If you’re about to write a novel, start with the midpoint. That’s the place to begin to build your world around. The midpoint is the point of no return in...

It has been said that ‘everyone has a book inside them, and in most cases that’s where it should stay’. I have been trying to write a novel called The...

As a husband-and-wife writing team, the most frequently asked question we get is, ‘How do you work together?’ That’s a tough question to answer, partly because the process seems different...

When I wrote my first novel, Dark Wood Dark Water, I didn’t know how to write a novel, despite lots of time thinking about it. I am not a planner....

What, exactly, is “cozy” about being stabbed in the neck with a carving knife? Or being bludgeoned in the kitchen with a sturdy rolling pin? Or having your bedtime cocoa...

The Inspiration Project presents Refreshers Week took place in Dublin on September 29th last. Thirty writers came to the Fitzwilliam Hotel on St. Stephen’s Green for a day of intensive...

Here’s how to embed an emotional arc into the structure of your book so no one will ever know… When a character changes during the course of a narrative as...

William Goldman famously said there were only three rules for screenwriting: ‘Structure, structure and structure.’  Some people have an ability to structure a narrative without even thinking about it; these...

An article from our archives – consistently one of our most popular postings! When international bestseller Alex Barclay sang the praises of Scrivener in this excellent article, we thought we’d investigate...

The one thing everyone agrees a thriller needs is pace. If it doesn’t make you turn the pages – if you’re not hooked from the get-go, and so addicted by...