Thoughts on writing

Writing crossover fiction first appeared on The Literary Sofa.   When I began writing Notes on My Family I wasn’t thinking about whether I was writing a book for adults, or YA fiction, or a crossover novel. I was simply writing a novel. I knew I wanted to write a darkly humorous book about a dysfunctional family living a seemingly…

I often meet people who would like to write creatively but who are unsure how to begin. Most of us are afraid to explore new creative pursuits. Even after making the decision, six years ago, to take my writing more seriously and signing up for a creative writing course at a local arts centre, I still worried that I should…

‘A man called Berg, who changed his name to Greb, came to a seaside town intending to kill his father… Window blurred by out of season spray. Above the sea, overlooking the town, a body rolls upon a creaking bed: fish without fins, flat-headed, white-scaled, bound by a corridor room – dimensions rarely touched by the sun – Alistair Berg,…

I was thinking this morning about ideas. A question that every author is asked at some stage in their writing career is: Where do you get your ideas from? It’s an obvious question which often results in a less than obvious response from the author. There is one thing to remember here: ideas are not plot. For me, ideas are…