Simon Wood

Posts By: slimey1

My AUTHOR PROFESSIONALISM workshop starts July 3rd.  You only get one shot at making a good impression with a reader, editor, publisher, bookstore, librarian and even your fellow writers. Yet, I’ve seen lots of authors put their feet in their mouths so many times. So let me be your Professor Higgins to your Eliza Doolittle.  The workshop would explore the following:

  • Lesson #1: What it is to be a professional writer
  • Lesson #2: Interacting with your fellow writers
  • Lesson #3: Interacting with publishing professionals
  • Lesson #4: Interacting with your readers and the public
  • Lesson #5: When the going gets rough–how to handle it and protect yourself
  • Lesson #6: The Good Author Plan

So if you want to learn how to interact with the publishing industry smartly and effectively, you can sign up here.

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WE WON!! PROMOPHOBIA won best nonfiction at this year’s Agatha (Christie) Awards. I’m one of the many contributors to this book. The award is a teapot and I believe each of us will get about 5-days with the award before passing it along to the next writer. In all seriousness, a massive thanks to Diane Vallere for all her hard work. This book was a long time coming after losing its first two publishers and Diane never gave up on the project.  This award belongs to her.

Categories: shelf life

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One of those weird things I do as part of my writer’s life is to learn how to do the things I put in my books. One such skill was lock picking.  Mrs. Simon and I took a locking picking workshop for a wedding anniversary adventure many years ago.  At the weekend, I cracked a 4-digit alphanumeric combination lock just by using touch. Admittedly, it wasn’t the toughest lock in the world, but I thought it was neat that I cracked it because we were going to throw the item away because no one remembered the combination. So what I’m saying is I’m available for birthdays, Bar mitzvahs, high stakes bank heists, etc…

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My QUERY LETTERS, SYNOPSIS WRITING AND PITCHING workshop starts May 1st.  The call for this workshop came at the suggestion of one of my previous workshop students.  The workshop would explore the following:

  • Crafting a query letter directed at agents and publishers and how to perform a coordinated agent/publisher search.
  • Writing synopses. Yes, I said “synopses.” Multiple synopses are needed for book title because you’ll need a 200-word synopsis, 1-page synopsis, 2-page synopsis and a 4-page synopsis. There’s no such thing as a standard synopsis length…sadly.
  • There are plenty of opportunities to pitch face-to-face with industry professionals—both formally and informally—so it pays to have your elevator pitch in your back pocket ready to pull out at a moment’s notice.

So if you want to learn how to interact with the industry and present your story concept effectively, you can sign up here.

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This is the Hungarian version of THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY. I had to pull a “J. R. Hartley” & buy the book from a bookstore in Romania but that’s par for the course when it comes to foreign editions. It’s usually a dogfight to get author copies.

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My online workshop on Point-of-View writing starts on April 3rd. If you want to learn how to keep your POV straight in your books, here’s what to expect from the workshop and you can sign up here:

Can’t decide who’s the best character to tell your story? You don’t have to settle for just a single character’s point of view. I’ll discuss the techniques and the decisions that have to be made when writing in multiple points of view.

Weaving multiple viewpoint characters in and out of a story is like standing trial and knowing what the judge, the prosecuting attorney and all 12 members of the jury are thinking. Each person is witnessing the same information, but each individual interpretation is different. But it’s not like you can crack into everyone’s mind simultaneously. Even if you could, it’d be impossible to comprehend what 14 people are saying if they’re all talking at the same time.

Allowing multiple characters to tell your story can add depth and insight that a single point of view may not be able to convey. Most stories have plenty of characters with their own tales to tell. Multiple POV characters add depth to a novel. Suddenly the story is being told from the perspective of multiple witnesses, all putting their distinctive interpretations on events. But the inclusion of multiple voices can bring with it its own problems. Those multiple points of view can get out of control and turn the story into a mess. In a novel, just like in a conversation, not everyone can speak at once. There are plenty of ways to give each character a voice without having them talk over one another. Even if you’re only writing from a single point-of-view or utilizing an omniscient POV approach, going through these exercises will help ensure there’s a smooth transition between characters.

Lesson Plan:

  • Lesson #1: Creating a hierarchy of POV characters
  • Lesson #2: Limit the number of POV characters
  • Lesson #3: Pick the right character for the right job
  • Lesson #4: POV Toolbox Tricks #1— Use chapter and/or scene breaks & Changing Spaces
  • Lesson #5: POV Toolbox Tricks #2—Passing the baton, Mixing perspectives & Using distinctive voices
  • Lesson #6: POV Plan Review

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This is my crash helmet from my motor racing days. It was years before I realized that I owed my life to this helmet. During a race, a car spun in front of me and it propelled my car into the air. My wheel was sheared off and it me hit full in the face by a wheel at 90mph. The wheel bounced off my face, hit the steering wheel, bounced back, hit me in the chest and pinned me in the cockpit as the car went sliced through a gravel trap for 200yrds. My helmet completely deformed under the impact but didn’t break and a head rest I’d added only weeks before kept my neck from moving and stopped the wheel from breaking my neck. I considered myself lucky on the day but I didn’t consider how lucky I was until the deaths of Justin Wilson and Henry Surtees in the last few years who died in similar crashes to me. That’s when I took the helmet out of closet and put it in a display case.

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My ever-popular online workshop on KILLER SUSPENSE writing starts on March 6th. This workshop blossomed out of a piece I wrote for Writers’ Digest and there’s now interest for me to develop into a book. So if you want to learn how to inject some drama and conflict into your fiction, here’s what to expect from the workshop and you can sign up here:

You’re reading. Your heart is slamming against your ribcage, your fingertips are moist and you turn another page. The protagonist’s back is up against the wall and the antagonist is setting up a trap. You wish you could do something to prevent the protagonist from walking into it, but you can’t. You are helpless, totally at the mercy of the writer. You turn another page.

If you’ve ever felt this way while reading a book, then the writer has done a great job at creating suspense—and if you continue to read all the way to the end, the writer has also done a great job of maintaining it. So how do you, the writer, go about creating the same for your readers? KILLER SUSPENSE reveals the tricks of the trade for creating top notch suspense in your writing, whether it be a cozy or a spy thriller. The intensity might be different but the techniques are the same.

Lesson Plan:

  • Lesson #1: Understanding Suspense—Thrillers vs. Mysteries
  • Lesson #2: Viewpoints
  • Lesson #3: Heroes and Villains
  • Lesson #4: Elements of Suspense #1—High Stakes, Pressure Points & Dilemmas
  • Lesson #5: Elements of Suspense #2—Time Constraints, Complications, Unpredictability
  • Lesson #6: Suspense Plan Review

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My ever-popular online workshop on PLOT THICKENERS writing starts on July 11th. This workshop blossomed out of a piece I wrote for Writers’ Digest and there’s now interest for me to develop into a book. So if you want to learn how to inject some drama and conflict into your fiction, here’s what to expect from the workshop and you can sign up here:

Plotting out your novel before you begin is a great exercise. Your story is thought through with no bad logic or unnecessary scenes. This process doesn’t have to be some drawn out and creativity killing affair. I’ll teach you some fast & effective techniques for plotting a novel from beginning to end. Don’t run out of ideas or pad out your novel again. The presentation includes my famous color-coded plotting spreadsheet.

Plotting shouldn’t be viewed as a passion killer that destroys any chance of spontaneity and creativity. Plotting is a very creative process. You’re creating the whole story in short form, providing a skeleton framework that will have the flesh put on during the writing. What can be more motivating than when you have a complete outline for your novel to guide you from “once upon a time…” to “…and they lived happily ever after”? And what can be more demotivating than coming to a grinding halt on a manuscript 30,000 words shy of your target with nothing left to say?

There’s a lot to be said for plotting and why it is a great help to the writing process. With this workshop, students will develop the skills for producing well thought out plotlines and use my outlining style sheet for creating simple “at a glance” outlines.

Lesson Plan:

  • Lesson #1: The importance of plotting and outlining
  • Lesson #2: Breaking down the story
  • Lesson #3: Identifying the pieces
  • Lesson #4: Arranging the pieces
  • Lesson #5: Maintaining consistency of character and voice
  • Lesson #6: Reviewing the outline

 

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Martin Scorsese caused a little storm when he listed his top 15 films of all time.  None of his films made it to my list.  So here’s my top 20 films (because I couldn’t narrow it down) and in no particular order:
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
THE THING (1982)
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
ALIEN
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
MOULIN ROUGE
SHADOW OF A DOUBT
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER
PHILADELPHA STORY
BLADE RUNNER
DOUBLE INDEMENITY
MANHUNTER
HEAT
DIE HARD
WHERE EAGLES DARE
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
THE PRINCESS BRIDE
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1979)
And oh, is there room to include A FIELD OF DREAMS…and FIGHT CLUB? Enough about me, what are your fav films?

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