Novel Writing 12: My Plotting & Pacing Process.

I’m now over 25,000 words into the first draft of my latest novel. As things continue to come together, I’ve been thinking about the techniques I use to bring my plot together and keep it punchy. Before I started writing my current trilogy, I sat down and worked through a series of world-building exercises, which helped me to create the topography and setting of the Empire. My […]

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Novel Writing 8: the Second Novel Rolls On

It’s been a long time coming! My last post related to novel writing was almost two months ago now. At that stage, I was plunging into the first draft of my second novel. So, what’s happened in these past 60 days? Well, quite a lot! I attended the Melbourne Writers Festival, took part in a Writers Victoria publishing intensive, and generally got to know more about […]

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Thank you.

“Thanks.” It’s not something we’re encouraged to say a lot these days. The myth of the self-made person is quite pervasive in Western society, and the pressure to pull yourself up and succeed is immense. I was reflecting on how I’ve got to where I am now, and I want to pause and thank a few people. One of my colleagues made a comment to […]

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Novel Writing 5: Beta Readers Unite!

Was it meant to feel like this? Last night I hit send on a bunch of emails to my beta readers. It’s been a few day since I wrapped up the first draft of my debut novel, and after a solid edit, the text is now in the hands of real people for its first road test. I won’t lie – it’s a nerve-wracking thing to hand over […]

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Novel Writing 4: First Draft Complete!

I’ve completed the first draft of my novel! It doesn’t seem very long ago that I was writing about the twists and turns of working on my first novel. Today I’m happy to announce that (as of two days ago) I’ve reached the end of my first draft! For those who missed it, here was the Twitter announcement: That's it! I'm calling time on my first novel […]

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