Journal
Notes from inside the press: how a book gets written, edited, designed and published.
15 items
Writing
Where Gravity Doesn't Vote begins
A book about how shared realities collapse opens on a balcony in Bucharest, four minutes before the crowd stops behaving.
Writing
Research notes that outlive the book
Most research notes are written for one book and abandoned after it. With a little care they become a resource for years.
Writing
How books get their titles
Many famous books were almost called something else. What a title has to do, and how writers and publishers arrive at one.
Writing
Epigraphs, and the permissions they need
An epigraph is a short quotation with a long shadow. What they do for a book, and why they often need permission.
Writing
Bureaucracy as comedy in fiction
Forms, queues and rules that contradict each other are a rich seam of comedy. What makes bureaucratic absurdity funny rather than merely tedious.
Writing
Speculative fiction and the rule of one impossible thing
Many of the strongest speculative stories change one thing about the world and follow the consequences honestly. Why restraint makes the strange believable.
Writing
The long middle of a novel
Beginnings and endings get the attention, but most novels are lost in the middle. How to keep the central stretch moving and meaningful.
Writing
What a subtitle does for non-fiction
A non-fiction title can afford to be intriguing because the subtitle does the explaining. How to write the line under the title.
Writing
Scene and summary in narrative non-fiction
Narrative non-fiction borrows scenes from fiction, but it must earn them from evidence. How to balance dramatised moments with honest summary.
Writing
Grief as the engine of a plot
A death can start a story, but grief has to keep it moving. How loss becomes a plot rather than a mood.
Writing
Portal fantasy: why the door matters
In portal fantasy, the way a character crosses into another world tells the reader what kind of story it will be. The door is never just a door.
Writing
The case for short chapters
Short chapters are often dismissed as a thriller trick. They are a tool for pacing, emphasis and trust, and they suit more books than you might think.
Writing
Writing a character who is good at their job
Competence is one of the most satisfying things to read about. How to show a character's skill convincingly without making them dull.
Writing
Endings that close without tying bows
An ending can answer the book's central question and still leave room for the reader. How to find the line between resolution and neatness.
Writing
Dreams in fiction, and why readers skip them
Dream sequences are one of the most skipped passages in fiction. Why they so often fail, and what the rare successful ones do differently.