Category: The craft of writing

The porpoise in every scene

Novels are necklaces. We talk a lot about the structure of a plot, and stress about it, and we’re right to talk and stress because…

Harry 31 January 2025

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Conveying your characters’ feelings (effectively)

Last week’s email was all about staying close to character and I ended, in a way I seldom do, by being a bit mean about…

Harry 24 January 2025

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Car windscreens and fallen magnolia petals

One of the bits of feedback I give most – and really, I’d want to give it almost all the time, on auto-repeat – is:…

Harry 17 January 2025

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The great books you can’t write (and the one that you can)

Most nights, I watch a bit of TV with the missus before bed. She does not get ready as fast as I do, so I…

Harry 10 January 2025

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A simple, repeatable joy

My last email was grumpy. Bah humbug. A silver cane waved menacingly at orphans. This email is festive. A Merry Christmas to us all! A…

Harry 20 December 2024

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The easiest technique in fiction

Lots of things in writing are hard. One thing in particular is very, very easy… but it’s astonishingly neglected by a lot of writers. Here’s…

Harry 6 December 2024

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How to Sell A Book, if you’re Billy No-Mates

Last week, I explained that the trick of selling on Amazon is to achieve steadily growing traffic and sales over 4-7 days. In effect, you’re…

Harry 1 November 2024

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How to Sell A Book, if you’re a robot

Over the last couple of weeks, we thought about how to sell books the traditional way – print books sold through physical bookstores. The short…

Harry 25 October 2024

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How to Sell A Book, if you’re a portly gentleman running for a door

Last week, I talked about how print-led publishing is essentially dominated by the battle to secure retail space.  If your book gets a really good…

Harry 18 October 2024

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The corpse on the page

Last week, I said: “As you write, and as you edit, you are faced with 1,000,000 choices: again and again and again. Are you happy…

Harry 27 September 2024

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