Tag Archives: writing

Cover story…

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Whats the old adage about judging a book by its cover? Well with that in mind I am contemplating changing the cover design for Passing Place. The original cover was designed, due to a desire on my part to have … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, cider lane, indie, indie novels, novels, self-publishing, writing | Tagged bookcovers, books, covers, opinion, procastination, rants, reading, writing | Leave a comment

Valuing your craft… reprised…

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Mark Hayes

How do you value the results of your craft? It’s one of those questions that’s always hard to answer, and harder to answer as a writer than, for example, as a carpenter. You might want to bear with me here for … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, blogging, indie, indie novels, opinion, politics, rant, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, ciderlane, Hannibal Smyth, Passing Place, rants, reading, reads, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 1 Comment

Reading between the lines…

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Mark Hayes

I had one of those conversations on Friday, the ones every writer dreads. Okay maybe not every writer, I am making a grand assumption here based on a small pool of reference, but hell grand assumptions are what make the … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, amreading, quotes, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 1 Comment

The page count problem…

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Wheather you self-publish or go the traditional route page count is a problem for a writer. The reasons page count matters are different, but the result is the same. But for a writer, unless you’re one of those rare ones … Continue reading →

Posted in Hannibal Smyth, indie novels, Passing Place, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged #selfpub, nanowrimo, self-publishing, steampunk, writer, writerslife, writing, writingtip | 2 Comments

Rambling through a full edit…

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Stephen King explains in On Writing that his approach to second drafts and editing involves reducing the word count of a novel by a good ten per cent. Having read my fair share of Mr Kings novels, one hates to … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, rant, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, opinion, wordpress, writer, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Advice for writers in a slump

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Mark Hayes

A facebook friend struggling with their first novel was asking for advice or more accurately was bemoaning the struggle they are having getting words on paper. So after telling them not to be so hard on themselves. I wrote out … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, nanowrimo, rant, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 1 Comment

Writing The End…

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Back in March, I wrote a post called ‘Searching for an ending’ about the struggles I was having with my latest novel ‘A Spider in the Eye, a Hannibal Smyth Adventure. Since then I have spent a lot of time doing just … Continue reading →

Posted in books, fiction, goodreads, indie novels, novels, Passing Place, self-publishing, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, #novel, Hannibal Smyth, nanowrimo, novels, steampunk, writing | 1 Comment

The Writers Imperative…

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Mark Hayes

‘It is not a chemically driven dependency, it’s simply a choice, after all, you chose to write, or not to write…’ Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, depression, rant, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, depression, mentalhealth, writer, writerslife, writing | 4 Comments

A Perfect Storm…

Posted on May 10, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Last night, around 11pm, somewhere between one too many coffees and the point where my mind stopped denying my body needs sleep, I hit a perfect storm. One of those rare moments when everything just clicks into place. A moment … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, Uncategorized, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, nanowrimo, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 1 Comment

The Quotable Writers Block…

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Mark Hayes

We all get a touch of the dreaded writer’s block every now and again. Just as we all get a touch of the procrastination fairy, hit by wayward narrative bombs and once in a while manage to string a few words together without anything … Continue reading →