For those of you who couldn’t make the Bold Strokes Books Festival in June. Here’s a clip of me reading from Love’s Portrait.
Thanks to Same DNA Productions for the clip.
For those of you who couldn’t make the Bold Strokes Books Festival in June. Here’s a clip of me reading from Love’s Portrait.
Thanks to Same DNA Productions for the clip.
“Writing good dialogue”
Here are some of the ways I think good dialogue contributes to a story:-
So here’s a checklist of some of the things I think about when I’m writing dialogue:-
Top tip:-
Try sitting in public spaces and listen to people chatting. Hear how they interrupt each other, how they might begin on one subject and end on another, how passionate or flat their tone is.
Can you (without looking of course) imagine what they look like, what their life might be like? What is distinctive about them – is it their accent, the pace of their speech, is their language – informal or formal?
And finally – listen to your characters chatting in your head (and they do!), let your writing be their voice.
“Thoughts about ‘Conflict’ in fiction writing”
In works of narrative, ‘Conflict’ is the opposition main characters must face to achieve their goals.1
A writer might employ two forms of conflict to create the tension which drives the narrative. Conflict may be ‘internal’ or ‘external’ – it may occur within a character’s mind, most commonly revealed in their internal debates or monologues or between a character and exterior forces, for example in conflict with another person or the world around them.
Writers will often employ both forms at once, as a combined tool, for the development of plot and character.
To avoid the conflict feeling forced or unbelievable a writer will embed the conflict at the heart of the novel, so that it is an integral element and arises organically and effortlessly.
Conflict creates drama and interest in a novel by setting seeds of doubt, it keeps the reader guessing, it invests the reader in the outcome, and keeps them turning the pages again and again…
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At this time of such political uncertainty I am so thankful for those organisations who tirelessly work to protect our LGBT lives. Last week we celebrated IDAHOBIT day (17th May, International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, & Transphobia). IDAHOBIT day was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to the violence and discrimination experienced by LGBTI people internationally.1 Here in the UK, ahead of the election, Stonewall2 has been working to challenge parliamentary candidates to commit to protecting LGBT rights in the UK and abroad.
I think of this vital work, however, as the visible tip of the iceberg. Because, as with many things in life, the force behind change can often be found in the relatively small things we do on a regular basis.
For example, when as writers and readers we gather together each year at the Bold Strokes Books Festival to celebrate LGBT fiction, whilst our purpose may not be to debate politics or mastermind campaigns, it nonetheless cannot be underestimated what we are achieving.
We are creating for ourselves a precious, safe space where we can openly and joyfully connect with each other as we share in our love of LGBT literature. As we passionately talk about why these stories mean so much to us, and what we want our stories of the future to look like, we are actively writing the narrative of our lives. We are claiming our voice and asserting our individual identities.
I am so grateful to be participating in the 8th Annual Bold Stokes Books Festival, and empowered by the fact that in a small but significant way, as writers and readers, we are contributing to the wider work to challenge ignorance, discrimination, and injustice.