Fi Phillips

I enjoy naming my characters, both in my plays and in the novel I'm working on. Some of them come ready-named, introducing themselves to me in a way that they could never be altered. Others take some time to work out. Hartley Keg was one of the former. So was Blessing Hawkes. Cormac Moran, on the other hand, went through several names before finding the right one. In Naming your characters and settings , Roz Morris discusses the importance of name and how she finds them for her books.

Sometimes, you just can't sugar coat things. Advice can't always be 'nice'. On her website, Between Fact and Fiction, Natalie Whipple offers her Too-Practical Maybe-Blunt Advice to Writers . It's well worth a read. How to finish FINISH that book: Top Tips with Roz Morris

Another Tuesday, another choice of wonderful writing advice. I had never heard of the concept of 'two hearts' before reading Roz Morris' article Your Story Needs Two Hearts on Nail Your Novel. Interesting and well worth a read.

I am a very happy writerly person. Yesterday, I received my September copy of Writing Magazine (my husband bought a subscription for me for my birthday - lovely man). If you turn to page 42, Under The Microscope, you will find me, or rather the beginning of the novel I'm working on. The author James McCreet critiqued the first 300 words of my novel very constructively. If you get a chance to buy the magazine, do tell me what you think of my extract and James' comments. Roz Morris from Nail Your Novel has written an interesting article on her blog - How to stop back story slowing your novel . It's well worth a read.

Good morning. Coffee? Tea? Juice? I'm on my third decaf coffee already. I know there's no caffeine involved but it fools my tastebuds so they don't feel deprived. This week's link, Bring Your Characters to Life is an interview with author Roz Morris on The Creative Penn site.