On writing and revision
Short pieces on the problems that show up in real drafts, and what the craft books say to do about them.
Short notes on problems that turn up in real drafts. They were written quickly and kept short, and nothing in them is invented: it comes out of the books listed under each piece, which are where the ideas get explained properly.
They are not the service. The letter you get on your own pages quotes your text, says why each note applies there, and is read by a person before it goes out.
28 July 2026·3 min
What voice actually means
The least useful compliment in publishing, made concrete enough to work on.
21 July 2026·3 min
Psychic distance, and why your scene feels cold
The most useful idea in fiction that most writers have never been given a name for.
13 July 2026·3 min
When the book has no centre
Good scenes, real characters, and nobody can say what it is about. This has a name and a fix.
6 July 2026·3 min
Endings that land
Most disappointing endings are written fine. They finish the plot without finishing the argument.
29 June 2026·3 min
Your antagonist is a function, not a person
Opposition that exists only to get in the way makes the whole conflict predictable, however frightening it looks.
19 June 2026·3 min
What to fix first when everything needs fixing
Revising from page one is how second drafts die. Work in layers, biggest first.
12 June 2026·3 min
The sagging middle, and what is really causing it
A middle that drags is rarely too long. Usually it is made of chapters that answer their own questions.
2 June 2026·3 min
How much backstory, and where to put it
Backstory rarely fails because there is too much of it. It fails because it turns up before the reader wants it.
26 May 2026·3 min
Dialogue where everyone answers the question
Tidy conversations are the main reason dialogue falls flat. Real people dodge, and dodging is where the drama is.
18 May 2026·3 min
Your main character is passive, and here is how to check
The most common structural fault in a first novel. You can measure it in an afternoon.
11 May 2026·3 min
The adverb argument, settled
The rule is a symptom check, not a law. What matters is what the adverb is covering for.
30 April 2026·3 min
Scene or summary: how to tell which one you need
Not everything should be dramatised. Summary is a tool, and a book without any wears the reader out.
22 April 2026·3 min
Show, don't tell is half an instruction
The advice is right and incomplete. Followed literally it makes writing cold, which is why its own authors published a correction.
14 April 2026·3 min
Why your opening does not work
Most weak openings are written fine. They just start in the wrong place, and the fix is usually to delete the first three pages.
7 April 2026·3 min
How to read your own draft
You cannot see your own manuscript because you remember writing it. Two mechanical tricks that give the distance back.