October 2026 … A few years ago I saw the film To Olivia, a story about Roald Dahl and his wife, Patricia Neal, processing their grief at the passing of …
The Joy of Word Play
Conflict from Misunderstandings
September 2026 … I recently attended a Writers Victoria workshop about creating tension and suspense in stories. A common source of tension arises when characters have differing desires or ambitions. …
A Thousand Stories
August 2026 … A quotation attributed to the noted Russian film director, Andrei Tarkovsky states: “A book read by a thousand different people is a thousand different books.” This truth …
To Trope or Not to Trope
July 2026 … I recently attended a Writers Victoria workshop about how to be successful in short story competitions. It was presented by Amanda Scotland, one half of the ‘Not …
The Joy of Genres
June 2026 … I recently started participating in NYC Midnight short story competitions. This is a range of competitions spanning 100 word micro-fiction stories; 500-word ‘Flash Fiction’ stories; to more …
Under Pressure!
May 2026 … Recently I started drafting a new novel. I had outlined some characters, and centred the novel around some iconic scenes I’d created many months ago. However, I …
Focusing on the Story
April 2026 … In recent months I have undertaken a new major creative writing project – writing a musical for the stage. Part of the reason was to help fulfil …
From Beginning to End
March 2026 … In February’s blog I presented the ‘What If’ question, used by Stephen King as a technique to reveal interesting story ideas. I have also been watching the …
“What if …?”
February 2026 … I recently finished reading Stephen King’s non-fiction book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. The work is often referenced in writing courses or other texts about …
Effortless Creativity through Practice
January 2026 … During the holiday break I have been reading Stephen King’s much lauded and quoted book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. One of King’s pearls of …