Readers don’t fall in love with plot—they fall in love with people. The most intricate mystery, passionate romance, or explosive action sequence means nothing if your audience doesn’t care whether your protagonist gets their heart broken or if they face life-threatening consequences in the next chapter. As writers, we’re not just constructing stories; we’re creating human beings complex enough to warrant a reader’s emotional investment. Think about the characters that have st

By Des Brady   If someone ever gained access to my browser history without context, I’d be in trouble. Not the awkward ads kind of trouble. The call-a-lawyer kind. Writing crime and psychological fiction has a way of turning perfectly law-abiding people into digital suspects. The questions you ask in the name of realism don’t look innocent when stripped of intent. This is not a how-to guide. It’s a confession.   The Searches That Would Trigger a Red Flag Let’s start with the

By Des Brady   Writing is solitary, but a writing life is anything but simple. Between drafting, revising, submissions, deadlines, notes, research, and the constant drip of ideas, disorganisation can quietly kill momentum. I’ve learned—mostly the hard way—that staying organised isn’t about being rigid or hyper-productive. It’s about reducing friction. Over time, I’ve built a system that supports my work rather than overwhelms it. Some tools stuck. Others didn’t. What follows

Human Nature and Writing Crime Fiction When I first delved into crime fiction, I thought I was simply crafting entertaining stories about...

Why My First Draft is Always Messy   “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”   Attributed to Terry Pratchett, this...

Everyday Sources of Story Ideas Writers often think they need to scale mountains or survive dramatic upheavals to craft compelling...

Why I Write Short Stories (And Why You Might Want To)   People often ask if I write short stories. The answer is YES, absolutely!   I...

Inspiration for stories comes from many places. The locations I often write about are often in remote places where you might drive for...

Wrestling With the Shape of a Story Hey fellow scribblers, So, let’s talk about one of the age-old debates in the writing world —...

✨ Or Why I Keep Emailing Myself Weird Ideas As writers, we often find ourselves bombarded with a multitude of story ideas, some fleeting,...

So, let me tell you about my journey into self-publishing my first published novel, Gemtown . It was a wild ride, honestly, but also...

Here is my rig, in the remote, remote outback. I promised some time ago to give the backstory on Gemtown, my debut published novel. I...

I've always been a writer, always scribbled on bits of paper my random (and not so random) thoughts. But never going the next step to...