There were a couple of issues with this book: the font is too small to read comfortably, and a lot of the information is out of date now. However, I did find some of the articles useful. Michael Marano's discussion about negative space fascinated me and his advice to dwell on the "small glimpse of larger atrocity" was inspirational enough for me to feel the book was worthwhile. The chapter on plotting short fiction was both reassuring and helpful. Style as a window was a maxim I have read before, but it was worth being reminded. Tracy Knight's categories of mental illness made me happy; I said thank you, at last, and hope people take heed that schizophrenia is not the same as Dissociative Identity Disorder.

I have read better writing guides, but I am glad I read this one as well. Although it needs updating, it is still useful.

Christina Escamilla writes great horror. If you haven’t encountered it before “64 Deaths” is a superlative read.

I was looking forward to this short guide book and read it with enthusiasm. However, my two main problems with it are that it is poorly edited, some sentences simply do not make any sense, and the lack of quoted examples. Escamilla does use examples to illustrate her points but because she can only comment on rather than reproducing the cited work, it loses its power. I understand that permission to quote current works might be difficult and expensive to obtain, but then why not use out of copyright horror and her own work to quote?

Apart from these two niggles there are some gems of good advice and I am sure it would be very useful to someone starting out. Certainly the publishing section is something I’m likely to refer back to. In summary it isn’t written for established writers, but it’s likely to be of use to new writers planning to write horror.

The everything guide to writing copy’ is a good book, covering various aspects of copywriting, like how should one be writing an ideal headline, catching the attention of a prospect and turning him in to a lasting customer, how should one be writing a good body copy, and how should one impress a viewer with a catchy lead paragraph etc… Copy writing has become a demanding job now, and this book could be of some help to polish your copy writing skills.

                   By reading this book I learnt much about concepts like Taglines. Backgrounders, E-zines,Specs, Cross selling etc. If you are in to copywriting this is a must read….

Whether you are starting a new novel, thinking about writing a novel, or stuck half way through the process, this series of articles is designed to offer help and new ways of looking at your craft.

Carmilla Voiez is a horror and fantasy author. Her novels have been published by indie publishing companies including Vamptasy Publishing, CHBB and Stone Circle Publishing and her short stories have been included in anthologies by Clash Books, Weird Punk Books, Stitched Smile, Siren Magazine, and Dragones Mecanicos. Her award-winning Starblood series is being adapted into a series of graphic novels illustrated by Anna Prashkovich. She has studied creative writing with the Open University and proof-reading with Chapterhouse. Carmilla also offers individually tailored editing packages for self-publishing authors.

This blog series will take you through the nine steps of writing and publishing your novel. It is designed for those of you planning your first adventure in writing, and those who feel they are missing something as they write but don’t know what. It may have some relevance to writers working on short stories, but it is designed to cover the challenges of longer pieces (50k words and over).

This introduction will set out the format of the course, and list the resources I will refer to throughout the articles. You may wish to add some of these books to your own reading list, but it is not obligatory.

Part Two – The Blank Page 

Includes: where to find inspiration for your - story, characters, and settings.

To plan or not to plan, that is one of many questions.

A cost-benefit analysis of NaNoWriMo.

Part Three – Content and Themes 

Character-based vs plot-based.

What do you want people to think about as and after they read the story?

Part Four – Style 

Perspective, language, tenses and chapter lengths.

Part Five – Writer's Block 

Keeping going when it gets tough.

Part Six – The End?

Rewriting, foregrounding the themes, deciding whose story this is.

Part Seven – Editing

Checking for consistency and avoiding unwanted repetition. Style sheets. Plugging the plot holes. Character arcs.

Part Eight – Proofreading

Understanding grammar. Use a dictionary. Common errors. The role of beta readers. Do you need to pay a professional editor?

Part Nine – Delivery

Traditional vs self publishing. How to find an agent. How to snag a publisher. The elevator pitch. The dreaded synopsis. Starting something new.

Part Ten – Promotion

Release parties. Paid adverts. Building connections. Book signings. Your Facebook page. Your website. Anthologies. Goodreads.

Join me on this journey through the writing process and feel free to comment on my blog if you have any specific questions related to the content or your own process. Learn the importance of a closed and an open door as you progress and start building a community of like-minded individuals who support each other’s efforts.

The resources I will be using while writing this course include:-

“Creative Writing” - Linda Anderson,

“On Writers and Writing” - Margaret Atwood,

“Becoming a writer” - Dorothea Brande,

“On Writing” - Stephen King,

“The Art of Fiction” - David Lodge,

“A Creative Writing Handbook” - Derek Neale,

“Story Structure Architect” - Victoria Lynn Schmidt,

“The Writer’s Journey” - Christopher Volger,

“Writing a Novel” - Nigel Watts,

and my own experiences.

Carmilla Voiez.

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