Category: Writing
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Create a text only animated GIF using Canva and Gimp
This post describes how to use Canva and GIMP to create an animated GIF file containing text only that can be attached to a tweet or uploaded into a Blog post. It’s only one of many ways to create an animated GIF. To walk through the process I’ve chosen to create an animated GIF composed…
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Four ways to convert a Word document for reading on an e-reader
Reading a document on an e-reader is an invaluable step in the review and editing process. Problems with the flow and structure of text are so much easier to detect on an e-ink screen, because you can approach the document with the objective eye of a reader rather than its author. So, what are the…
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What part of the writing process would you outsource to a co-author?
Last month, bestselling author Wilbur Smith announced a £15m six-book deal with Harper Collins. The deal’s most intriguing aspect is that Smith, who has just turned 80, will outsource some of the writing process to co-authors. As reported in the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, Smith will provide plot outlines and characters. He will be…
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Printed book sales are up. No wait, they’re down.
The much reported pre-Christmas ‘fightback’ by printed books in the UK sales war against their ebook darker side appears to have lasted just a week. If, that is, there ever was a fightback in the first place. Just a week after The Bookseller reported printed book sales soaring to a three year high, it followed…
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How would your characters stand up to a Paxman interview?
There’s plenty for us all to learn about the need for preparation and anticipation just from watching Chloe Smith’s disastrous interview with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight (Tuesday 26 June 2012). The lesson is true for government ministers, but it’s just as relevant for writers who are struggling to fully prepare their characters for the story…