Today's #TuesdayTip is another writing exercise/writers' block buster.
This is just a quickie you can do to get warmed up before starting for the day.
Describe a person you know really well. Physically, temperamentally, character traits etc.
Now describe their opposite. Try and be creative. Go beyond if they are short, make them tall, skinny, make them fat. Try and think about how they might be emotionally different. How would they react to an event compared to the person you know really well?
If you have a bit more time and fancy a stretch, write a conversation between the original character and your new creation.
Remember the rules:

• Set yourself a time limit.
• Write without stopping, editing or overthinking.
• Write whatever comes to mind and don't worry if it doesn't make sense.
• It doesn't matter if it has nothing to do with the scene that you are stuck on.

If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
Until next time,
All the best.
​Paul

For the last couple of weeks, I have spent longer than I should hanging around on Star Trek Facebook forums. A couple of topics for discussion got me thinking about how a strong ensemble cast can make all the difference between a successful show and one that doesn't quite work. The same is true for a novel, especially if your book is centred around a team, which a lot of police procedurals are.
First of all, I'm not talking about how good the actors are. Rather, I'm looking at it from the storyteller's perspective. In previous posts, I've spoken about character development, especially the need for rounded characters with a broad range of traits. This is even more important for an ensemble, where different characters can take on different traits and roles. In a good ensemble cast, none of the characters are superfluous. Their importance to a particular story may vary, but they bring an essential component, such as a skill or a perspective, that the storytellers would struggle without
Star Trek has always been at its best when the ensemble is balanced.
Using the original Star Trek as an a example:
At the centre is the 'triumvirate' - Kirk, Spock and Dr McCoy. These three characters bring contrasting and complementary character traits that allow for a broad range of stories to be told.
Spock is cerebral and logical with a cool head. He can think through situations without allowing emotion to cloud his judgement.
McCoy is emotional, and wears his heart on his sleeve. He is incredibly intelligent but often prefers to go with his gut than his head. He and Spock are two sides of the same coin.
Captain Kirk balances the other two men. As Captain, he weighs up what others have to say and makes a decision. He brings a physicality and willingness to accept risk.
Between them, these three men have sufficient character traits to tell a broad range of stories. Importantly, you need all three of these characters to exist if you want to keep on telling new stories that don't get predictable. If Spock wasn't there, Kirk and McCoy could be goaded into doing what feels right at that moment and missing some subtle clue. If McCoy is absent, Spock would tend towards ruthless logic, perhaps persuading Kirk to strictly follow the rules, rather than bend them to achieve a compromise that means everyone wins. In the absence of Kirk as mediator, Spock and McCoy would argue endlessly about the best course of action and no decisions would be made.
This doesn't mean they have to be in all stories - in fact, some of the most interesting episodes involve one of these three being temporarily unavailable. In that case, we see how the others struggle without the traits of that character. However, long-term, all three of these characters need to exist for the series to work. A car can limp on for a short while with one of its wheels missing, but pretty soon it is too badly impaired to continue. Ensemble casts are the same.
Who does what in an ensemble can change.
The catalyst for these thoughts came from a different star trek series, ST Discovery. Someone started a discussion about one of the characters, Ensign Tilly. Some posters like her, others want to see the back of her. However, I argue that Tilly is an integral part of the ensemble cast. She starts as the most inexperienced of the main cast, and thus she acts as a bit of an audience substitute, explaining everything for those of us at home. She also brought an infectious enthusiasm and loyalty, and an endearing naivety. She was also willing to admit to being terrified on occasion (something earlier Star Trek series tended not to show). Over the course of the four seasons to date, she has evolved into a more confident and mature character. Which means that some of those original qualities have had to be redistributed to a degree between other characters, both new and existing, to maintain that breadth of character traits.
Not all members of an ensemble have to be likeable.
And now I continue to my favourite of the Star Trek series, The Next Generation, and its most recent incarnation, Star Trek Picard. Without giving too many spoilers away, ST Picard is set two decades after the Next Generation cast (always a strong ensemble) finished their run on TV and the big screen. This third and final season delivers what all us fans have desperately been waiting for - the reunion of the beloved original cast. However, this ensemble is joined by other characters; some previously established in other trek series (eg Seven of Nine from Star Trek Voyager), some unique to ST: Picard (eg Raffi) and others invented just for this season.
The biggest marmite character of the lot is Captain Liam Shaw, commander of the USS Titan, the ship on which much of the 3rd season adventures take place.
Abrasive, rude and sarcastic, some viewers really dislike him and would rather see the back of him. I can't disagree more strongly. Shaw is a stroke of genius. The Next Generation crew are shipmates with 35 years of shared history. They may disagree sometimes, but they are bonded and love each other deeply (off-screen as well, apparently). Many of the rough edges that caused narrative friction during the TV series have been smoothed away. Shaw is the grit in the oyster that leads to the pearl. Without his contrariness, the reunion of the Next Gen cast would be too comfortable. The story would plod along and we'd enjoy it, but it wouldn't be the magnificent spectacle that is currently showing. Time and evolution have sanded down some of the contrasting character traits from the TV series and so Shaw and other characters add those traits back to the ensemble.
So what does all this mean for your stories?
Essentially, I am suggesting that you should craft your ensemble of characters the way you craft an individual. Who is the character that the audience relate to? Who is the audience's 'explainer'? Is there a character who brings optimism to situations? Are they balanced by someone who is pessimistic (and can you flip these characters for an unexpected emotional punch?). Who brings the heart, who brings the intellect?
What happens if the ensemble becomes unbalanced temporarily by the absence of a character?
If characters leave permanently or join how do you compensate? Do you redistribute character traits, or balance it by making other changes to the cast?


What do you think about ensembles? What character traits do you think are essential for a strong and versatile cast - what traits do you think need to be balanced out by more than one character?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
Until next time, live long and prosper!
Paul

"Tax needn't be taxing" was the slogan when the UK government introduced the online filing of Self Assessment (SA) Tax Returns, yet it has become almost a tradition that as the deadline looms for filing tax returns, my social media feeds become filled with writers groaning about this annual chore. I'm posting this today, as the new tax year starts tomorrow (April 5th). So why not get off to a good start?


Now before we go any further, I AM NOT A TAX EXPERT. Seriously, I cannot emphasise enough that I am not giving tax advice here. I am not qualified to do so. However, I have been filing my SA return for the better part of a decade and I have learned a couple of things that can make your life easier. Namely how to keep basic records and hopefully not be presented with an unexpected demand for money that you haven't prepared for. Furthermore, tax expert Lindsay Henson very generously read through the draft of this post and corrected and clarified several points. You can visit her website for more tips https://lindsayhenson.co.uk/blog/

Many writers choose to seek advice from professionals or engage the services of an accountant, and I heartily recommend both options. However, if you feel your tax affairs are relatively straight-forward, and you are confident in filing your Self Assessment yourself, then I have a couple of tips to get things going. You can also use these tips to get your affairs in order before engaging the services of a professional.

Important caveat: This applies only to the to the UK, specifically England & Wales, where I am based.
For the purposes of this article, I am going to assume that you are treating money from writing as income, you are self-employed as a writer (even if you hold down another job) and are simply going to pay Income Tax and National Insurance on it. If your affairs are more complex (eg you have set up a company etc), then you need more specialist advice and to file accounts and pay corporation tax.

The Basics:
In the UK, there are two ways to pay your taxes (and National Insurance).
If you are employed, your employer will be deducting the appropriate amount of tax and National Insurance directly from your pay. This is called Pay As You Earn or PAYE. In this case, you probably don't need to file a Self Assessment Tax Return, unless you are a higher rate taxpayer or receive benefits in kind eg a company car etc.  Your tax is properly deducted and paid over to the tax authorities (HMRC) by your employer, who operates PAYE, by applying your tax “code number”. At the year end (the 5th April) - you will be given a form P60 so check it to ensure you’ve paid the right amount of tax! If you leave mid-year you’ll get a P45!
Always check the code number as it is your responsibility to correct it if it is wrong! You’ll always receive a notice of coding from HMRC to check. As long as you are receiving pay slips and having tax deducted you are classified as an employee for tax purposes.

If you are self-employed, (eg earning money from your writing, such as royalties) you need to file an annual tax return (known as Self Assessment). You may wish to use an accountant or do it yourself, using the government's website at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs.
As a writer, you may still be employed (paying taxes via PAYE) as well as earning additional money through writing (self-employed). In which case, you will need to file a tax return, on which you will also declare the PAYE figures.

This sounds horrendously complicated, but the good news is that things are pretty joined up these days. When you file your self assessment - your total (worldwide) income is declared and tax calculated on the global amount' offset by a credit for tax that you’ve already paid under PAYE. Essentially this leaves only the tax from writing being due and payable (you won't be charged twice!).
HMRC actually calculate how much tax you owe once you have completed your tax return and ask you to pay that sum by certain set deadlines, so don't worry if the thought of complex calculations scares you.

Remember, at the end of the tax year, your employer will issue you with a P60. Hold onto this, as all of the information that you need for filling in the Employment supplementary pages is on this slip. If you leave a job, you will be issued a P45 which contains similar information.

You must register for SA by strict deadlines once you start receiving self-employed income and will be sent a ten digit Unique Taxpayer Reference number a UTR - this is basically the ID that stays with you for life, allowing you to file a return and for HMRC to retain all  your tax records in one place on their system
Remember, unlike other jurisdictions, The Tax Year runs from April 6th to April 5th each year.

Everybody's tax circumstances are unique - I am not going to touch upon that. But we all have tax-free personal allowances, details of which you can access yourself along with lots of valuable information on HMRC.gov. A word of warning — Class 2 and  Class 4 NICs (National Insurance Contributions) are also payable by the self-employed!

Don't Let Your Tax Bill Be A Nasty Surprise.
One of the strengths of the PAYE system, is that your employer deducts your tax and national insurance directly from your pay. Your Gross Pay is how much you are paid each month (eg if your annual salary is £24,000 pounds, your monthly TOP LINE pay will be £2,000).
However your Net Pay is your 'take home pay' - in other words, how much money is paid into your bank account after taxes etc are deducted by your employer. Because the money you owe in tax never actually reaches your account, you can't accidentally spend it.

But If you are self-employed, it's a little more complicated. For example, your royalties may be paid to you Gross directly via your publisher, through your agent (after their commission) or from the platform you publish on eg Amazon. If this is the case, you need to make sure you don't accidentally spend all that money and then get a shock at the end of the tax year when HMRC ask you to pay what you owe.
So I recommend that whenever you receive a payment you put aside a chunk of that money and don't touch it, so it is waiting for you at the end of the year. A very simple way to do this is to open a savings account and transfer the appropriate amount (perhaps 20/30%) into that account each month. Then, when you come to pay your tax bill you pay it out of this savings account.

So How Do You Know How Much To Put Aside?
Working this out can be as complicated or as simple as you want. The important thing is to make sure you put aside at least as much as HMRC are going to charge you. Anything above that is a bonus.

The simplest way of doing this is to simply calculate how much tax is owed on that sum of money (in 2022/23 this is 20% for lower rate taxpayers, 40% for higher rate - check the rates on the HMRC website) and how much NI you will owe (9.73% this year for self-employed, plus £3.15 per week.)

If you received £1,000 in royalties this month, put aside £200 tax and £97.30 National Insurance. Plus £3.15/week (For ease of use that's £13.65 per calendar month). Do this each month. If you receive no royalties that month, unfortunately you still need to pay the £3.15/week.

The benefit of this system is that you shouldn't ever find yourself short of money when you receive your tax bill. The downside, is that it doesn't take into account your personal tax-free allowance or any expenses allowable against your tax, so you may be putting aside more money each month than you need to (unless you have a second job and have used up your tax-free allowance). Of course, hopefully you still have this money, so you can think of it as an easy way of building up some savings.
This was how I started, and it worked very nicely. As I am a proud geek, I have tweaked this method to take into account more factors so it is more accurate, but the principle remains the same. We won’t get into the minefield of allowable expenses in this post but there’s info online that’s far more reliable than the man in the pub!

You Only Pay Tax On Your Profits.
As a self-employed writer, you are essentially a small business (known as a sole trader). Therefore, your net income is essentially your profits. That is, what is left over after you have deducted reasonable tax-deductible expenses. You should visit HMRC or seek professional advice for a list of what is currently regarded as a legitimate business cost (things change, so I am not going to detail them here).
Why is this significant? Well you can save yourself quite a bit of money if you deduct these costs from your profits.

Here is a very simple example.
(I am ignoring any personal tax allowance here, and assuming you are paying tax and National Insurance on your full profits at the standard 2022/23 rates of 20% and 9.73%).

Let's say you earn £20,000 from writing.
You need to pay 20% tax on that (20%x£20,000 = £4,000) and 9.73% NI (9.73%x£20,000= £1946). Your tax bill would therefore be £5,946.

However, let's assume that you clock up £1,000 of reasonable tax-deductible expenses.
Your profit is therefore £20,000 - £1,000 = £19,000
20%x£19,000 = £3,800 and 9.73%x£19,000 = £1848.70 - your tax bill is therefore £5,648.70 - you've saved £297.30 on your tax bill!
Caveat: Don't forget however, that you have spent £1,000 on expenses, so you are still out of pocket. Just less than you would be if you hadn't claimed and paid the £1,000 outright.

Now HMRC won't just take your word for it. They have the right to insist upon seeing receipts and royalty statements etc to ensure that you are paying the correct amount - basically, they can audit you. Audits are called COMPLIANCE CHECKS or the old-style tax investigations, and whilst they are pretty rare and not at random, but targeted, you still need to be prepared just in case. You need to retain all business records  for at least 6 years.

So here are a few basic things you should do to make sure that you are ready. It can also act as a checklist of what an accountant might wish to see.

• Record in a spreadsheet or accounting software all of your income, along with the date received. Record any legitimate expenses.
• Retain any royalty statements etc. I personally prefer electronic (back it up!), but paper is fine.
• Retain any receipts or invoices (as above).
• It's worth considering having a separate bank account solely dedicated to your writing (and imperative if your income becomes regular or substantial), so that you can easily cross-reference the date on your royalty statements or receipts and invoices with the date on the bank statement. Perhaps even consider a writing-only credit card?
• If you get into the habit of dealing with everything at the end of each month, it isn't such a big job in January!
• Do your tax return early! The deadline for electronic filing of your SA is January 31st after the end of the tax year. You can file the tax return from April 6th (the day the new tax year starts). That is almost 9 months, so why do it so early?
• First, you don't have to pay any money until the January 31st deadline. Knowing how much that bill will be will let you plan and make sure you have the money ready. Second, it might take longer than you think - so why stress yourself out at the last minute? Third HMRC will be very busy as the deadline looms, so avoid hours in a queue listening to bad music, and phone them for advice earlier in the year. Fourth, you get to feel really smug when January rolls around and everyone else starts panicking.
• One final reason is a rather nasty little surprise that HMRC might have for you. Known as 'payments on account', whereby they will also demand half of next year's tax bill (with the rest to follow in July). They do this by simply assuming you'll pay the same tax next year as this year. Doing your taxes early makes it easier to plan for this delightful surprise.
• Just in case you're worried about paying twice, this money is basically credit against the following year's tax bill, so you will only have to pay the balance then (plus the following year's 'pay on account'). If you owe less tax next year, the difference can either remain as credit on your account or you can be refunded it.

Remember. The above information is NOT TAX ADVICE, and I certainly can't answer any questions. But if you have any thoughts about ways to make this annual chore easier, please feel free to share here or on social media.

If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.

I will be taking a short break over the Easter holidays, after which I will be back.
Best wishes,
Paul.