Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

Sad news this week. We had to put one of our dogs to sleep yesterday. And not the one that’s been sick these last 18 months. No, the other, younger one, the one we thought was fine, suddenly got too ill to fix. I didn’t want to let him go. I hadn’t finished loving him. Be happy on the other side, Buzz. I’ve decided Buzz will be a character in my latest graphic novel project. I hope he’ll appreciate the tribute. Today we look at ten easy ways to improve our writing. Ten Quick Tips for Writers Rob Parnell These top tips will help you maintain enthusiasm for your chosen craft and make sure you have the mindset to improve and succeed. Read All writers are readers first. Writing is how we give back the pleasure we’ve experienced. Good writers don’t read less as their career progresses, they read more, because seeing what everyone else is doing is an important part of staying informed – and relevant – not to mention being entertained and often inspired. Write Seems ...

Update: Apparently all of my business files – including the hundreds of manuscripts submitted to Magellan Books – are sitting in a storage facility somewhere unspecified while my computer hard drives are being fixed. But I did manage to get the computer I’m working on now up and running. It’s actually less than five years old but seems ancient – its fan makes as much noise as if it were powered by steam! But at least this laptop works (as long as I don’t unplug it) and I can answer emails again and put out today’s newsletter… Of course the hardest part about using a different computer is having to load all the software you’re used to using – and remembering all those darn passwords! Onward. This week’s article is: Inspiration – where does it come from? I gave a talk last Friday about inventing fiction stories. One of the exercises was to come up with new characters on the spot, with a view to creating a plot around them. What became clear was that most writers...

My laptop blew a fuse the other day so I’ve had to take a kind of enforced holiday this week. Apologies to the people who might have been expecting me to do things for them - like review their MSS, etc - this week. I should get the computer back soon – though Dr PC have warned me I may have lost everything on the hard drive. Again. Hmm. C’est la vie. I guess it’s what we used to call a clean slate... I’ve been drawing pictures and recording music in the mean time. You know me. I like to keep busy doing at least something... We’re giving a two hour talk on Character, Agenda and Plot this afternoon at the local U3A. Should be fun. Outlining Vs Story Telling MR James, the famous short story writer, used to be a teacher. During the long evenings before the invention of television, he would entertain his students with the ghost stories he planned to write. That is, until he realised one day that telling his stories was getting in the way of his wr...

When it comes to creating characters, you want readers to love your protagonist or, at the very least, empathize with him or her. Having an unattractive hero - as in psychologically unattractive - can be a surefire death warrant for a novel. Even having a protagonist with a shallow or undeveloped personality can be enough to make publishers think twice about accepting your magnum opus. So - what to do? Coming up with someone 'heroic' to carry your story is not always about creating a superhero with special powers. Indeed, even special powers alone won't cut it. No, you need a set of characteristics that say to your reader that your protagonist is special, if not identifiably 'unique'. In Hollywood, this problem is easily solved. Just get a famous star to play the role, someone physically attractive usually, an actor with screen presence... But how do you affect 'presence' in prose? Passion is the key. Y...