Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

The author John Braine once said, "A writer is someone who counts words." Do you? You should - because it's a sure fire way of getting around writer's block -and a good way of keeping yourself on track. Having specific word counts to aspire to, will keep you writing more - and for longer.  You'll have more to show for your efforts, more to submit, and consequently more work coming in.  Your writing success is directly correlated to your word count. Last night I was talking to a writer - well, someone who wanted to be a full time writer - and she told me she'd taken a year to get to her manuscript to where it was now.  I asked, casually of course, how many words she'd written so far. "Four thousand," she said.  Four thousand!   G'ah - that's less than eleven words a day - what's she doing, I thought, chiseling them in stone? By stunning contrast, Robyn held the whip to me yesterday (metaphorically speaking) and...

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 before 'the big scene' and put off writing anymore - sometimes for months or, in some cases, years. The other scenario involves glossing over that part of the story. You'll often see writers fill pages with the run up to the big event - all good showing instead of telling and yet, when it comes to 'the big scene' it's told from a distance or from an uninvolved point of view or, most commonly, in retrospect, after the ...

Many new writers are afraid of opening up and letting people know what they're like inside. They're nervous of allowing readers access to what they think and believe. They don't want people to see inside of them because they're afraid of criticism and ridicule. How do you defeat this debilitating condition?  Because, really, that's what it is. In reality, nobody important is going to attack you or your writing. Even if they do, what does it matter? Critics display much more about their own failings when they attack others. You need to get over any insecurities about the way you express yourself and find the strength to be honest, at least in your writing. The fact is your writing will never truly soar unless you have the courage to let it all out and 'expose yourself' to the world. Oooh-er! Seriously, you will only ever be seen as 'original' if you learn to be open and honest in your writing. Your own slant on the world is what mak...

A student asked me this week if I knew of any successful writers that 'showed' how they took their first drafts and made them into the highly polished versions you see in the bookstores.  I could only think of a couple. Stephen King in On Writing includes a rough draft of a paragraph and gives the reader an indication of how he goes about editing it to make it tighter. Cutting out words, changing phrases etc, generally improving the work. All very illuminating. (Incidentally, people were so intrigued by Stephen's spontaneous example that he felt forced to turn it into a full blown story which became 1408 !) Anyway, the only other person I could think of was Ken Follett.  I remembered that I'd read a book once by Al Zuckerman which included various drafts of Ken's work as he edited his manuscripts to a publishable standard. So - I took a look at Ken's website. On that I found a gem: a masterclass on writing a bestseller. And this is from a man who...

During some sleepless-night downtime, I was thinking about stories and what made them work, and what made them satisfying to read. I mean, pretty much anyone can sit down and write - but it takes a little extra thought to write a story that other people will care about.  And I wondered what that was.  Was there a secret ingredient? And if so, is there one word that could sum up what makes a good story? I believe there is. It's not form or content.  It's not characterisation or plotting.  It's not even talent. I believe you can sum up what makes a story compelling in one word: Survival. It's clear to anyone that studies short stories and novels, even autobiographies and other literary forms that good stories are made up of characters overcoming obstacles.  Without obstacles, there's no point in telling a character's story.  Without something to fight or yearn for, or dream about, the reader can't identify with and / or get involv...

Is writing an insane way of spending our time? My mother seems to think it is - even now that she's finally accepted that's what I do. And my dad too was bemused by my choice of career, seeing as, to him, actually reading an entire book is akin to having his fingernails forcibly removed. Robert Louis Stevenson once said he felt reading was 'mighty bloodless' and no substitute for real life - but there again he was famously adventurous, a fact he used to advantage in his novels. But I think most authors wouldn't agree. On the opposite side of the spectrum you have Logan Pearsall Smith who said, "People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading." I can relate to that. I like my own blood to stay on the inside of my body - whereas I don't mind reading, and writing, about someone else's blood spilling all over the page in the fight for justice, truth or freedom. It's not really about coming down definitively on one side or the ot...

A student contacted me the other day to say that she'd been reading some bestselling books to inspire her - but that unfortunately it was having the opposite effect! She said she was feeling very intimidated by the way these bestselling authors spun words, described everything so beautifully and really got her involved in the story. She came away from reading feeling depressed that she could never compete, that she would never be as good as these other writers. She asked if I might read one of these authors, dissect their style and tell her how she might emulate these great writers. I flinched inwardly. I couldn't help myself. Because I make it a rule NOT to read great authors when I'm writing a novel - for exactly the same reasons as my student! A long time ago I discovered that reading writers like Stephen King, Robert Harris, Michael Chrichton and James Patterson stopped my writing in its tracks.  These guys write with such flair - they make it seem so e...