesture is one of those things that doesn’t get talked about enough in creative writing workshops or how-to books. I don’t know why. It’s a critical tool of character development and it’s a great way to enhance a scene and break up dialogue. As with most things, when it’s done well, you don’t notice it. When it isn’t, it sticks out like—well, like a shrugged shoulder.