Howard Marks didn't see his latest career, as a crime fiction novelist, coming. "I didn't see any of them coming," he quips, with a throaty giggle which erupts into an alarmingly bronchial coughing fit.
One of the things I love most about working with writers is that so many of them are unflinchingly generous with their time, words and wisdom. So when I was recently approached by freelancer Monica Bhide and asked if I'd be interested in something purely motivational for our community of writers and readers, I jumped at the chance to have her as a guest here on There Are No Rules.
by Maria Popova "I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops." "Employ a simple and straightforward style," Mark Twain instructed in the 18th of his 18 famous literary admonitions. And what greater enemy of simplicity and straightforwardness than the adverb?
Taken from The Things That Nobody Knows: 501 Mysteries of Life, the Universe and Everything ($14.95, Atlantic Books, distributed in the U.S. by Trafalgar Square Publishing) The epic poem Beowulf is the most important surviving work of Anglo-Saxon literature.
Welcome to Part Eight of our popular fiction series. This week, Lucy looks at plot reversals. For the earlier articles in the series, click on the parts below: It's Week 8, and we are getting deeper into the plotting of your work of fiction.
Each day we write things down - maybe a grocery list, something memorable in a journal or if we're feeling really creative, even a story. But, how often do we consider the effects and benefits the process of writing has on our brains?