Back in November 2019 I wrote a piece on now racism in Historical Dramas appears to be in the process of being erased from both cinema and television screens <link>. I recently got into an argument about this very subject again. I made a comment about Armando Iannucci’s latest version of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. … Continue reading Why Race in a Historical Context is Important
characters
A New Guy on the Block
Recuperation seems to be as time intensive as undergoing medical procedures. I get the feeling that once the frame was removed from my leg there many things that I just wanted to get back on with. Normality was the motivation. I wanted to get back to normal and do normal things. Like washing the pots … Continue reading A New Guy on the Block
The Mechanics of Writing
I have always enjoyed writing stories. When I was younger I did it to entertain myself. Later, as I became more confident, I shared my work with close friends. I have always had a good imagination but I must admit that many of my ideas then were heavily influenced by the books I read as … Continue reading The Mechanics of Writing
That Disability Thing!
I had a reader ask me why there seemed to be a disabled person in every one of my books to date? My answer was, if not me who else was going to do it? One of the tenets of writing is to write about what you know and having been born disabled I know … Continue reading That Disability Thing!
What Kind of Novel should it be?
I have been busy writing a fantasy novel, which has gone very well. Indeed, it has gone much better than I had expected it to. I seem to have a story that has evolved quite naturally and that has given me a lot to write about. It is peopled by a large number of characters … Continue reading What Kind of Novel should it be?
POV – Literally a Point of View
In a novel the ‘point of view’ (POV) is considered one of the most crucial elements of telling a story. I had a customer complain about the fact that in ‘The War Wolf’ I used what seemed to them to be many or multiple points of view. To date they are the only person to … Continue reading POV – Literally a Point of View
When the End is in Sight the Longest Part of the Journey has Begun!
Bringing a creative project to completetion
Gynophobia: the Fear of Strong Women
I was recently made to consider that some men are intimidated by women. It doesn’t surprise me that psychology has a term for this, Gynophobia, because that seems to me to be what psychology does, find names for things. I quite like women, I’m even married to one, so this masculine fear of women seems … Continue reading Gynophobia: the Fear of Strong Women
Insertions do not have to be painful!
I suppose it depends what type of writer you are, whether you are a planner who gets everything sorted well before the creative writing starts or if you are more like me, someone who prefers to get the heart of the story onto the page and then go back and sort things out a bit? There … Continue reading Insertions do not have to be painful!
Peter C Whitaker 