Observations on the world and its inhabitants
In the early stages of a writing career, the focus is often on the “mechanics”—the foundational rules of grammar, syntax, and punctuation. While these are essential, the transition from a competent writer to a compelling author occurs during the final checks of a manuscript. This is where prose is transformed into an immersive experience. For ...
Despite explicit instructions, generative AI systems routinely drift into US English spelling and conventions across longer writing projects. For British-English authors who use AI assistance, this creates a persistent and time-consuming editorial burden. The key insight that resolved this was accepting that generation and linguistic compliance should be treated as separate stages. Rather than attempting ...
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is widely recognised as the industry standard for software development. However, its core strength—managing complex text files with precision—makes it an exceptionally powerful tool for authors of fiction and non-fiction alike. Luddites and lazy folk should stop right now – leave this blog and get back to Netflix, Instagram and ...
The Challenge of the Sequel Writing a duology is a delicate balancing act of memory and tone. This is particularly true for my current project, KNS. Before diving into the methodology, it is important to acknowledge that there is nothing fundamentally wrong in using AI as a tool to assist with drafting. Like any sophisticated ...
A View from the Trenches Over the past year, the journey of writing and publishing the first novella The Kael’Nyrin Scrolls: Our Children of Starlight on Amazon has been an education in reality. It was a process defined not by the romanticised notion of “being discovered“, but by the difficult, granular lessons of production, formatting, ...
I’m totally uninterested in whether you or anyone else who reads this has no need to italicise text between quotation marks. As I don’t like wasting time I find automated solutions. A common task is italicising text between quotation marks. When using the Writage plugin to edit Markdown files within Microsoft Word, a common formatting ...
For writers, journalists, and professionals operating within the United Kingdom, adherence to correct UK English spelling is not merely a preference; it is a fundamental requirement of competence. Official and academic audiences expect consistency, and mandate the use of British conventions. Using the established standards ensures clarity, maintains editorial authority, and respects the national linguistic ...
The chances of anybody becoming an expert brain surgeon is small and not going to happen overnight or over a specified period of nights. We’re talking years of training and work. But.. but when it comes to authorship and ‘sales’ there are people out there who think: ‘Put book on the market and rake in ...
This document outlines the evolution of a print distribution strategy for an independent paperback title, detailing the journey from an ambitious “Hybrid” objective to a pragmatic final execution, and the subsequent pricing strategy adopted for market entry. The Search for the Perfect Distribution Model This case study documents a specific strategic journey taken to solve ...
Rationale: The project was initiated after a significant discovery: new Gemini-TTS models offer high-quality, expressive, multi-speaker audio generation. A cost-benefit analysis revealed a dramatic disparity between professional human narration (previously sourced at ~£490 for 1.6 hours) and AI-driven production (estimated at ~£1.51 for 100 minutes). This project was undertaken as a long-term investment to build ...
