1. Every writer has a voice. Behind any character voices you might create, there’s your voice, which is unique to you, indelible as your fingerprint. #TenThingsAboutFindingYourVoice
2. Your voice is a combination of your natural tone and speech patterns; your innate ability with words; your upbringing, education and reading habits, as well as your preferred inflexions and choice of vocabulary. #TenThingsAboutFindingYourVoice
Sunday lunchtime; time to kill. You know what that means, Twitter: #Storytime.
New folk, to explain: #Storytime, in which I write a story from scratch, live and uncensored, on Twitter. And it always starts like this: "There is a story the bees used to tell, which makes it hard to disbelieve."
In a certain barnyard, the chickens were in uproar. #Storytime
1. Character names can be at least as important as book titles. It's the thing that shapes the identity of your protagonist, reflects their culture, their age, their background. And as such, it's worth giving plenty of thought to. #TenThingsAboutChoosingACharacterName
2. Try asking yourself: who named them, and why? Probably their parents, although they may have renamed themselves later. Either way, what does this tell you about their parents, their background, their relationship with family. #TenThingsAboutChoosingACharacterName
Okay, so I’ve been talking to a lot of people who are discouraged with writing and the industry right now. I get it: it’s not a great time for authors. So let’s make today’s #TenTweets about WHY WE KEEP GOING. Follow the hashtag to collect them all! #TenReasonsToKeepWriting
1. Because writing isn’t just about making money (though it’s nice when that happens). It’s also good for your mental health. And it’s cheaper than therapy. #TenReasonsToKeepWriting
2. Because writing impacts on your daily life and your interactions with others, making connections and building empathy. #tenReasonsToKeepWriting
1. The original prompt was about the hero's descent into villainy. I'm not sure a hero ever really becomes a villain as such, because those roles are so clearly defined and in opposition to each other, but the Hero's Descent is certainly a Thing. #FlawedHeroes
2. We see its origins in Classical tragedy, and beyond. A character who is basically good and noble is destroyed by their One Fatal Flaw. As readers we relate to this very well, because no-one believes or is interested in a perfect protagonist. #FlawedHeroes
1. Depicting a character's feelings in fiction - be it grief, or anger, or happiness - can be a minefield of clichés. I mean, how often can you say: "She smiled", or "His eyes filled with tears"? #TenWaysToExpressFeelings
2. And although "show, don't tell" isn't always good advice, sometimes you do need to have one character assess another's feelings via what they observe. So, what do you do to make that observation feel authentic and fresh? #TenWaysToExpressFeelings