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Category Archives: Writing Tips

Ed McDonald on The Writing Process

  We are thrilled to welcome Ed McDonald, author of Blackwing to the Gollancz Blog. Ed McDonald’s debut novel, Blackwing is the gritty tale of Galharrow and his Blackwings. When a raven tattoo rips itself from his arm to deliver a desperate message, Galharrow and a mysterious noblewoman must investigate a long dead sorcerer’s legacy . . .  So begins one of the most exciting fantasy novels you’ll read this year. You can read the opening chapter here. Join Ed as he discusses writing, his writing process, world building, spreadsheets and shares advice for how to get started.   The…

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Advice for Writers from Writers- Part Four

Welcome to our final collection of amazing advice for authors, with contributions from Aliette de Bodard, Anna Caltabiano, Jon Wallace and AJ Dalton. The previous parts are here, here and here. We hope you’ve found something useful in this collection of sometimes contradictory advice, and look forward to seeing you at #gollanczfest!   Aliette de Bodard: Rules shouldn’t be broken–unless you do it with enthusiasm and burn things to the ground. Some writers write detailed outlines, some just let the story take them where it will. It’s useful to know which one you are, but it’s also useful to remember…

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Advice for Writers from Writers – Part Three

For our third collection of #gollanczfest authors providing suggestions and advice on how to be a writer, we welcome Elizabeth Bear, Stan Nicholls, Alex Lamb and Joanne Harris. If you missed the first two parts, click here and here.   Elizabeth Bear: The editor is actually rooting for you to pull it off. Don’t disappoint her. And don’t treat her as an adversary, because she’s not. Get up and stretch and walk around every 50 minutes. Make sure your desk is low enough not to cause wrist and shoulder damage. Hydrate. Back up daily to a new file and two…

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Advice for Writers from Writers – Part Two

Welcome to the second of our #gollanczfest collection of advice and hints from authors. This time around we have pieces from Jaine Fenn, Simon Morden, Tom Lloyd and Steph Swainston, all of whom are lovely people and you should buy their books. And if you missed part one, click here.   Jaine Fenn: Learn the rules. Then you can break them. There are no rules. But there’s plenty of advice. Decide carefully which bits to ignore. Don’t get stuck in the revision loop: finish the damn thing and then revise it. Plotter vs Pantser: plotters end up to spoilering themselves;…

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Advice for Writers from Writers – Part One

A publishing list would be nothing without its authors, and we’re always astounded by how welcoming, helpful and downright nice ours are. So as part of #gollanczfest we asked them to provide us with some suggestions and advice for aspiring authors. We have four posts for you today from authors such as Joanne Harris, Aliette de Bodard, Elizabeth Bear, Tom Lloyd and many more, so keep checking back! But to kick us off, here’s Miles Cameron, Mike Carey, Gavin Smith and Connie Willis!   Miles Cameron: ‘There is no substitute for experience. If a character needs to have a skill,…

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