http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk unspoken words and random whispers Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:47:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Many thanks to Jordan Rosenfeld, author of Making a Scene, Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time. A few posts back she dropped in and offered a free copy of her book, which recently arrived in Sophie Playle's mailbag. I know Sophie will make good use of it. This ... http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2010/01/grab-it-while-you-can/ It sounds obvious, but people take up space. When they're gone, they leave a hole. Sometimes the hole is small and barely noticeable, and sometimes the hole is much larger. My father-in-law was diagnosed with terminal cancer just before Christmas and passed away this afternoon aged 77. So long, John. You leave ... http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2010/01/a-hole-where-john-should-be/ Happy New Year to everyone. For me, 2010 will be the Year of the Novel. I set out at the beginning of 2009 with the intention of writing a science fiction novel by the end of 2010, and soon realised that I needed to put in some effort towards catching up ... http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2010/01/2010-the-year-of-the-novel/ Here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and all the very best in 2010. For me, Christmas time is the best break of the year. Demands are few and everything slows down. It's a time to recharge the batteries and pause to reflect; a time for coming together, and for thinking about ... http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2009/12/merry-christmas/ The shortlisted stories for this year's BBC National Short Story Award are featured on Radio 4 this week, a different one broadcast each day at 3:30 pm. If you've missed them, you can still listen to them online for the next few days (in the UK at least, not sure ... http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2009/12/bbc-national-short-story-award/ Where do people get their story ideas from? Schenectady of course, everyone knows that. But seriously, coming up with a decent story idea can be hard. I know because I’m still working on the idea for my novel, which I’m due to begin scribbling after Christmas. Coming up with ideas is ... http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2009/12/thinking-inside-the-box/ The content of my short guide, How To Survive Online Writing Forums, has been added to the blog and has its own page.  It's still available on the Critters Bar writing forum, and a pdf version is also available for download from the blog page. All comments welcome. http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2009/11/surviving-online-writing-forums-2/ My short piece, a 250-worder titled Broken Waters, is up today at Every Day Fiction. Feel free to read and comment. http://www.everydayfiction.com/broken-waters-by-bob-jacobs/ http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2009/11/broken-waters/ What's the best writing how-to book you've ever read? What's that? You don't believe in them? Move along please. Thank you. I've read a leaning tower of them since I began writing almost six years ago. Some I've found really useful, some less so, but all of them have had something to ... http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2009/11/making-a-scene/ Sounds as though Borders (UK) is in serious trouble, according to the BBC web site. More details here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8376394.stm http://blog.bobjacobs.co.uk/2009/11/goodbye-borders/