Today's #TuesdayTip is another Block Buster - a short exercise to either bust your writer's block, or just a fun writing challenge to practise your skills. It focuses on description.

We've all stumbled across those late-night shopping channels on TV, where dangerously enthusiastic presenters attempt to sell us gadgets that we've never heard of or never realised we wanted. Even more impressive are those presenters who manage to wax lyrical for several minutes about something mind-numbingly tedious or ubiquitous, like a pillow. Helped by what appears to be a remarkably generous discount (often recouped by expensive postage and packaging), they extoll you to either phone now, or these days, visit their website. Given that they are largely competing against Amazon, with its free Prime delivery, you have to take your hats off to them for accepting the challenge.

The skill (aside from a level of excitement that makes you squint at the TV to see if their nostrils are red and their pupils dilated) lies in the description. And it is something they share with writers.

Part One: Choose an everyday object. To do this, perhaps look around where you are sitting or wander around the house. To increase the level of challenge, choose something really dull or which we buy because we have to and rarely give any thought to beyond price.
Now write a paragraph or two describing this item as if your audience can't see it and have no idea what it is. Go into excruciating detail (to make it fun, you don't have to be trying to sell it. Perhaps, the object is really rubbish and you are warning folks off.) Consider as many senses as appropriate (I'm going to assume that you don't feel the need to taste a pillow).

Description is a vital skill for any writer, especially for written prose or audio drama, where one can't rely on visual stimuli). But a book soon grinds to a halt and readers get bored if you over-write. So the next part of the activity hones the necessary skills to avoid tedium.

Part Two: Take your previous prose and distil it to two or even one sentence. What is the essence of the object? What does your reader need (or want) to know about? Let their imagination do the heavy lifting here. Everyone is familiar with pillows, so don't waste time telling them what one is. Focus on describing it. The smell of a pillow is probably irrelevant - unless of course it has the scent of a lover's perfume or the damp, shampoo smell from their still-wet hair.

If you want to extend this activity still further, you can repeat this second part of the activity for different audiences (or different characters). A detective looking at a crime scene, will be interested in different aspects of a pillow than someone checking into a hotel for a romantic evening.

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,
Paul

Today's #TuesdayTip is another writing exercise/writers' block buster.
The aim is to practise writing for different audiences.
You are going to describe the same scene several times as if to different people. Eg to a child, a police officer, a parent, your best friend, etc.
First choose a scene. It could be one that you write yourself, or a scene you know well from a book or film.
Then choose your audience - see above for some suggestions.
Describe the scene in a manner appropriate to that audience.

• Consider the language you will use.
• Is it age appropriate?
• Is it formal or casual?
• Is it an amusing anecdote or a sad story?
• Is it a factual re-telling or are you aiming to entertain?
• What details are relevant, appropriate or unnecessary?
• Would you embellish it?

Now pick a different audience and rewrite the same scene so that it is appropriate to them.
Ask the same questions as you did previously.

• Consider the language you will use.
• Is it age appropriate?
• Is it formal or casual?
• Is it an amusing anecdote or a sad story?
• Is it a factual re-telling or are you aiming to entertain?
• What details are relevant, appropriate or unnecessary?
• Would you embellish it?

Tip: To get the most out of the exercise, try and choose two very different audiences.
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,
Paul

Today's #TuesdayTip is another writing exercise/writers' block buster and we return to the favourite topic of Point of View (for other exercises involving POV try #TuesdayTips 110 132 137 ).
For this exercise, we're going to try and rewrite a scene from a novel in a different POV to the one that author originally used.
Pick a book that you are familiar with and choose a scene that you like.
First of all, which 'Person' has the author chosen to write the scene in?
First Person: The reader is the narrator.
I did this. I thought this. I said that.
Second Person: The narrator is describing what the reader is doing.
You did this. You thought this. You said that.
Third Person: The narrator is 'omnipotent'. They are describing what the character - or characters - are doing.
Kevin did this. Claire thought this. Sam said that.
Now try and rewrite the scene in a different person.
Tip:
1st to 3rd person is probably the easiest.
3rd to 1st person will require you to choose which character to narrate (assuming the scene has more than one) and you'll need to decide what to keep from the original narration and what to cut (or add).
If you want a real challenge, try changing to 2nd person.
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,
Paul.

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

They say that familiarity breeds contempt. That might be a little harsh, but humans are famous for their ability to see what they expect to see, and when you observe the same thing every day, you stop noticing the little differences.
An acquaintance of mine started a job in a new organisation. A few days after they started, the police started an investigation into a serious incident that had taken place, unnoticed, on the day they started work. They interviewed my friend, who warned them that they were new to the role. The police were delighted; whilst their colleagues struggled to remember anything out of the ordinary, or even exactly which day the event took place, my friend recalled every detail. It was all new and exciting to them and so they remembered even small things. We never did work out if they saw anything useful to the investigation, but the police were very grateful to them.
With that in mind, today's writing exercise is a practise in description.
Take a notebook and travel somewhere new. Perhaps a coffee shop you've never visited before, or a new part of town? Once there take notes. Copious notes. Describe the layout of the area and the decorations. Are there people there? Try and use all your senses: sight, hearing, touch and smell (don't lick anything unless it's socially appropriate or safe to do so). Then delve deeper. How does the place make you feel?
Now, return home and write about a character visiting this place. Place yourself in their shoes. If it is an existing character you already know, how would it make them feel. What would they notice? A parent in a coffee shop might automatically clock where the toilets are and if there is a good selection of juices and snacks suitable for small children. A police officer might notice the two shifty-looking characters in the corner, or feel exasperation toward the woman so absorbed in her mobile phone she's oblivious to her purse poking out of her handbag.
How did you find the exercise? Did you notice things you might not otherwise? 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,
Paul.

Today's #TuesdayTip is another writing exercise/writers' block buster.
They say that there are always two sides to a story. If you really want to describe a scene in a book - or just fancy a fun activity - it can help if you understand what happened from all sides. Then you can pick and choose which narrative to present to the reader.

For today's activity, we are going to write an interview with a secondary character.
First choose a scene that you know well. It could be written or from a drama. You are now going to interview a witness who saw the scene, but wasn't directly involved.

For example, imagine the end of Star Wars Episode IV: The Empire Strikes Back. In this scene, Darth Vader has pushed Luke Skywalker out onto a catwalk. He is trying to persuade Luke to join him on the dark side. Whilst doing so, he cuts of Luke's hand with a lightsaber. He also makes one of the most memorable declarations in movie history. "Luke, I am your father."
We are supposed to see the scene through the eyes of one of the two main protagonists, Luke or perhaps Vader. Instead, what about a third party? A storm trooper standing just out of shot, watching transfixed. What do you think they would say if they were interviewed afterwards? Could they feel so intimidated by Vader that they decide to keep it short and sweet? Maybe they have sympathy for Luke? Would they keep that stunning revelation to themselves? What if, instead of a formal interview, they were being grilled by a fellow storm trooper back at the barracks? What emotions would they be feeling?

Sticking with the Star Wars theme, there are many who believe that the original trilogy is less about the life of the Skywalker family, rather a recounting of the adventures of a certain plucky little astromech droid. Why not tell a scene from R2D2's point of view?

How did you find the exercise? Did your story go in an unexpected direction? Did your character have a different interpretation to that of viewers of the film? 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,
Paul.

We live in an age where we are surrounded by stories. Not just in books, or films, radio or TV, but in the media and the news as well. Browse the BBC News Website for example and you will find a plethora of stories reported as news articles.
Today's Block Buster/writing exercise involves taking a news story and writing a fictional piece based upon it.
The activity is quite straightforward - access your favourite news website (or open a newspaper) and hunt for a short story. The shorter the better. For an extra challenge, try and choose a topic you are unfamiliar with.
Read through the story and make a note of some of the key facts, then tell a fictional account of the event. Perhaps you could decide to be a witness to what has taken place? Or maybe a key character within the story? Don't worry about factual accuracy, it's fictional and for your own enjoyment.

​How did you find the exercise? Did your story go in an unexpected direction? How liberal were you with the interpretation of the facts? 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,
Paul.

Today's #Tuesday Tip is a fun writers' block/practise exercise to get you started writing for the day.
A great opening line is essential to hook your readers. It needs to grab their attention and have them asking 'what happens next'. There are tremendous examples throughout history. This website compiled by the publisher Penguin lists some terrific opening lines that have stood the test of time).

I happen to be a big fan of Douglas Adams' opening to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

"The story so far: in the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."


For this activity, either take a book off the shelf or search the internet for lists of opening lines.

Copy the first line (or two if needs be). Now close the book and write a short piece starting with that line. The object of this exercise is not to retell the author's original story, rather to run with that opener and see what you can come up with instead.

For a real challenge, pick a book completely at random, or search the internet, and force yourself to use that opening. If that seems too daunting, feel free to flick through a few different books until you find one that sets your imagination on fire.


How did you find the activity? 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,
Paul.

About fifteen years ago, I was asked to be a best man (he repaid the favour last year). One of the most important duties, after not losing the rings, is to deliver the best man's speech after the wedding breakfast. For weeks, I slaved over my address, before finally finishing what I hoped was a suitably touching, amusing and not-too-impolite tribute to my closest friend and his beautiful wife-to-be.
A little under a week before the wedding, I returned home from work, where I had been using my personal laptop (I was just starting and had yet to be assigned my own work laptop). I went to turn it on … and nothing happened. Dead as a doornail! There was no hope of getting it repaired anytime soon, and I would need a new one anyway, so I forked out for a replacement. I successfully removed the hard drive, placed it in an external USB caddy and plugged it into the new machine to find that to my relief, there was nothing wrong with it. Except for one tiny problem. It was encrypted and I had no way of unlocking the files. It's still in a box somewhere, encrypted and useless; I really need to securely dispose of it.
Mercifully I didn't lose too much work, as I'd backed everything up onto CD-ROMs and DVDs (remember those?) but my best man's speech was gone.


The moral of the story? BACK UP YOUR WORK.
Of course I'm not alone. The late, great, Jilly Cooper famously left her only paper copy of the manuscript for 'Riders' on a bus in 1970. She didn't finish rewriting it until 1984.
These days, there is no excuse, given that most writers use a computer. Back in the 1980s floppy discs were the way to go. These were superseded in the 1990s by CD-Roms and USB memory sticks. If you had the resources, an external hard-drive could be used to keep a second copy of all your files.
These were fine, but not much use if your house burned down and both your computer and your backup were destroyed. As internet connectivity became more popular, some writers hit upon the idea of emailing a copy of their work in progress to themselves at the end of each working day. Assuming your email provider didn't disappear overnight, it would be safely sitting on Microsoft, or Yahoo or LycosMail's servers when you resumed work the following day.


But the problem is that's a faff. And you can still lose a day's work if your computer crashes before you've sent your daily backup.
Now, with the ubiquity of online cloud storage which can be set to record incremental backups every couple of minutes, in theory you shouldn't lose a single word.
Hah! That's fine until you realise that you set it up wrong, or your tech giant of choice suffers a major data breach. 


These days, reliance upon one method for backup is not recommended.
What you should aim for is both a physical backup - e.g. an external hard drive or USB memory stick which can protect you if your computer's hard drive should fail - and a remote, off-site backup in case your house catches fire. You could email it to yourself, but these days, cheap or free cloud storage systems are far more convenient.
I'm no computer expert, but I mix and match a couple of systems. I have an external hard drive that backs up my laptop's hard drive completely and also saves all changes to files as I go along. In theory, not only does this protect my valuable data, it also contains everything necessary to completely restore my laptop and its software and settings, should it die an unexpected death.
My off-site back up is two different cloud storage systems.
Now before we go any further, I have no idea if this is a sensible set-up, and take no responsibility if it doesn't work for you, but I've been happily using it for years.
The way it works, is to place one cloud storage system inside another.
I have a Microsoft OneDrive account that gives me 1,000Gb of space. I also have a Google Drive account which gives me 100Gb of space.
The folder that Google Drive syncs to is inside the folder that OneDrive syncs to. Anything that is really important, such as my writing or paperwork etc, is saved into a folder in the Google Drive.
Less important stuff is saved directly into OneDrive.
Everything in the Google Drive is therefore saved to both Google and Microsoft. I routinely access these files on other devices, such as my phone, tablet and an elderly mini-laptop, and the files are accessible whether I log onto Google Drive or OneDrive.
The only caveat, is to be patient when closing down your computer - give both the Google and Microsoft apps time to complete syncing.
You will also need to have at least one device that has both Google Drive and OneDrive running, and to use that device regularly, that way the files inside Google Drive will be synced to both cloud services.


As for the best man's speech - it was lost forever. Unable to rewrite it from scratch, I was able to remember the key points and jokes, and so wrote myself a bullet-pointed list of prompts, stayed off the booze just-in-case, and delivered it off-the-cuff. I'm told it was far more natural and relaxed than if I had read out a pre-prepared speech word-for-word, and I even ad-libbed.
Another bonus was that the one joke I forgot turned out to be the only joke that would have actually caused offence (entirely innocently; I had no idea it touched upon a slightly sore point with the groom's mother going back to childhood - I told the groom the joke later and his response was 'thank God you didn't say that'.)


Do you have any tales of woe, when it comes to losing work? Do you have any tips about how to back-up data safely?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time, keep you, your family and your data safe.
Paul