John Dean's Blog – August 2020 Archive (4)

Getting the editing right

I have always said, somewhat glibly, that I dislike writing and love rewriting. There is an awful lot of truth in the statement and it comes home particularly when I have completed the first draft of a novel, as just happened.

I do derive some satisfaction from the initial writing process but what I really enjoy is the editing, the reworking.…

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Added by John Dean on August 26, 2020 at 10:18 — No Comments

Online crime fiction festival

I was delighted to have taken part in the UK Crime Book Club’s latest online crime fiction festival, which was accessed on the club’s Facebook page over the Bank Holiday Weekend (August 29-31, 2020). Attractions included live panels featuring a range of writers and a series of recorded talks – my contribution was a short talk exploring how writers…

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Added by John Dean on August 24, 2020 at 13:30 — No Comments

Why planning is so important in the writing process

I have been working steadily throughout lockdown, both on producing the latest DCI Jack Harris novel for those excellent people at The Book Folks (41,000 words written since you ask) but also running a lot of online writing courses to help inspire and guide inexperienced writers during these tough times.

The courses have dealt with crime…

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Added by John Dean on August 5, 2020 at 11:00 — No Comments

Handy hints

I am delighted to have contributed some thoughts to the Crime Writers' Association writing tips section for debut writers, on the theme of standing in your character's shoes.

You can read it at…

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Added by John Dean on August 4, 2020 at 13:32 — No Comments

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A welcome addition to the crime fiction canon

Book Review - Murder in the New Forest by Carol Cole (The Book Folks).It’s always a moment laden with anticipation when a new crime series emerges onto the scene and Carol Cole does not disappoint with Murder in the New Forest (The Book Folks).At the heart of the novel is a new central character, DI Callum MacLean, newly arrived in Hampshire from Glasgow and plunged into…See More
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Bestseller chart success

I am delighted that two of my crime fiction works are this morning in the top 100 Organised Crime Kindle charts on Amazon.The DCI John Blizzard box set containing the first seven novels in the series, (The Book Folks) for just 99p - now if that is not an outstanding offer, I do not know what is -  is at number 43 (it is already topping various anthology charts).My new…See More
Jan 20
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Grant award helps develop crime fiction programme

Organisers of the fourth annual Kirkcudbright Book Week have been awarded a £1,750 grant from the Robin Rigg Community Fund to help them develop the crime fiction component of the festival.Kirkcudbright Book Week is designed to celebrate the growing literary scene in and around the South West Scotland town and crime fiction has proved to be a popular genre with audiences…See More
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The way authors work

A few years ago, I ran a creative writing course and, at the beginning of one of the sessions, I asked my fifteen students how they worked.The result was fifteen different answers –one author wrote everything by hand then typed it onto their computer, another wrote it all in note form then linked the notes together, one did not edit anything until everything was…See More
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Knowing when to cast all caution to the wind

Writing is an art form which combines two skills which appear, at first glance, to have nothing on common – unrestrained creativity and well-controlled discipline.However, good writing is not possible without either of them. To explain, as I write the latest DCI Jack Harris crime novel, I am being disciplined and following the synopsis that I developed right from the…See More
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