Scookie Reviews

It turns out you have to work pretty hard at your last year of uni. I really should have seen this coming, but I don't think I'll be able to keep blogging until late December. I may post here and there if I do manage to squeeze some time out, otherwise I'll be back at Christmas with more tips, featured novels, and lots of free critiques!

You can always go one step back or forward along the show/tell spectrum. Sentences aren’t dichotomous . It isn’t as simple as one sentence shows and the other tells, but more to do with how much a sentence shows and how much it tells. For example: He was angry -> he frowned -> his eyebrows pulled together into an angry look. Where you need to be on the spectrum depends on the importance of the imagery. Is the character’s ghastly frown a pivotal moments or a strong feature of characterisation? Or is it just a quick frown like a passing thought which adds to the scene in a less imposing manor? Sometimes you may feel like you’ve already gone as far down the spectrum as needed and someone will tell you to go further – you need to decide how much showing adds to the story and if it can be told better. ----- On a side note, the workload for my degree is getting pretty heavy right now. I’ll aim to put out one post a week until it loosens up, although I already have a few more ‘s...

Today I’ve reached 21 years of bobbing along on this planet. I’m somewhat hung-over from my party last night (if 'somewhat' means 'very'), and I’m spending the day learning how to use an eye-tracking machine for my third year project at university. The eye-tracker is worth £30,000 and you can break it by touching its mirror... Don’t touch the mirror. Anyway, as it’s my birthday, I’m going to give you guys a mini present. Have you heard of a competition called ‘Pitch Wars’? Anyone who has a completed manuscript can choose 4 out of 47 writing mentors to send their pitch to. These writing geniuses will pick one novel each to help polish up before submitting it participating agents. So basically, there’s a chance to have your novel looked at by someone who knows how to make it perfect, and then a chance to test out the polished novel.  Fancy a go? The best bit is that it’s not for another month. If you’re novel isn’t quite there, then spend the whole of November re...

Hands up if a critic has told you ‘show don’t tell’ (SDT). Keep that hand up if you found it rather unhelpful at the time or if that critic didn’t elaborate much. Yes, it’s a pesky phrase. Showing rather than telling can be a pretty powerful tool, and here's what it really means: Showing brings your words to life, creates imagery, and lets the reader know exactly what’s going on. It doesn’t tell you facts explicitly, but builds an idea in your head so that usually you understand it in far more detail than you would have. Good writing makes you realise a fact without being told it straight. As a writer it forces you to explore your imagination further really think about your story and your characters. It adds depth. *But showing is not always better than telling.* Telling adds pace. It moves the story along and sums up ideas that may be unclear if let to just showing. It doesn’t try to add detail to a relatively boring fact. It lets you know what piece of information is imp...

Last month I posted up a competition to find an amazing opening chapter. I can tell you now, there were some strong contestants. I definitely wasn’t expecting to read something as polished as A Song Of Steel by Alyssa Carlier. Title: A song of Steel: I, Players and Pieces Username: Queen of Starlight Site: Figment I have yet to read more chapters, but the opening is well crafted, intriguing, and you can tell it was written with passion and edited a thousand times. I won’t give too much away, but if you like the sound of an assassin story that dives straight into the action, then take a read of this. The best feature is definitely the main character, Serilda. I love a dark character, someone who is far from average and has a unique view on life. I want a character to think differently to me, to act in ways that challenge my expectations, and ultimately entice me to read what they will do next. Serilda is exactly that. I will definitely be reading more soon. Here’s the li...

Sometimes it because of a blind spot. Other times, it because your typing-brain want to make you look silly. Either way, be aware of different words which sound similar (homophones), especially in your internal monologue which lets you know what to type.  It’s hard to write a first draft without having at least one of these hiding in that particular chapter. The aim of the game is to spot it before anyone else does. Here are a few that are commonly written but not commonly spotted, or so it seems: Dessert – A tasty pudding. Desert – A not so tasty vast area of sand and heat and sand... Wary – Concern, worry, cautiousness. Weary – Tired from physically activity or lack of sleep. Storey – A level in a building, like your bedroom is probably on the second storey. This is a British preference. Story – A wonderful tale. Perhaps take a read of my newest story, The Clearing ? No? Well, I tried. Compliment – A polite, usually positive comment. Complement – A positive a...

I’m having to point out how to format taglines on a regular basis now, especially when the dialogue takes the form of a question. I thought I’d throw together a quick guide in hopes that everyone who was unaware will see this and instantly understand... Or even just one person. “I fancy a biscuit,” said Samantha. – And I do (how could you tell?) although that’s not the point. My point is you need a comma after biscuit and ‘said’ is in lowercase because the following words form a tagline. It’s a tagline because it refers to how the dialogue is said or who says it. “I fancy a biscuit.” Samantha grabbed the tin. – There’s no tagline. Therefore you need a full stop and to start a new sentence. “I fancy a biscuit.” She smiled. – This doesn’t refer to how the speech is said. Therefore you need a full stop. “Where are my biscuits?” shouted Samantha. – You need lowercase into the tagline. Think of it as part of the sentence. “My biscuits!” she cried. – Again, lowercase. Whether...