Recent content by The Dark One

I note my post has been censored, which possibly explains the proliferation of ***** on this site.

How many times has this topic been discussed? Two things interest me about swearing - why is it that people think that writing a **** is somehow gentler than writing ****? You instantly recognise it for what it really is, so what's the difference? The other is this - it's always seemed to me...

Used to be a card carrying member of the pen and pad club, but when I got used to word processing I never looked back. Handwriting doesn't give me the sense of total immersion in the story that my laptop does - and writing on my hour commute every day is bliss (and very productive). Strangely...

So Palahniuk writes in all different genres with a recognisable voice? Blast! I was hoping that would be my claim to fame, and certainly it's what I've done so far. My three books have been off-beat sci-fi (with a dash of magical realism); football hero's journey morphing into crime; and...

My first instinct was to agree with this, but then my natural inclination to play devil's advocate got me wondering... Let's just say for a moment that Book X was definitely going to be a big success (loved both by critics and the rest of the world). I reckon you could tell a few things from...

I love writing but trying to get published can be depressing which would then have an impact on further writing; ie, "why on earth do I bother etc" Writing is also (necessarily) a solitary activity. You spend a lot of time alone, which is depressing for naturally social creatures if you're not...

Like Svrtnsse, I'm a careful planner, but there's a musing aspect to the planning which takes it beyond strict intellectual activity. But when I'm generating prose within the plan - getting from plot point to plot point - there's a lot of musing happening. After 20 years of writing I've learned...

Yes, I wrote songs for my first novel, Mr Cleansheets and put some on my website. Described some of the music and wove the lyrics of a couple of songs into the story. Also made a short film purporting to be a video described in the book which readers can see on vimeo. Thought I was breaking new...

Agree (and disagree) with a lot here. For me the greatest evils throughout history have been perpetrated in the name of ideology. Because what is ideology in a politically meaningful sense? It is a blueprint for political power within a system PLUS a justification for who gets a share of finite...

I'm very proud of the fact that my books are frequently praised for the strength of my female characters and I have two suggestions for others when it comes to writing the other sex... - make sure the character(s) does things that genuinely influence the plot - put yourself into the character's...

You see a lot of conflicting advice on this question but for me it's a no-brainer...if it aint fun, don't do it. Not until you've reached the point where people are paying you advances and setting deadlines. In my case, I made the decision to get serious about writing in 1992. My second...

Don't get me started on The 6th Sense. That's a prime example of what I call I dishonest twist because the writer/director changed the rules for the main character. SPOILER ALERT All the other ghosts, you could see their death wounds ad the kid was so scared he couldn't bear to be around them...

This is what I aim for every time. My concept of the best sort of escapist literature is where the writer sets up a pleasurable expectation as to what is coming, so the reader is thinking: OK, I can see where this is going...this is gonna be good. The thing is, you need to take the reader...

Have been chasing reviews in the last month or so...something that hadn't really occurred to me before (I've been way too passive). Didn't even know about the large range of review sites out there! Here's the latest, bearing in mind this isn't a fantasy book - but there must be fantasy review...

Seriously, you have to find a way to make editing fun. My own way is to identify passages which don't quite work and then either delete them or turn them into gold. Both are important. If a scene isn't part of the story spine, it has to go. If it is part of the story spine but doesn't quite...