Writing – ALISON JANET BROWN

Writing female secondary characters: why it’s important and how to do it

This week, secondary characters:
• Are most likely to default to male
• Are important representation
• Demonstrate the values of your society (and your writing)

Secondary Characters, Narrative and Comedy – Review of Redshirts by John Scalzi

This week, Redshirts is:
• A fun romp through the Universal Union
• Sneakily asking ethical questions
• Much more meta than I anticipated

The King’s Man: how it made promises to the audience and… why it didn’t deliver

This week:
• The King’s Man sets up a great action story
• It then fails to deliver
• I have my theories as to why

Bing Crosby’s character development in ‘White Christmas’: an analysis

This week, White Christmas:
• Is a classic of its genre
• Demonstrates some elegant character development
• Is for life, not just for Christmas

Why join a Writing Circle?

This week, I reveal that writing circles:
• Can actually help you improve your writing
• Are very variable in tone
• Can host a range of events for writers

Why your English Teacher didn’t want you to write ‘said’

This week:
• Teachers actually do their jobs
• Language changes according to your purpose
• There is teacher-me and writer-me

My 3 Favourite podcasts about writing and what you’ll learn from them

This week, writing podcasts can be:
• As long as a piece of string
• Chuckle-worthy
• Heaven on a hat stand

Six reasons to listen to writing podcasts

This week, listening to writing podcasts:
• Is an affordable way to develop craft
• Makes me part of a writing community
• Builds my enthusiasm for writing

How to Write a Review of a Book: accuracy, opinion and kindness

This week:
• I divide reviewing into two parts
• I reveal my podcast-listening habits
• People can actually write accurate reviews!

Writing ‘he felt like he was meant to be there’

This week:
• I get pedantic about what this phrase implies
• I am not ok with lazy writing
• I suggest ways this phrase can work really well