Ruth’s Blog
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When plots strain credulity
The current fashion in crime fiction seems to be for the writer to visualise the plot of a story in terms of a series of gripping scenes. It's certainly the way to go if you fancy selling to TV. The drama of these scenes can lie in the characters and their individual...
Can you plan a book around key scenes?
Over Christmas I read Peter Ackroyd's excellent biography of Alfred Hitchcock, and was particularly interested in how Hitchcock set about planning his films. He began not with characters, or even with a plot, but with a series of scenes - actions in a setting - and...
Scratching the itch
After the difficulties in writing and publishing my last novel 'Burning Secrets' I vowed I wouldn't put myself under that kind of pressure again. I would not set immutable deadlines, or make important decisions too quickly. And I would set time aside for other things...
What makes a great review?
I need to say first that I really value reviews, and appreciate the effort and commitment of those who write them. I've been thinking a lot about them lately, prompted by my first experience of a 'blog tour', and also by a passing comment from a friend who wanted to...
How do I sell successfully, as a self-published author?
All self-published writers know that the hardest part of the whole process is not the writing, which is creative and challenging and satisfying. The bit we struggle with is getting our books into the hands of readers, and having those readers pay a price commensurate...
What price expertise?
How easy it must be to finish a manuscript and just send it off, confident that a small army of people employed by your adoring publisher will immediately step up to do everything necessary to get your masterpiece into the hands of equally adoring readers. Editors,...
I’m keeping my writing plans private
So, the week's writing adventure at the Arvon centre in The Hurst, John Osborne's house in Shropshire, is done. Monday to Saturday, five days of thinking and writing and talking and sharing, and cooking and washing up. And very enjoyable it was too. Two well-prepared...
How long will readers stay loyal?
I'm trying to keep my ideas open and fluid around the issue of future writing. At the end of the last post I wondered whether I could sell copies of my backlist books if I didn't have a new book to add to the list. Now my conversations with myself, and with others in...
How can I enjoy my writing more?
It's some weeks since my last post, and I'm still debating whether I want to write another book. It could help if I could pin down why the prospect feels problematic. What is it that fills me with trepidation? I've already accepted that my recollections of the past...
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