Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

We all know what it feels like to be inspired. You get a great idea and suddenly your heart feels lighter. Your body feels more energized. It seems like nothing is impossible. Your new project suddenly seems urgent. You want to get it done before anyone else has this marvelous insight. It’s the brain’s equivalent of the “runner’s high” - where serotonin and endorphins rush through the body and make you feel invincible. The great thing about feeling inspired is that it can make you work hard. But generally only for a while. That’s the problem. Just like that runner’s high, the feeling of inspiration doesn’t last. I once got that runner’s high and it lasted all day.  Completely out of character for me, I went for a jog along Henley Beach in South Australia one morning, pushed through some resistance and then suddenly felt utterly fantastic, optimistic, full of life - a sensation that lasted for hours! Of course I tried the same trick the following day b...

Went to a  Society of Authors  drinks party the other day - met some lovely writers and their partners. It was in the back room of beautiful old colonial building, replete with wood beams, deep carpets and sweet staff to help the night along. We met a writer who had the dream happen to her. You know the one. You spend a decade or so trying to write a book, in between work and life, finally getting it done. You send it out and it's immediately picked up and published to great acclaim by the first major publisher you submit to... I mentioned to her at this point,  "You know that never happens?" "Yes,"  she said.  "And I feel awfully guilty." "No need,"  I said.  "Writers need proof it can happen. Just to keep us going!" We met other writers at various stages in their careers. Some unpublished, some having books coming out of their ears. It takes all sorts - and curiously I realized it's next ...

The other day, a writer friend of mine told me her publisher recommended she read a certain book to get the flavor of what they liked to publish. Eager to know, my author friend rushed to find the book and devour it... only to feel disappointed - and confused. She wondered what it was about this book the publisher liked. The story wasn't great. The writing was average. Some of the pacing seemed awkward. Then it hit her. It was the ATTITUDE of the protagonist that gave the book its appeal. The hero was feisty, quick to anger, even spiteful and yet somehow lovable. It's no secret that I believe the key to good story telling is 'character'. It should come before everything else - before plotting, before story, even before putting pen to paper. If your characters aren't real to you, their stories will never work. And while I've spent much time elsewhere talking about the importance of creating believabl...

You probably won't be surprised to learn I read a lot of unpublished manuscripts. I also read a lot of published work. Are there some glaring differences between the two? You betcha. The fact is most beginning writers write too much. That's okay for the first draft but when it comes to editing, you need to give that delete key a thorough work out! Good writing is about pacing. It's about taking the reader on a journey and keeping in step with them along the way. If you get the pacing wrong, the reader will stumble and begin to lose interest because it will seem you are more interested in writing the words than telling the story or relaying the information. Here are some tips on how to cut down on unnecessary verbiage! The Art of Description With the advent of global communication and visual media, we all know what most things and even most places look like. It's no longer necessary ...

I thought I'd outline some of the perks associated with living the writer's life. Most are obvious but others less so. 1. You Get Your Name in Print The career author knows that many people spend their entire lives trying to get to this, stage one, of the writer's life.  When it happens, you may never take it for granted.  Having your words in print is like an endorsement of who you are. Somehow you matter.  And that feels good. 2. You Get Recognition There are two aspects of this.  One, you get people coming up to you at the mall who know your name - which is kind of weird the first time it happens - actually every time it happens because it's easy to forget you're 'known' through your writing, even  if you're not very famous. Two, you go places or call people and they say, "Yeah, I know you," and it takes you by surprise.  It's like having a flag-bearing messenger running ahead of you, breathlessly telling people y...

My first attempt at writing a nonfiction book is still, to this day, unfinished.  Ironic because it was a book about motivation - and how to overcome obstacles to the creative process! Of course many of the ideas the book was going to explore I have used in the 30 or so books I've written since - but I sometimes find it odd that my first book was basically on a back-burner for about a decade while I struggled to find time to write it. I read the other day that procrastination is not really based on a fear of accomplishment, but on a fear of  beginning . And not just beginning in the sense of starting out, making notes and thinking - but really  starting , as in being  involved  in creating. That resonated with me because I realized that's why I never got around to writing that first book.  All the time I wasn't starting and being involved in the book, I had no reason to pursue its completion. Of course, for years I believed the bo...

For a struggling author, there's nothing worse than reading a great book. Finding an author who is patently superior to yourself can be a most humbling and depressing experience. What more confirmation do you need that you'll probably never reach the heights - or, it seems, even be able to put a decent sentence together without embarrassment. One such superior author is Denis Lehane. I just spent the last week reading  Mystic River  - a work of fiction so profoundly brilliant I decided at one point I was never going to write another word. Why should I bother when this guy has got the whole writing thing down pat... I mean, not only is the characterization consistently awesome, the plot is multi-layered, complex yet simple in all the right ways. It's also superbly written with an understanding the English language that seems effortless and divinely inspired by equal measure. I've read interviews with Lehane and he's no slouch when it comes to writing. He's s...