Cutover Writing: a blog about writing fiction

  • The Hobbit: An Unexpectedly Slow Journey

    Deep into the first hour of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – I think it was towards the end of the dish washing scene – I began to wonder if even a hobbit might find Peter Jackson’s film a little on the slow side. At 170 minutes, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a very…

  • Manually creating an EPUB ebook

    There’s no obligation for a writer to know anything about the structure and content of an EPUB ebook. It’s quite possible, if you use an ebook creation or conversion tool, to happily produce ebooks with absolutely no knowledge of the EPUB format at all. And you might argue that it’s like driving a car; you…

  • Does 50 days without Windows mean the cutover to Ubuntu is complete?

    It’s 50 days now since I last used Microsoft Windows, which leads me to wonder whether my six year migration to Ubuntu Linux is finally complete. My relationship with Ubuntu began in early August 2006, when I inserted a live CD version of Ubuntu 6.06 into my laptop. I liked it enough after a couple…

  • Why the cutover to ebooks is good for your reading

    Amazon’s announcement that it is now selling 114 ebooks for every 100 print editions in the UK represents a turning point for reading and for the book industry.

  • 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…