I am celebrating this week!
I have been struggling with one of the characters in my current Work In Progress, but I have finally had a break-through in his development and it has had a massive impact on the direction of my book (not to mention my mood).
This guy (and I will get on to who it is soon) has been by far the trickiest character I have ever come up with; not because he has some sort of great and powerful lineage, but because he is just a normal bloke in the real world.
I’m a Fantasy/Sci-Fi writer for a reason!
There have been times while working with this character where it has felt like I was playing charades with someone who had one hand tied behind his back. I was there making all sorts of guesses about what he was trying to put across, but nothing seemed to hit the mark. It was very frustrating.
And I figured, hey, why not make a game out of the whole thing?
So who’s up for a round of Character Charades?
The rules are below (together with my offering). I’d love to hear your take on this with your own character, so please leave your own answers in the comments below, or, better yet, share a #CharacterCharades post on you own blog/vlog/channel, whatever outlet you are using!
#CharacterCharades – The Rules
1: Name the character you have found most challenging to write. This could be someone in your current Work In Progress, or someone in a completed/published piece. If they gave you a headache at any point, I want to hear about it! Extra points if that headache was accompanied by a nosebleed.
2: Give a quick reason why this character was so challenging.
3: Using the above-named character, answer the following Charades inspired questions:
Book/Film/TV Show/Play – Give the title and a BRIEF description of the work they featured in. If it is a published piece, please don’t forget to include links to where it can be found. I’m sure we’d all like to know more. If it is a Work In Progress, link to any sites/pages where you have talked about it to any sort of length.
“The” – What is this character’s role in the story (the protagonist, the villain, the love interest, etc)? If they have a job, what is it?
Short Words – Use five words of no more than five letters each to describe this character.
Sounds Like/Doesn’t Sound Like – Can a comparison be made between your character and anyone else in popular culture? This could be another fictional character or someone who may have inspired this character’s creation. OR, is there someone that this character is the antithesis of?
One Syllable – Share one interesting fact about them.
Song – Share your favourite line of dialogue from your character.
4: Once you’re done, pick a couple of people to tag for them to participate as well. I won’t specify the number you should tag. I’ll leave that to you to decide.
And that’s it! Simple! Please feel free to be creative with this and, above all, have fun!
So here are my own answers to get things rolling:
1: My character is Simon Locke.
2: He was particularly challenging because he is a ‘real-world’ character and I don’t tend to write those. I also found it difficult to fit him in with the rest of the story. He seemed to be on the side-lines for quite a long time (but not anymore!)
3: The questions:
Book/Film/TV Show/Play – Simon is part of my current Work in Progress, The Greenstone In The Fire; what will (eventually!) be my debut novel. I have talked about it to some extent here. To give you an overview of the book, The Greenstone In The Fire follows three completely separate characters, each living in their own world, but whose paths start to cross in unexpected ways when their lives gradually become intertwined and the boundaries between their worlds blur.
“The” – Simon Locke is The Protagonist of this story (or one of them, at least). He is a writer (I know, rule one, don’t write about writers – oops!) who quite literally loses the plot and gets lost in it at the same time.
Short Words – love, grief, twin, maybe crazy.
Sounds Like/Doesn’t Sound Like – I’m going to go with “Doesn’t Sound Like” for this one. Simon draws a lot of inspiration from Clint Eastwood in the book, but he is most definitely nothing like Eastwood himself!
One Syllable – Simon’s obsession with Westerns started at about the same time as his feelings for Naomi (i.e. as they met). It has been the main focus of his work ever since.
Song – OK, this was hard since I am going to be re-writing a lot of Simon’s part of the book but then I found… “You’re only crazy if the voices talk back, right?”
4: So, rather than tagging anyone specific, I would like to nominate anyone reading to have a go at this! As I said before, add a comment below, or post it in your own blog/vlog etc. Just don’t forget the hashtag #CharacterCharades, and if you feel like it, link back to here!
Have fun everyone!
I look forward to hearing about your troublesome characters!
This was one of the first Classic books that I read for my own pleasure. I wasn’t studying it at school or University. I just picked it up off the shelf to enjoy for myself.
In fairness, I could have spent all seven days posting each of the 
Another book taken from the middle of a series, 
So, this is the one I haven’t actually read yet, but am very much looking forward to devouring. 
I was in two minds about posting two books from the same author, but as I struggled to choose between this and 
This is my current read. I only started it a few days ago, so I’m not far into it yet, but it is a book that was recommended to me by several friends and members of my family. Everyone I talked to about gave it rave reviews and commented it was ‘right up my street’, so it seemed like the right time to delve into its pages (or whatever the Kindle equivalent is). You never know, if I like it that much, I may be adding my own review into the mix soon.
Well first of all, I am still very much determined to finish the first draft of my novel by June. If you missed me launching this personal challenge, you can read about it 
A Christmas Carol
Well, I say “single-handedly,” but actually Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had rather a lot to do with that as well, together with the German traditions that Albert brought with him (
It is one of those films that I can quote wholesale (as can my entire family), and it never fails to put a smile on my face. I have watched it every year for as long as I can remember, and intend to keep doing so for many years to come.
Of course, what helps to soften some of these moments is the reaction given by Gonzo and Rizzo as the film’s narrator and chorus respectively. They offer an immediate response to what is happening that helps to re-assure younger audiences and serve as a reminder that this is, after all, a work of fiction.
All that is left for me to say is 
Nativity plays are a seasonal staple in the UK. Every play group, school, nursery, church and amateur dramatic society will have at some point or another dressed everyone up as shepherds, angels, and wise men to act out the birth of Jesus. I, myself, recall being cast as an angel in a play at nursery school (
The Flint Street Nativity
And who could ever forget the Wise Man with a sibilant lisp, who is tasked with presenting the baby Jesus with “
So, what films make you laugh at this time of year?
Miracle on 34th Street
In the 
But before I get into some of my own favourites, I have a confession to make. This may come as a surprise (especially given the opening to this post), but I have never seen 
For me, this really is the reason for the season and the way that the Bible story is captured in this film is truly remarkable. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend that you do. Back in 2016, I did a 
For the next couple of weeks, I am hoping to increase my weekly target, in the knowledge that in December, I will want to spend more of my time with family, rather than locked away in a room on my own, while Christmas passes by without me.
In focusing so much on my book, I have actually spent a bit more time looking at its structure. I have three very different storylines to weave together and ultimately combine. What I have done over the last seven weeks or so is divide the overall plot into sections, each one culminating in an important plot point that then propels the reader into the next part.
Having said that, I do intend to keep going and keep posting regularly on here. When I come back on 30th November (hopefully a little rested and raring to go), it will officially be the appropriate time to start talking about Christmas, which I intend to do for the entirety of December; you have been warned!
I have read some amazing books over the years. It didn’t occur to me for a long time that these books did not spring into the world fully formed in their completed state. Someone (a writer whom I held in high regard, no doubt) spent an untold number of hours getting it down on paper and then even more time editing it – deleting whole swathes of text, swapping sentences and paragraphs, grappling over a single word until they found the perfect one.
Stop beating yourself up when you’re not happy with a particular sentence or passage in your first draft. Let it lie for a while. Get the rest of the draft done before you start scrutinising each line. You never know, when you do come back to it, you may find that, like wine, it has improved with age.
I tend to think a lot clearer when I have a pen in my hand. The slow, analogue process of writing by hand makes me consider each sentence as it comes to me, while simultaneously keeping a thought on what is coming next.
Firstly, it’s quite difficult for others to read over my shoulder while I write. Aside from the fact that I tend to shut myself away in my room to write, if someone were to try and read over what I had written immediately after the fact, most of the time, they wouldn’t understand a word of it! The more relaxed into writing I get, the faster my thoughts flow. The faster my thoughts flow, the faster I write and my handwriting deteriorates accordingly. I am very fortunate that I am so familiar with my own handwriting, that I know what it says, even when others don’t. Although, there have been times when even I have paused to turn the page upside down in the hopes of deciphering a word or phrase my hand has struggled to keep up with.
And secondly, have you ever heard of someone being able to hack into a handwritten notebook? Of course, this particular advantage is rather short-lived once I get it all typed up, but even then I still have the handwritten copy to go back to if something goes wrong with the electronic copy.
I frequently come away from writing with pain in my fingers, my wrist, even as far as my elbow. My knuckles crack and complain in all weathers at times, and the noises that my hand and wrist can make when I stop to flex could make a grown man pale with nausea.
October is a great month! Autumn really sets in and brings with it an incredible array of colours in the trees. It brings crisp, cold mornings and short days. Cosy jumpers, warm gloves, and hot drinks spiced with cinnamon.
Last year, when I took part, I discovered something really wonderful about the Writing Community, and that is that it is filled with people who not only have a shared love for writing, but also a shared passion for seeing other writers do well. There were several times last November when I seriously wanted to give up. That 
This isn’t just about accountability (which is important – it was a great motivator having a group of people around you to ask you the uncomfortable question of “
Snacks are great. 
Let’s get real for a sec. When the Ancient Greeks talked about Ambrosia, the food of the gods, what they actually meant was coffee. And this is coming from someone who is usually a 
OK, so writing is a solitary pursuit. This is why it is important to connect with others, particularly during 
