Any author will say that the creation of realistic and convincing characters is an essential part of a writer’s craft. If a reader cannot believe in the depiction of someone on the page, that reader will no doubt lose all interest in following their story. So characters need to be real. Believable. Able to engage...
Author: Jude Hayland (Jude Hayland)
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You are what you eat …
As I draw very close to finishing my current novel, The Odyssey of Lily Page, I am facing the prospect of editing it with some pleasure. I edit as I go along, anyway, so this stage of editing is not like working from an early, scanty draft. I already know the material and have shaped,...
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HOME is where the HEART is …
Houses are built of brick, wood, stone, snow – and no doubt numerous other materials. Homes are a far more complex matter and say a great deal more about us than the raw ingredients of the actual structure. Pictures on the wall. Photographs on a table. Books on the shelves. The colour of a lampshade,...
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There is a Season, turn, turn, turn …..
September 2022 – and already, with another few days still to go, the month has been turbulent and unexpected. Only the weather has been peaceful and pleasantly calm. But no doubt some autumnal brisk winds and gusty showers are only hours or so away, planning to catch us out. So, September – we’ve had to...
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ELIZABETHAN BABIES NO LONGER …
Just think of it. Our grandparents – if you are of a certain age – lived through the reigns of five or six monarchs. My grandparents were born during the last decade or so of Queen Victoria’s life so would have gone on to witness a couple of Edwards (ok, one of them rather briefly...
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That Was The Year …
January might be, strictly speaking, in the accepted way of things, the first month of the new year with December the last of the old. But to me that is entirely inaccurate. September is the month that starts the whole ball rolling again just as June completes it. Which leaves July and August as delightfully...
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The Naming of Novels
…is no easy matter. As a writer, it can be hard to come up with something that is pertinent and memorable. Sharp, catchy yet unique. Yet lately, publishers seem to be favouring titles that are, in fact, ambiguous and not at all easy to remember. A week or two ago, like two middle-aged (ok –...
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Introducing Polly Dodd …
One of the best things about writing novels is giving birth to numerous characters. These protagonists become surprisingly real over the course of developing and writing the story and there are times when the desire to meet them all in the flesh, invite them round for a cup of coffee or spot of supper becomes...
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Whose Story is it Anyway …?
Point of view is something that can plague writers, but, if it is well handled, readers should not be unduly conscious of it. Unless that’s rather the point. But more of that later. Of course if the novel is a first person narrative, everything is very simple. The story has to be told rigidly and...
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1953 and all that …
For us Elizabethan babies, born in the early days of the Queen’s reign, she’s a figure whose life has shadowed our own. Always there in the background in some shape or form. Our mothers were about the same age as the Queen. Our fathers more or less parallel with Prince Philip. And as for their...