Anyone working in creative circles will tell you that the hardest part of the job is making it pay. We all love what we do but turning it into a living wage can be troublesome. I’ve done alright. I’ve self-published four novels and along with running workshops and doing various other projects, I’ve scraped a … More My week at Arvon
It’s been quite some time since I last gave an update on my editing process. Back in October I was up to 197 hours worth of effort in writing and editing my fourth novel, Troll Life. This week I hit a major milestone when I finally sent copies to my review team for their critiques … More Time to write. (How long does it take to write a novel? Pt 5)
Ever wondered what the writer in your life wants from you? Here’s a handy guide. … More What writers want.
One month, nine venues, eighteen events and nearly five hundred attendees, I think it’s fair to say that the Sunderland Creative Writing Festival has been a bit of a success. I’m not sure when Iain Rowan first asked me if I wanted to be involved, it was probably in a dream or something. I’d run … More Tweets, Beasts and Writing Treats (The story of the Sunderland Creative Writing Festival 2018)
I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty gutted that Sunderland weren’t successful in their bid to win the UK City of Culture 2021. I’d like to think that I’m gracious in defeat and I wish Coventry well however the local news showed my immediate reaction to the result and grabbing my beer and mumbling swear … More Sunderland 2021 (Down but not out)
Finding time to blog. It feels like a long time since I’ve written a blog so I thought I’d pop in to let my readers know what I’ve been up to and that I haven’t abandoned them. Editing I’ve done a lot more editing on Troll Life and I will post about that separately. I … More Writing, editing and my celebrity lifestyle.
Editing workshop. Last week I was asked to do a last-minute editing workshop for Year Nines (13-14). With little time to prepare and not much information on what they wanted or expected from me, I had to come up with something quick and adaptable. I’m currently eighty hours into the editing process of my latest … More My top ten editing tips.
A writer when he’s not writing. The life of a writer is rarely all about writing and along with working on novel number four, the last month or so has been a frenzy of activity. Once the Great North Run was out of the way, the focus was on culture. As mentioned in a previous … More What a writer does when he’s not writing.
It’s been a while since I posted about the editing of my new novel as I’ve been a little bit busy with other stuff. More to follow on that in another blog soon. In my last blog on how long it was taking to write Troll Life, I was up to 158 hours. I’ve had … More Time to write. (How long does it take to write a novel? Pt 4)
As you may have gathered from previous blogs, I am a big supporter of Sunderland’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021. I believe that we have the most to offer and the most to gain from winning and I was proud to be selected as one of the 21 community champions adding our … More Sunderland 2021 City of Culture bid (Community champion)
Alan Parkinson 