Writer’s Glossary: Character Voice

A particular story’s voice comes from whichever character is taking the POV. Their voice informs the tone, quirks, phrases and rhythm of the

Writer’s Glossary: Neo-noir

Today in writer’s glossary… Neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre, which refers to films made after the golden age of film noir, which many say began with The Maltese Falcon (1941). Some mark Orson Welles’ A Touch of Evil (1958) as the last true film noir and anything after that is dubbed neo-noir. Neo-noir films have…

Writer’s Glossary: In Media Res

In Latin, in media res means into the middle of things. For writers this means start your story in the middle of the action to hook the reader. The temptation is to start a story at the beginning, but that often leads the reader wading through lots of preamble. Start the story when it gets good.

Writer’s Glossary: Archetype

When talking about archetypes in fiction, they are a typical or perfect form of a character type.
For instance, Superman is the archetypal hero.

Writer’s Glossary: Anti-hero

An anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks the attributes that we associate with a traditional hero. Whilst a hero is courageous, beautiful, loyal, strong and driven to uphold justice and protect the innocent, an anti-hero may be…

Writer’s Glossary: Unreliable Narrator

An unreliable narrator is a character who’s version of events cannot be trusted. They could be a character who is duplicitous or manipulative by nature, as in Barbara from Zoe Heller’s novel Notes On A Scandal.

Writer’s Glossary: Flashback

A flashback is a writing technique, which shifts the narrative into the past, revealing a vital bit of background or information. Crucially, you should only use a flashback if

Writer’s Glossary: Magical Realism

Magical Realism is a literary genre, which is distinct from and should not be considered fantasy, science fiction or any other speculative genre.

Writer’s Glossary: Synopsis

Today on Writer’s Glossary… Synopsis A synopsis serves as a tool to take the interest of an agent, or a publisher, or even a competition judge, but not readers. The essential requirement is that the synopsis must tell the complete tale of the novel, including the ending. That is where the skill lies. A good…

Writer’s Glossary: W.I.P

Today on the Writer’s Glossary… W.I.P. This is one for beginners and a term you’ll find online a lot. W.I.P. stands for ‘work in progress’. Just as it suggests, your W.I.P is the current project you’re writing. This work is unfinished and unedited, as opposed to your finished stories and manuscripts. It’s worth stating that…