Murder Ink - the art of writing crime.

This episode looks at the options available to give flavour to a necessary but relatively mundane piece of business in a novel. Connecting pieces can be interesting too.

We talk about the benefits and opportunities gained from taking your characters out of the ‘roaring river’ of the plot. Putting them in a space, which is relevant but out of the established groove.

In this episode we talk about the different ways you can plan and plot a book. Keith offers some thoughts on using techniques to ease the complex task of writing a book.

Techniques to sum up the plot to a reader. How to use body language in descriptions to subliminally send a message to the reader. How descriptions can give texture, give context, send a message and segue into another style such as dialogue. The flow ... more

Episode 5 - we disseminate a scene describing an attack and a death. Episode 6 - How do characters influence the route of the story and make suggestions to the writer? Some topics on dialogue.

We explore the tricky business of entwining humour into serious books and why it might pay to do so.

Here we explore a short scene showing contrast of characters and how Conflict, Emotion and Suspense are a repeated theme in a story but at very different intensities.

We dissect a couple of paragraphs from ‘One Oblique One’ exploring the nuance and difference in prose when writing a crime scene. We touch on the subject of taboos and authenticity.