written by Laolu Ogundele   What pops into your mind when you think about creativity? Donatello carving out David’s sculpture in a slab of marble or Leonardo Da Vinci dutifully painting the Mona Lisa? If you do, that’s fine – and correct. However, let’s bring it closer to home. What are some creativeContinue Reading

written by Jessica Hope (guest post) Give me a decent bottle of poison and I’ll construct the perfect crime. Agatha Christie  Made famous by the likes of Agatha Christie in her captivating novels, poison has become the popular choice of weapon in mystery books. From Murder Is Easy, to Sparkling Cyanide, Christie hadContinue Reading

#guestpost written by Laolu Ogundele  “So, what’s your style”? Someone once asked me in the middle of a neighborhood writers meetup I attended a decade or so ago. “Straight jeans, dark-colored zip hoodies, and basketball shoes…” I began, but my voice trailed off as I noticed a couple of people try hardContinue Reading

No book worth its salt is meant to put you to sleep, it’s meant to make you jump out of bed in your underwear and run and beat the author’s brains out. Bohumil Hrabal, Czech novelist There’s a book called Aspects of the Novel, a series of lectures from E. M. Forster,Continue Reading

What your characters say they are is NOT who they are… What they do is the key. Shawn Coyne 1. Think in 5 principles, the bricks for any successful story:  TIME, SUBSTANCE, STYLE, STRUCTURE, CONTENT. 2. Learn your genre – there’s a great collection (with examples) of differences between each genre. IContinue Reading