Following the news that I am to run an online crime fiction course (details in the blog below), I thought it would be useful to look at how to write a good crime story:

* The story should be strong and one that can be told in a short story (most crime stories are novels)

* Create a strong sense of place - the reader must be able to visualise where the action happens

* Create strong characters - do not stray…

Crime novelist and creative writing tutor John Dean has launched an online Crime Fiction Course.

John, author of 12 novels published by Robert Hale, and the creator of DCI John Blizzard and DCI Jack Harris, also runs Inscribe Media Ltd, which is based in Darlington in North East England, which will be offering the course.

The online course, which runs in eight parts and can begin at a time and date to suit the student, will help writers to improve their technique and improve…

I’ve been doing a lot of teaching on the idea of ideas lately and came across these excellent quotes.

·         People always want to know: Where do I get my ideas? They're everywhere. I'm inspired by people and things around me. (Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet)

·         My standard answer is "I don't know where they come from, but I know where they come to,…

What makes good writing? I think good writing is good writing because it triggers responses in its readers. Readers say ‘I have been in that situation, ‘I know someone like that’, ‘what a terrible thing to be faced with’ etc etc.

If readers feel like that, it means that they are being drawn into the story. They stand next to your characters, they fear for what is about to happen, they simply must know what is on the next page.

If a reader does…

I recently taught a course part of which focused on the unreliable narrator, a character who tells a story that the reader cannot take at face value.

The technique has been used for many centuries but only became known as such in the 1960s. Sometimes, the narrator is unreliable by the nature of the character, such terrible people that they cannot tell their stories objectively and resort instead to lies and deceit.

There is another type of…

Check out my latest crime novels from The Book Folks, all DCI Jack Harris tales set in the North Pennines.

Dead Hill…

The seventh season of Open Mic nights for authors will start on Thursday September 28 after the summer break.

Supported by Darlington for Culture, the nights offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it and run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month.

The nights have given dozens of writers from Darlington and further afield…

We run an online crime fiction course (you can email me on deangriss@btinternet to find out more) so I thought it would be useful to look at how to write a good crime story:

* The story should be strong and one that can be told in a short story (most crime stories are novels)

* Create a strong sense of place - the reader must be able to…

The more I talk to writers, the more I realise the passion that they hold for their art and one subject that seems to evoke stronger reactions than most is ‘where do stories come from?’

This comes to mind because I am teaching a plotting masterclass at Greenfield Arts Centre in Newton Aycliffe on February 16. There are those writers who argue that ideas come out of real life experiences. You go through it as a writer, therefore you are able to best tell the story.

Others recoil…

Crime novelist and creative writing tutor John Dean has launched an online Crime Fiction Course.

John, author of 12 novels published by Robert Hale, and the creator of DCI John Blizzard and DCI Jack Harris, also runs Inscribe Media Ltd, which is based in Darlington in North East England, which will be offering the course.

The online course, which runs in eight parts and can begin at a time and date to suit the student, will help writers to improve their technique and improve…

The season of Open Mic nights for authors will  continue on Thursday January 26..

The nights, supported by Darlington for Culture and which offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it, run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month.

Now in their sixth year, the nights have…

I am doing two beginner's masterclasses at Greenfield Arts Centre in Newton Aycliffe in February and March - you can email me on deangriss@btinternet.com for details

Good story writing depends on many things but can be boiled down to three factors, the triangle.

At the top is the narrative, a strong story, plenty of pace, a tale that enthrals the readers.

At one bottom corner is a sense of place, a strong sense of where the action is taking place.

At the other corner is a sense of being, the creation of characters strong and interesting enough to carry the story.

Get…

I am running two masterclasses as part of Darlington Arts Festival 2017

Saturday May 6

A Touch of Villainy–   Crime Fiction Masterclass

Friends’ Meeting House, Skinnergate, Darlington 10am-4pm

Run by crime novelist John Dean, the creator of the DCI John Blizzard and DCI Jack Harris series of books, this masterclass shows you how to create a crime novel

Booking in…

The new season of Open Mic nights for authors will continue on Thursday November 24. The nights, supported by Darlington for Culture and which offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it, run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month.

Now in their sixth year, the nights have given dozens of writers from Darlington and further afield the opportunity to read work including poetry, short stories, novel extracts…

The Open Mic night for authors season continues on Thursday May 26 as part of Darlington Arts Festival.

The nights, supported by Darlington for Culture and which offer a forum for writers to read their material and audiences to enjoy it, run at Voodoo Café/Cantina, 84 Skinnergate, Darlington, on the last Thursday of the month. Each session starts at 7pm and the cost of entry is £3 paid on the door.

More information is available from Inscribe Media Limited at…

Darlington Arts Festival has seen a new series of events this year in the form of three In Conversation With… events featuring published authors. The third and final one is

Monday May 23 In Conversation with …..crime and thriller writers Mike Beck, Roger Barnes, Bud Craig and Pam Plumb, the final evening in the festival’s In Conversation With published writers series. Crown Street Library 7pm

Chaired by crime writer…

The UK-based Crime Writers’ Association has asked book lovers across the nation to nominate their favourite crime authors for the 2016 Dagger In The Library award.

This literary prize is a unique part of the Dagger Awards because the nominations are made by crime readers and are in celebration of an author’s entire body of work, not just one individual book.

The CWA continues to be inspired by readers, who flock to libraries to devour crime books. The Dagger In The Library was…

Sometimes, I find myself telling a student that they ‘have given their idea’ away, by which I mean that the idea for a story is a really good one but that it has been wasted.

For instance, I worked with a writer with…

Sometimes, I find myself telling a student that they ‘have given their idea’ away, by which I mean that the idea for a story is a really good one but that it has been wasted.

For instance, I worked with a writer with…