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In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was 'terrible,' describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was 'delightful'; make us say 'delightful' when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, 'Please will you do my job for me'.
C.S. Lewis
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
Mark Twain
paulrburridge
Jan 201 min read
Last Page Test
Sorry, that was a bit dramatic. Here's what I'm attempting to highlight. What would happen if some unkind soul ripped out the last page...
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paulrburridge
Jan 201 min read
The Shape of Text to Come
We get lost in our characters, descriptions, plot twists, and the general stuff of writing. Ever so often we need to take a step back,...
2 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jul 17, 20241 min read
Euphony, euphony
Writers go on alarmingly about the importance of euphony. But euphony is nothing without a little cacophony to make it look good!
4 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jul 9, 20241 min read
Nail-biter...
Long time ago I was a lecturer in graphic communications at a Home Counties University. It fell to me to evaluate the year's end of...
11 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jun 17, 20241 min read
First Contact ...
When you begin a story it’s like greeting a first contact tribe. You need to establish a common means of communication early in the...
8 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jun 17, 20241 min read
Rules are made to be broken, but before you can break them you need rules
It would seem there are more rules involved in writing that international diplomacy and the Highway Code combined. Rules are good if you...
6 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jun 13, 20241 min read
Self-soothing ...
When dogs self-soothe they can lick themselves till they bleed. When I need soothing I write till I bleed.
2 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jun 9, 20243 min read
Word abuse
We ask too much of words. I regard some words and phrases with the pity I feel for those poor malnourished, overburdened creatures in...
10 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Mar 6, 20241 min read
SPEECH MARK FREE ZONE
I have wasted hours trying to convince writers that single speech marks are the British English way of framing dialogue. Doubles being...
16 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Feb 29, 20241 min read
The Invisible Writer
OK this is counter intuitive, but bear with. Writing is an ego driven activity. The sound of our own voice echoing back from the pages is...
31 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Nov 25, 20231 min read
Is it time to rethink dialogue tags?
Someone close to me is the product of an expensive private education, a university graduate, with a well-enunciated RP accent and a...
19 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Nov 25, 20231 min read
Meet your characters
You describe your characters with the intention of painting their portrait on the canvas of the readers' minds. The descriptions are...
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paulrburridge
Oct 19, 20231 min read
A radical new approach to writing
A decade back, when I was attempting my first novel, I felt like I was fumbling in the dark. Soon as I began developing this method it...
17 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Aug 8, 20231 min read
The Dunning–Kruger effect
When someone praises my writing, and on the odd occasion I am tempted to believe them, I remember the Dunning–Kruger effect. Stupid...
18 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Aug 1, 20231 min read
Actioning
I don't know whether this is a thing or not. But if it isn't it should be. This thought was triggered by something David Tennant (yes,...
19 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Aug 1, 20231 min read
To dink or not to dink?
What’s the purpose of a blog? Is it to bring to the readers’ attention some instructive insight in a witty and memorable format? Or is it...
13 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jul 28, 20231 min read
Does your story pass the Bechdel Test?
The Bechdel test, aka the Bechdel-Wallace test, is a measure of the proportionate representation of women to men in movies and general...
14 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jul 27, 20232 min read
On those days of self-doubt
You are being arrested for impersonating a writer.* You have the right to stop writing and refuse to publish. If you give up the right to...
10 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jul 21, 20231 min read
The Occam's Razor of Writing
'Of the many ways of describing an event, the description requiring the fewest words is usually the most readable.'
10 views0 comments
paulrburridge
Jul 18, 20232 min read
Was there sadism before de Sade?
I’m writing a sequel to my novel 1624 – imaginatively titled 1633. As the titles suggest they are historical novels. I, of course, write...
53 views0 comments
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