Andrew Ferguson
Children's/YA Author
Archives
Theme: The Truth Behind the Tale
Posted on April 12, 2021 Leave a Comment
What fundamental truth(s) are you conveying in your idle fantasy? What aspects of real life are you exploring? And equally as important, how are you conveying that truth?
Author Interview: Sharleen Nelson (part 2 of 2)
Posted on April 9, 2021 Leave a Comment
I had the pleasure of interviewing Sharleen, whose debut novel The Time Tourists is available to buy on Amazon and other retail outlets. This is the second half of that interview.
Author Interview: Sharleen Nelson (part 1 of 2)
Posted on April 8, 2021 Leave a Comment
I had the pleasure of interviewing Sharleen Nelson, whose debut novel The Time Tourists is available to buy on Amazon and other retail outlets. What follows is part one of that interview. Be sure to check back next week for part two!
Writing a Good Character Description
Posted on April 6, 2021 Leave a Comment
Remember: a character is defined what they do and say, not by their physical appearance. Therefore, use physical descriptions to bring out their key traits. First ask yourself who this character is and what important details of their life and personality you wish to convey.
Figuring Out Foil Characters
Posted on March 31, 2021 Leave a Comment
A foil is a character (or sometimes an object or idea) who highlights the traits of another character (usually the protagonist) by contrasting with them. But apart from that, these characters can play just about any role in your story you like.
Gleaning Ideas from Other Stories
Posted on March 29, 2021 Leave a Comment
But what do you do when the Idea Tree stops putting out its juicy fruit? Easy. Glean ideas from someone else’s story.
Should You Use Profanity in Your Story?
Posted on March 16, 2021 Leave a Comment
This all got me thinking about the use of profanity in fiction. We authors walk a fine line between realism and rudeness, especially when it comes to writing dialogue. Where do you draw the line?
Well… it depends.
Writing Child Characters
Posted on March 13, 2021 Leave a Comment
It can be tempting to approach child characters differently from adults. Don’t fall into this trap. A character is a character, regardless of age. They are all imaginary people made up of motivations, goals, backstories, dialogue and all that wonderful stuff.
Fiction: Reality Refined
Posted on March 5, 2021 Leave a Comment
There are two kinds of story in this world. Those that are not at all true to life and therefore are completely unsatisfactory, and those that create the illusion of being true to life but, in fact, are not. Very few stories (even those meticulously and faithfully based on true events) accurately reflect real life once they’ve been structured in a way which allows them to be communicated, because real life is far too much of a jumble for that to be possible.
Super Snappy Speed Reviews – Books (vol. 2)
Posted on February 19, 2021 Leave a Comment
It’s that time again! We’ve already had super snappy speed reviews for books, TV shows and films now it’s time to return for a second helping of super snappy book reviews. As before, the books I have reviewed here have been selected entirely at random from my ever-growing book collection and do not necessarily have anything in common apart from the fact that they are all books. They are not necessarily films that I particularly liked or disliked, nor are they sorted into any particular order.
As always, these reviews only reflect my own personal opinions and impressions, squished, sliced and diced into a few short sentences. So without further ado…
Andrew Ferguson 