It is a truth universally acknowledged, there is no story without conflict. Unlike the opening of Pride and Prejudice, this one happens to be true. Go ahead, argue with me.
Conflict is the crux of storytelling and plotting. Every novel thrives on conflict. Therefore writing conflict is pivotal to crafting a compelling story. Without conflict, there is no drama. Without drama, there is no story. …
World Book Day 2020 continues to promote reading for pleasure and sharing stories. The campaign for 2020, focuses around an ambitious plan to Share A Million Stories. Fifteen new £1 books launch for World Book Day 2020. …
The History of the Future is a ten-part documentary on BBC4 Extra.
Juliet Gardiner looks at how cultures of the past viewed the possibilities of the future, and what these visions say about the pre-occupations of the time.
Or as I like to call it – Where’s My Jetpack? …
The BBC’s Our World thread continues with Crossing Steinbeck’s America.
As America grapples with a deepening recession, white-collar workers lose their homes in increasing numbers. Paul Mason travels the country down the same road as John Steinbeck’s migrants in The Grapes of Wrath. Visiting homeless shelters along the way, he unexpectedly finds a growing number of middle-class people who have ended up on the street. …
Listen to tips from a screenwriter for TV and movies Jeremy Brock. The co-creator of BBC’s Casualty, writer of Last King of Scotland, Mrs Brown and Brideshead Revisited) appeared on BBC World Service Radio to talk about screen adaptations.
Brock discussed adapting novels and fact-based projects for film. …
Ever considered the unreal reality in fiction? Fiction isn’t reality. Contemporary stories and fantasy stories exist in different planes of reality but there’s a lot of gray areas. Philosophers and scientists debate the very nature of reality all the time. What is ‘real?’ …
Isaac. Sci-fi short fiction in the style of Silverberg, Asimov, Vonnegut and others of the Golden Age.
“Isaac, we already had this conversation.” …
Like few other genres, archetypes in fantasy make or break a story.
An archetype is a character that fulfils a role or symbolises some aspect of story telling. Most of our oldest surviving stories are myths and legends, which qualify as epic fantasy in my view. Greek epic poems and dramas include heroes, heroines, villains, guides and mentors, helpers, fantastical creatures and quests. …
The last two decades have seen huge changes in the publishing industries – the consolidation of publishers and agents, the advent of cost-effective digital printing for small runs, and the rise of the Internet as a discovery and distribution platform. It’s an industry my father would barely recognise from his time in publishing during the 1970’s.
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There are many ways to start writing a book, both fiction and non-fiction. Without a first draft, you don’t have a book, just an idea. But a completed first draft is just that – a beginning and not an end.
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