Welcome to Ep 174, my guest for this episode is the writer and writing coach Lynn Hightower. Lynn writers thriller with a darkly paranormal twist.
In this conversation, we discuss why we do need to tell as well as show, especially in terms of plot, why we need to hear the character’s voice in our head rather than try to pick and mix their traits and characteristics. We also talk about why clarity in your prose is so important, what do you do to keep the reader hooked, and why every writer needs to try to limit the number of desks they own!
I had a wide-ranging conversation with Lynn, full of humour, insight, and craft advice – I hope you enjoy listening to it.
Writing the first draft of a novel, like scaling the north face of the Eiger, presents particular difficulties. In this episode, we look at what those challenges are, and how we can overcome them to get the first draft done. ...
It's no surprise that many of the principles that we use to develop our lead characters also apply to our supporting cast. The critical objectives with our supporting characters are the same, we need to create characters with a strong, believable essence, and clear goals and motivation, and then we need to deploy them effectively to support both the main characters and the story. We can do this by ensuring these characters have a strong backstory, even if they have just a walk on part, and we can draw on a range of sources including our imagination, caricature, and people we know in real life to build the composite character for our story. ...
This episode is a conversation with award winning science fiction and alternative reality author Gareth L Powell. We talk about how maturing as a writer and a person can inform our work, Gareth’s advice for developing authentic and rich characters, and the inspiration behind his new book Embers of War. Gareth can be reached at his website www.garethlpowell.com and on twitter at @garethlpowell ...
