Writing habits

Grandmother did most of her work in bed. She had a special tray with folding legs that served as a desk. She would sit up against a stack of pillows, with a cashmere cardigan over her nightdress, and write longhand on loose sheets of foolscap. Pots of tea were ferried to her by my grandfather, who would have been fully dressed in a tweed jacket and tie and working from his study downstairs.  Read more

It's not that I think you can't be a writer if you don't write every day. It's that I know I can't be a writer if I don't make myself write every day. There are apparently people out there who can write a few days a week, or even a few days a month, and have that result in a book. I envy those people, and if you're one of them, I wish I could be you.

It took me many years and a lot of work to complete my first crime novel. Along the way I learned a lot about the writing process - or at least, as it applies to me. Every writer is different, so different things will suit different people. There is no right or wrong way. It's really about what works for you. Having said that, here are some things I learned which I hope you may find useful.

World-building is an essential part of all fiction writing. Sure, with fantasy genres, writers have to create a whole new world (don't you dare close your eyes). But, If you're reading a novel set in New York, then you'd expect the author to tell how New York looks, sounds, and smells. You'd want to know absolutely everything about the people who live there, too.  Read more

There are so many moving parts an author needs to pay attention to when writing fiction-POV, character development, narrative structure, happy-hour specials-that it's easy to miss the small stuff, the things that we think we instinctively understand and already do very well.  Read more