Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

Today we have a new video - mainly a promo to introduce The Easy Way to Write to visitors unfamiliar with the website. Have a look - you may be surprised just how diverse we've become in the last nine years! Of course, all of the images, material and even the music in the video is copyright to us. Copyright is hugely important to all artists and in today's article, I explain why... Keep writing. Rob@easywaytowrite.com Writers! Click here to get published free by Magellan Books. THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE: The Importance of Copyright Rob Parnell In most modern arenas it's easy to identify products - they exist as objects. You can slap a patent on objects - and often on the processes that make those objects. But ideas are more nebulous. Artistic expression is perhaps harder to quantify - or so it would seem. Which is why copyright and the concept of 'intellectual property' is so important. ...

On the last St Pat's Day, we went out to celebrate. Great lunch at an Irish pub with a band playing. Green hats, Irish flags and Guinness signs everywhere. Terrific fun. It occurred to me how amazing it was that the logistics behind this essentially unofficial world holiday are enormous - and a great testament to the tenacity of humans to find an excuse to celebrate! What's clear is that we do need time out sometimes, just to get a better perspective on our lives and rejuvenate our spirit. Writing can be a solitary profession. We tend to spend a lot of our time alone, typing words into a computer, allowing our subconscious to spill forth words onto the page. Just as it should be. It's funny. Every now and then I allow myself to get involved in other people's affairs. I've noticed that other people like to be sociable and have lots of get-togethers where they just enjoy each other's company. As a writer I tend to observe rather than participate. I fi...

Haven't got long this morning. We're off to give a talk on Screen Writing at midday to some esteemed writing students in Adelaide, SA. Should be fun! I have to thank everyone on Facebook for remembering my birthday this week. It was awesome to see so many happy returns. There were far too many to answer! I feel very humbled by your kindness. Robyn and I had a lovely day down by the beach, then we pottered in the garden in the sunshine - and then off we went to another writer's group in the evening. No rest for the wicked. Have a great week. A writer asked me a question this week about writing style. He thanked me for a couple of the courses he'd taken but thought he needed extra instruction on prose style and finding his unique voice. To be honest I was a little flummoxed as to how to respond. My belief is that style is one of those things you can't really teach. Yes, you can correct stylistic errors. Yes, you can make suggestions as to how to structure writing for...

You may be surprised to learn that one of the frequent questions I'm asked is, "Am I too old to write?" And the funny thing is that it's not just 'older' people that ask me this question. Sometimes, new writers as young as eighteen and nineteen seek my advice on this issue - apparently wondering whether they've missed the boat if they're not studying journalism or creative writing or some other 'writerly' qualification by the time they're twenty. Of course it depends what you want out of your life - and where you think writing stands in the myriad of possibilities available to you - however old you are. The good news is that there are no barriers to writing success based on qualifications. A good writer is a good writer - as far as anyone is concerned, including readers, publishers, editors and agents. You're neither too old nor too young to write. If your writing is effective at conveying ideas, emotions and information, y...

Tis Friday - end of the week, beginning of the weekend. Time for fun and frolics. Today's article is about writing Horror - a much misunderstood genre, as I recently learned from a room full of people - not writers - that told me they never watch horror movies or read horror stories. For an ardent fan of the genre, this is like saying you don't like breathing... I explain why below. The above title comes, famously, from Joseph Conrad's short story, Heart of Darkness, later reworked for Francis Ford Copolla's movie, Apocalypse Now. It's used to describe - in the book and the movie - something so awful that it is beyond description. It's potent because just the words have the power to evoke our darkest subconscious fears - without actually showing us anything. Clever trick. Horror fiction - especially in the movies - balances the desire to show and describe horror images while at the same time leaving something to the imagination. There's an irony here. Becaus...

Isn't life wonderful? I don't think we say this often enough. I read a great quote yesterday from Alan Clark - a UK politician you've probably never heard of. He said, "If you want to be great, you should always start from the position that you can do anything and that anything is possible." Okay, so I've probably paraphrased (ie misquoted) a little - but the sense of his wisdom is there I think. In the spirit of pushing ourselves, I've been rehearsing with a theater group recently - acting in a play, actually a farce, due to open on the 31st of March. Should be a lot of fun. Today, my article is about the "Fantasy Fiction Formula" - and how it's the basis of every fantasy novel out there - from Lord of the Rings to Eragon - and everything in between. Now, most fantasy writers have been constructing their fictional world since childhood. It grows with them; they add to it as they develop as writers until it's so real to them that writing...

It's hot and sticky here today - almost too hot to write. Ah well, better stop complaining and get on with it! As you probably know, I always put out a newsletter on Fridays, come rain or shine. That's the kind of commitment writers need to make, I always advise. When you decide to do something, you must do it, finish what you start - because if you get into the habit of doing something, the habit makes you stronger. That's my theory anyway! What happens when you can't think of anything to write about? People ask me this all the time - especially young writers, who feel the overwhelming urge to write, or at least BE a writer, but when it comes to sitting in front of a screen, nothing comes out. Nothing interesting enough to write down anyway. Do you get days like this? I think all writers do. It's worst when you're half way through a novel and you can't think of an interesting way to get to the next plot point. There are various ways of getting through block...