You Don’t Have To Hang Yourself With Tropes

 

Note:
This is a slightly revised update of a post I originally submitted back in 2014.

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The term tropes has a number of definitions, but for the purposes of this post, it refers to those themes, conventions and plot devices that readers have come to expect in works of fiction. In this context, tropes are very much like clichés, and any literary genre you can think of has its well known tropes. Many works of fantasy utilise the trope of the young orphan who (according to prophecy) is destined to save the day, for example. And, in science fiction, how many times have we read tales of scientists whose creations turn on their creators, and wreak havoc upon the world?

Endeavour To “Finish What You Start”

 

Note:
This is a revised version of a post I originally submitted two years ago, before the revamping of my blog earlier this year. I’m re-posting it, now, because I’m happy to say that I eventually implemented the advice contained within, which resulted in the recent publication of my debut novel.

Is Failing To Plan, Planning To Fail?

 

There are certain questions every fiction writer will ask themselves, sooner or later, about their craft. One such question will be a variation of, should you plan your story before writing it, or forgo the plan and just make up a story as go? It is a question I thought I had definitively answered for myself years ago. In fact, until last year, if you had asked me whether it is better to write to a plan or make it up as you go I wouldn’t have hesitated in stating unequivocally that planning is an indispensable part of writing a story. However, I’ve recently realised that maybe the answer isn’t quite so cut-and-dry as I once believed.

Discovering What Inspires My Creative Writing

 

Although conceiving stories is something I have been doing for my own entertainment since early childhood, until recently I had never given any thought to what actually inspires the stories I tell. It was during the course of writing my first novel throughout most of 2016 that I first consciously came to realise that the inspiration for my writing comes from two things. It came as something of a surprise to realise these two factors were influencing all my work because beforehand I wouldn’t have thought either lend themselves naturally to writing fantasy or science fiction.