Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

You write a book for someone else, and they pay you to put their own name on it. Is that even legal?  It is.  And professional ghost writers defend their right to do it. There’s money to be made here because there are many people who have a lot to say but do not necessarily have the time nor the skills to write it all down. However, there are some pitfalls to the ghost writing business. First piece of advice?  Always have a contract in place before you start the actual writing. It will save you a lot of heartache - and lawsuits - in the future. It’s worth remembering that not all ghost writing will entail writing books.  Some corporate executives want their company statements written by someone else. Scientists and doctors sometimes procure the services of ghosts to write their dissertations and academic reports. Celebrities have been known to hire ghosts to maintain an online presence for them. Webmasters too will often want their sales pag...

It’s surprisingly easy to get writing work from local businesses. At least that’s been my experience. Basically, all you need to do is let businesses know you offer business writing services - and they’ll call. The main caveat I would offer you is that it’s best to contact business offline, in person - as opposed to just using the Net to attract business. Of course, you can use the Net if you like. All I’m saying is that you’ll likely be more successful - and more quickly - if you try to establish personal relationships with business people in your local area - rather than focus on large online corporations that will no doubt already have lots of their own in-house writers. Now, it’s probable you think that the most glamorous of corporate jobs is either writing their ad copy or their promotional material. Both are considered the most prestigious and influential of all corporate writing gigs - which is why these gigs are usually so well paid. However, I've foun...

Many new pensmiths are drawn to writing about their travels, their holidays, and their observations about the world. ​​​​​​​ Many websites and “schools” these days offer (often expensive) courses on effective travel writing that promise a glamorous and fun-filled life as a writer for magazines or coffee-table books. As with many fun-sounding opportunities, there’s a lot of competition out there for travel writing jobs. However, with a little forethought and planning, the Freelance Writer can indulge in some of the perks and rewards of this healthy niche market. First, we need to explode a couple of myths. Simply because you did a lot on holiday or went to see a lot of things, this does not immediately qualify you to write about them. Similarly, you might be an expert on the local history of a place. However, this too does not automatically place you at the top of the submission pile. The ideal travel writer combines a love of place, an eye for deta...

Visit Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Many people ask me how I manage to get so much done. I often wonder myself. I was lucky. When I'd done schooling, I decided I didn't want to work for a living. Of course I had to - for a while. I did some pretty horrible jobs, gravitating from factory to office work because I noticed that the office workers seemed to get an easier time of things, worked fewer hours, and got paid more. Of course I could have done the life journey properly and got a nice cushy career type job in a bank or a corporate company. It's not as if I wasn't bright enough. I was even offered a few positions like that. But, much to the chagrin of my mother, I chose not to do them - mainly because it seemed like a cop out. The too easy option. I deliberately chose the hard way - because I wanted to reject the 9 to 5 I suppose. I'd watched my Dad living a sad life of quiet desperation for twenty years and I always believed there had to be...

More than half the battle when you're trying to write is remaining focused enough to complete a project. It used to be that most writers complained about lack of time to finish their novels, even their short stories, and articles. Life has always had a way of distracting us from our goals - and that was  before  the Internet. Yes, there was such a time. It reminds me of that old joke. "How did we ever look busy at work before computers?" Now it's like,  "How did we ever fill our time before the Net?" A hundred years ago – in the evenings before TV - we sat in candlelight, singing songs around a piano. Or we got pissed on gin in a tavern. Then came TV and we sat around watching black and white drama and variety shows on the BBC, who (my mum says) told you when to go to bed when they stopped broadcasting. Now it's all gone crazy. 24/7 ...

New writers often ask me what they should write about. How do you get ideas?  they ask.  I know I want to write but I can't think of anything interesting enough to fire my imagination. To be honest, I think that coming up with ideas is a largely a learned skill that gets easier with practice. Writing regularly has a way of triggering the mind into coming up with ideas, almost as a byproduct of the writing process. But if you're stuck, how do you re-ignite your little gray cells? Here are seven strategies that may help you. 1. Read Outside Your Comfort Zone Don't read whole books, be a browser. Pick up books and magazines you would never normally touch and read things at random. Go to Amazon and download lots of free samples on science, anthropology, astronomy, history, eclectic stuff you wouldn't normally expose yourself to. Let your mind read enough to be puzzled, intrigued or fascinated, then stop and move on. This process will help fire different neurons in y...

The biggest selling book of all time is, of course, The Bible .  Given its place and significance in our cultural history, that’s probably not surprising. But, strictly speaking, the Bible doesn't count - for our purposes - because it's allegedly not fiction (though some might disagree.) I want to restrict my study of the bestseller to fiction - because to me, any book about things and people that aren't obviously real would have to pretty powerful to inspire millions of people to buy it. Okay.  Would it surprise you then to discover that the bestselling novel, ever, is, in fact, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities?   Shocked the hell out of me. Yep, we've consumed over 200 million copies of this saga about the French Revolution and its effect on English mores. After that, we're on more familiar ground with The Lord of the Rings at around 150 million - and this figure  isn't  skewed by the book often being sold as three books - they're...