Sometimes, all you have is a single idea. These can come from a stray thought when you’re out for a walk or taking a shower, or a prompt, or a dream. The problem with only having an idea is that it doesn’t really go anywhere. In this blog post, as part of preparation for NaNoWriMo,…
In this NaNoWriMo Prep series, we’ve so far looked at why to do NaNo (aside from it being great) and how to turn a prompt into a plot. In today’s post, we’ll focus on planning your book to give you a guideline for writing. Getting started with your plan Your plan needs two things: the…
To celebrate the launch of IrishComics.ie, I teamed up with Clare Foley on a new short horror. The Fiend in the Forest is the first completed work in what I’ve taken to calling Project Dark House, a weird little universe of original cryptids. You can read the whole thing for free over on IrishComics.ie, or…
When it comes to writing short fiction, sometimes it can be difficult keeping the word count low. In this post, as part of my NaNoWriMo series, we’ll take a look at three tips for keeping a story short. This is essential if you’re planning on writing a short story a day for NaNoWriMo, if you…
Any creative act takes time. Novels happen to take a lot of time, even just to get a first draft. That’s fine. When you’ve done it a couple of times, you expect to spend a large portion of your available time sitting at a keyboard, working away. NaNoWriMo just happens to require that you condense…
Something explodes, a bomb, a volcano, emotional tension…but can it be prevented? So far we’ve looked at Cause & Effect in the sense that it’s a set thing, but is there something your characters could have done to prevent it from happening altogether? In this post, we’re going to look at the magical time travel…
Launched on October 12th and 13th between the Dublin Comic Arts Festival (DCAF) and Octocon, Pocket Prompts are decks of double-sided cards that provide prompts in three categories: Each deck comes with 25 cards, totalling 50 prompts, packed snugly to fit in your pocket, in your backpack, or in your handbag, so you can take…
Previously, we looked at the ‘Something explodes’ card from the point of view of taking it literally. Now it’s time to step it up a notch. In this series of posts, I’m going to show you how this one card can be used to tell many different types of stories, and affect much more change…
One of the first cards I decided upon for the first deck of Pocket Prompts was ‘Something explodes’. It’s bold, dramatic, and can stir a story. In this series of posts, I’m going to show you how this one card can be used to tell many different types of stories, and affect much more change…
In my last post, I explores the concept of an emotional explosion, to pair up with the idea of a literal explosion. Today, we’re going to look at a different way of using the ‘Something explodes’ card: it’s time to look at dire consequences. One question comes to mind every time the news channel plays…