In this occasional series I shall look at the main obstacles the writer faces when attempting to transfer words from the brainbox, down the arm, into the hand – or talon if you’re an owl – and thence via pen, crayon or keyboard (computer, not piano) onto paper for the reading of. Here is the [...]
Category > Writing Advice
Write Your Own Scary Stories!
Whenever I do events, I often get asked the same questions. The most popular of these is “Are you rich enough to buy a helicopter?” The answer to this, sadly, is not yet, although I often look at them on eBay and will hopefully one day get myself one. The second most popular question, usually [...]
The Score
This is Alan Moore. He’s the author of lots of my favourite stories (including Halo Jones, Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Top Ten and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, to name just a few) and he’s also a bit of a hero to me. These – as they appear in The Extraordinary Works of [...]
Who Likes To Write?
Tough times for authors everywhere, what with the travelling to events in all corners of the planet, the meetings in backrooms with hardly a muffin in sight, the deadlines, the solitude, the crazy rants you find written on your bedroom wall when you wake up (and the shame when you realise it’s your own handwriting)… [...]
Free Story Idea, Help Yourself
One answer I’ve always liked to the question of where ideas come from, is that they’re often the result of chance combinations: two or more things that come together unexpectedly in your mind. Well, here are three that have been colliding lately in mine… Long-term followers of this blog might conceivably remember this post, in [...]
The Way of Pain
Pain is, frankly, something that I prefer not to experience for myself, if I can avoid it. But when I’m safely ensconced in a comfy reading spot I seem to have no problem with it being inflicted on other people…! Tom Yamada, central character of new series The 5 Lords of Pain (published by Barrington [...]
Weird Dream
I woke up a few days ago with this image floating around some of the more surreal corners of my mind. Try as I might the dream that had preceded this visual peek eluded me. Yes, there were sheep, plenty of them. And yes the weather was um, challenging. But as I lay there trying [...]
How To Write a Novel, In 3 Easy Quotations About Sculpture
A friend reminded me today of one of my favourite quotations. I’ve had it up on my bebo profile for a long time, without really explaining what it means. Apparently, the great Italian sculptor Bernini was asked how he created such a beautiful marble statue of an elephant. His answer was to get a block [...]
How To Get Published, Part 2 (and BRAINSLUGS)
Here’s a follow-up message I received in response to my previous post. Jacob from Coventry wrote: Hey Sam, just wanted to say thanks, I have decided to write a book upon seeing that. I know it won’t be anything special but when I finish it I would love for you to read it. Thanks Sam, [...]
How To Get Published (and a SPIDERCAT)
Ali from Illinois just asked me a question: How exactly do I go about publishing a book? I wrote [Ali's project - secret!] and I want to get it published, but I don’t know exactly how to do that. I was wondering if you could tell me how I go about the process. Here’s what [...]
