March 2022 Blog Posts (4)

The use of humour in fiction

A writing group of which I am a member is currently involved in an exercise in which we have been challenged to write pieces of humour and this turned my thoughts to its importance in fiction, including crime.

Humour is vital to creating good fiction. Even if you are not writing an out-and-out comic piece, it has a role to perform.

For…

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Added by John Dean on March 31, 2022 at 11:33 — No Comments

Letting your fictional characters write the story

I have written in my blogs before about the way that characters can assume a life of their own and that the author has to recognise those occasions when the story is writing itself through the organic evolution of its characters.

That has happened with the latest DCI Jack Harris novel which I am writing for my publisher The Book Folks. I found myself approaching the end of the first draft still unsure who the murderer was – indeed, I had changed my mind half a dozen times!

It’s…

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Added by John Dean on March 15, 2022 at 13:38 — No Comments

Writing workshops with a view

A reminder that I have announced a series of weekend workshops to be held specifically for writing groups in 2022 at my home in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

The courses will be based on sense of place and be delivered at my 19th Century hillside home between Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright.

The workshop for groups of no…

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Added by John Dean on March 7, 2022 at 11:04 — No Comments

Note to self

My house, like all authors’ homes, I suspect, is full of scraps of paper that contain scribbled notes which I will add to whichever novel I am working on, the next time I fire up the laptop.

However, it’s usually not the big things that I scrawl notes about. No, it’s much more likely to be small details that add colour to the book.

The…

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Added by John Dean on March 2, 2022 at 9:17 — No Comments

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An exciting character

Author Ian Robinson has a new crime novel out - and it’s attracting plenty of glowing reviews. Criminal Justice (The Book Folks) introduces undercover police officer Sam Batford, a man who walks the narrow line between successful detective and corrupt cop. The novel sees him sent to work with a serious crime team in London in an investigation which sees him play the good…See More
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Authors highlight different ways of starting to write a book

I have just started writing my next crime novel and I have more time to concentrate on it now that Kirkcudbright Book Week, which I help organise, has come to an end for this year.In fact, the subject of how best to begin a story cropped up during Book Week, not least when I chaired an in-conversation event at the Selkirk Arms, featuring crime writers Traude Ailinger,…See More
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Tackling the dreaded blank first page

 I am working on a new DCI John Bizzard crime novel for my publisher The Book Folks, and that means being faced with the dreaded blank first page.So, how do writers get going under such circumstances? How do they start writing their story? Well, in this hectic world, I have always felt that there is a lot to be said for holding back and allowing myself a little time to…See More
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