NEWS
Here you will find news and views on our three courses, why you should consider enrolling, and updates on absolutely everything!
Plot and story
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers Many people confuse “plot” and “story.” However, “plot” is the sequence of events that comprise the story. “Story” is what the novel is about, and novels can have multiple storylines. For example, a novel...
Building character
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers Two main elements in a book are plot and character. Both are vitally important.. Your book must be populated by characters that seem real. Okay, they may be ghosts, zombies or aliens, but they have to be...
The long and short of it
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers A good book should be as long as it needs to be, and no longer. For debut authors, alas, that doesn’t really work now. Most publishers now want books with minimum word counts. It’s part of their policy...
Writing with purpose
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers Writing your book, even if it’s a short one, is going to be a marathon. That can be daunting, knowing the hours of work you’ll have to devote to it. But just accept that it will take a long time to write. In...
Making it real
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers EM Forster wrote that a story ‘can only have one merit: that of making the audience want to know what happens next. ‘A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality – “The king died and...
The inspiration of the mundane
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers. Here he takes a look at finding inspiration. It’s sometimes said that most books fall into two categories. Someone ordinary finding themselves in an extraordinary situation. Or somebody more unusual or...
Context revisited
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers As I wrote in a recent blog the four elements that go together to form a novel are context, plot, characterisation, and conflict resolution. All play a part in every novel ever written. Get the balance right,...
A novel context
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers The four elements to every story are: context, plot, characterisation, and conflict resolution. In some degree, all play a part in every novel ever written. Over the next few blogs we’ll take a closer look at...
An original story? Don’t worry!
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and course tutor at Creating Writers. A big mistake for budding authors is to assume that their story has got to be utterly original. But the reality is different. Everything has already been written about. Whether it’s love, death, war,...
Don’t judge yourself, just write
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and course tutor at Creating Writers. "I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged." Erica Jong In her case, the judgement was favourable. She became the best-selling author of...
From thought to book
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers Many of us want to write a book but don’t know where to start. We’re not sure how to write characterisation or how to move the story forward in a way that will engage with readers. We also know that there will...
Gaining confidence
Charlie Laidlaw is an author and tutor at Creating Writers In writing a book, confidence is just as important as inspiration. It’s the confidence to write something, because writing is such a private endeavour. It’s the confidence to write, knowing also that your...