Writers occasionally face a problem they can’t get their head around – a plot hole; an aspect to a character; something that just doesn’t feel “right”. Sometimes, pondering won’t solve it. Here’s one way to break through those problems and bypass writer’s block. Read more…
Writing dialogue is one of the best shortcuts to showing character. I love it! But you can have too much! A whole page of dialogue can be confusing, and boring – it just doesn’t have the punch that action does! So, how can we break it up and keep our story moving? Read more…
I’ve had a bit of business coaching during my time at a web development company. Such sessions are crammed to the brim with fragile visual metaphors, fit for purpose at first glance, but ready to shatter at the first raised hand or puzzled expression. So let’s begin with one of themwhynot – a husky team! Read more…
Let us return, for a while, to this subject again. Matt made a comment on my last post that kicked off a thought process in me, on the subject of planning, and making things up as you go along. Common wisdom suggests that you shouldn’t do the latter. I tend to fly in the face of that opinion, because I disagree. Not entirely, mind. Read more…
Yeah, serious subject line. But it is a new(ish) year and we all need to climb back on the horse right? Push through to the end, get this project finished (whatever it is you’re working on) I only bring this up in relation to what I’ve been reading recently. Read more…
Usually I don’t do a post at all at Christmas. But I realised I neglected to say that last week, so there might, might (might) be some poor fool who looked up this site on Christmas Eve and wondered where the weekly dose of GMW had gone.
So for that person, sorry about that. Read more…
I’m getting a bit bored with my new project already, and I’m not sure why. So, I do what I normally do when I have some kind of question that needs answering – I look it up and write about it. Here we go. Read more…
In this technology driven society, we get used to hearing that things are, or are soon-to-be obsolete. It’s almost never the case of course. We still have theatre, radio, books etc. Remember Egon in Ghostbusters saying, “print is dead”?
Another example – I remember thinking, why would I ever write something freehand again, when electronic typing is so convenient? But it certainty has its uses. Read more…
Ok, I’m going to be honest. I haven’t done any writing in weeks. Now I’m going to be brutally honest. I haven’t done any worthwhile writing since probably last year. Why? Because of the enemy. Read more…
Those following the blog, and my tweets will have seen my enthusiastic delve into the world of interactive fiction. With that series nearing its end (there’s still a couple of posts in it, so don’t despair IF fans), I thought I’d take a little time to review this period when I rediscovered IF. Just to be clear, this post is not about interactive fiction, but a reflection on the last few weeks. Read more…