Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

Dear Fellow Writer, Looking around the Net, trying to get guidance as a writer, can be daunting.  There seems to be a million and one things you can't do! And for every rule, you can think of at least five fiction authors who ignore the advice - and yet remain popular and successful.  Writing shouldn't be that hard, should it? Of course we should all aspire to improving - but if we risk getting blocked then I think we should ignore the advice and just... well, keep writing (because that's how we learn the most anyway.) Oh, and on the subject of superb fiction, my beautiful and talented wife has a new book out on Kindle: THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: Who Says Crime Doesn't Pay? Rob Parnell   I have a new writing course starting next week. That's the image associated with it - above. It's not live yet. It won't go on sale until M...

Dear Fellow Writer, Be fascinating - apparently that's how to ensure you get your blogs and articles read these days.  But exactly how one goes about being fascinating is hard to quantify for a writer - it's all relative isn't it? I mean when you're in love with someone then everything they say and do is fascinating. It's caring that makes the difference. P!nk boiling an egg would probably be fascinating - or Lilo crashing another car - or Richard Branson painting a wall - it's a celebrity thing.  The rest of us can't really be fascinating - unless we're informing others of something they don't already know or is of benefit to them. I think it's better just to be yourself first - being fascinating is an exterior value judgment - and one we have little control over. Keep writing!   THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: Planning For Success Rob Parnell   ...

Dear Fellow Writer, Busy week tidying up the house for Mother's Day last week. Good to finally have some time to catch up this week.  Though we did have to take a morning off for dog training! Thanks, Wally. Keep writing! PS: Last chance to get the LIVE course below...   Keep Taking The Tablets Rob Parnell   I feel like one of those characters that's been in a coma for thirty years - either that or I've been in suspended animation like some science fiction hero on a space voyage. I may be one of the last people on the planet to buy a tablet.  A Samsung 10.1 to be precise - but my head has been turned upside down by this thing. It's pretty damn fine. I really only got it so I could show people my movies if I happened to be out somewhere.  You know, if I bumped into Spielberg by accident or something... ...

Dear Fellow Writer, I hope you're writing and getting closer to your dreams, whatever they may be. Make plans for your future every day - and make sure your goals are fun, worthy and fill you with anticipation.  Then do just one little thing today that will pull your dreams out of the ether and into being. Easy. Keep writing! THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: Write Fast Till The End Rob Parnell   Writing short pieces - say up to around 5000 words - is usually fairly straightforward. You can, in most cases, just start writing and keep going until you've said everything you wanted and then go back and edit for logic, sense and flow. And to fix those pesky typos! If you've missed something out, you can slot it into the text. Or, if you've overdone a section - o...

Dear Fellow Writer, Free app, The Write Stuf f , for mobiles and tablets, HERE . Get my MUSIC here. Keep writing! THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: Writing the Big Scenes in Fiction Rob Parnell Let me ask you a question. Do you avoid / dread / loathe writing the big scenes in your fiction? Over the years I've noticed one of two things. One, the writer is so nervous about writing the big important scenes that they will subconsciously avoid them by taking ages over getting to them. Here's how it goes. There's a crucial scene in the story where there's a confrontation or a climactic event - and the writer is creeping up towards it, filling the pages with exposition and preparatory dialogue - only to freeze just bef...