Roz Morris's Blog

If you’ve read my memoir collection Not Quite Lost, you’ll know I am laughably inept at foreign languages. So I greatly admire people who can navigate a language that isn’t their inborn tongue. Especially if they write in it too. One of those people is Claire Polders, who published several novels in her native Dutch,… Continue reading Wired to experience the world through words – talking to multilingual novelist, short story writer and memoirist Claire Polders

Is longform fiction dying? Everywhere we’re told attention spans are shrinking, readers want brevity and writers should be adding flash fiction or essays to their repertoire. So today I’m speaking up for length, and how rewarding it can be. I don’t do short. Not as a reader, not as a writer. Occasionally I enjoy short… Continue reading Age of distraction: two simple principles to keep readers’ attention in longform stories

I'm living their lives and they speak to me; we need a word for this; Turn Right At The Rainbow; a little horse. All in my newsletter https://mailchi.mp/920b46002a0f/livin...

Andrew Verlaine distinctly remembers the moment that sent him off to write a novel. He was watching a demonstration of a controversial piece of equipment and noticed its developers were curiously guarded about it. He kept hold of that observation of discomfort and thus was born his first piece of longform work, a speculative novel… Continue reading It started with ‘why’ – writing fiction about uncomfortable subjects, with Andrew Verlaine

I began my writing life with novels. I worked on memoirs and autobiographies for other people, and their fiction too, but I always thought my own output would be entirely made up. Then in 2017 I found myself writing Not Quite Lost, a collection of lighthearted travel essays, and suddenly I was a memoirist as… Continue reading On truth in memoir, the ghostwriter’s secret world and a busy writing life: talking to Suzie Grogan

I’ve just sent the manuscript of my memoir – the follow-up to Not Quite Lost – to beta readers. I announced this on Twitter and immediately was asked: what do you need in a beta reader and where do you find them? Beta readers are your first trial audience. They’re not necessarily publishing professionals –… Continue reading Beta readers: your book’s first reality check and why you need it

The airport chapel girl, melt the snow, Turn Right At The Rainbow, a little horse. All in my newsletter https://mailchi.mp/b322f42dfe46/the-a...

I’m always curious to know how we end up making our lives in the creative arts. For some, it’s in their family culture. Others find their own path. When I put this question to memoirist and translator Nina Boug Lichtenstein she raised an intriguing point. While I would not say I grew up in a… Continue reading ‘Being able to build a creative career has been a privilege’ – talking to memoirist Nina Boug Lichtenstein

Smart writing knows how it’s handling the reader. It knows what it’s making them notice. Where it’s directing their curiosity. How it’s making them feel. There are many factors to this, including the deep structure of the book and the way the writer is teaching us about the characters and the world, but one of… Continue reading Three sneaky style sins that confuse your reader (and how to fix them)

Treasures in limbo (the amazing warehouse where the Victoria & Albert Museum keeps its unseen treasures). My books HALF PRICE this month!! Also, they're playing my song. Turn Right At The Rainbow. A little horse.
All in my newsletter https://mailchi.mp/8ba1b200d28d/treas...