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The Themes in Stephen’s King’s “IT”
SPOILER ALERT: If you are unfamiliar with the book or have only seen the recently released film with no idea what is going to happen in Chapter 2, I suggest you look away now if you don’t want it spoilt. The latest film version released globally this weekend. I saw it on Friday afternoon. Largely,…
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Using Metafiction in your Writing
Metafiction is a form of metatheatre – it’s probably not a term you’ve come across all that often. However, it’s one of the oldest plot devices (usually used for comic effect) with roots in ancient Greek theatre. We still used it today and there was a great example of metafiction in last week’s episode of…
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The Power of Words: Best and Worst Political Slogans
Words are powerful. I’ve written on the subject of political oratory repeatedly. Two years ago, I discussed my discomfort with the media’s character assassination of Jeremy Corbyn being “unelectable”, for example, and in the run-up to the General Election in 2015, I listed some common politician stock phrases. Here, I want to discuss election campaign…
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Lorna Doone and the Sense of Place: Exmoor Coast
I’ve written about the importance of sense of place in fiction several times already. How you define your urban spaces, rural places and inspirational landscapes can create a vivid image in the mind of the reader. It can really help to absorb the reader into the book. I am presently reading Lorna Doone – a…
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Why Regional Food Culture Matters in Your Fiction
Food, glorious, food. Who doesn’t like it? We need to eat to survive but there is so much more to food than mere sustenance. I started writing about food on this blog when researching for my Romans vs Aliens novel (preliminary title: Children of Phobetor). The article on Roman street food remains rather popular. I…
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Science Fiction’s Sub-Genres in a Nutshell (Part 1)
To the uninitiated, science fiction is about space battles and exploring planets full of strange and wonderful creatures. Yet science fiction has never “just” been about spaceships and alien planets. That is just one subgenre of our weird and wonderful genre. There are many more and you might be surprised at some books and films…
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Five Questions To Ask A Client Before Accepting Work
The relationship between a freelance content writer and his or her client needs nurturing. It needs mutual respect. It needs open conversation and a large dose of honesty. There are fake clients out there, some terrible and difficult clients with real work and some genuine jobs who will try to take advantage. Here are five…
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Have Yourself a Tudor Little Christmas – All About Tudor Food
Following on from my hugely popular Saturnalia and medieval Christmas posts of recent years (both of which followed on from a post on Roman Street Food), I’m jumping forward again. This time, we go to those flamboyant and merry Tudors. Although we in England tend to associate Christmas with the Victorians, the Tudors certainly knew…
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Book Review: Bioshock Rapture by John Shirley
Having recently replayed all of the Bioshock games (including the DLCs I never played before), Amazon recommended me this – an official novelisation of the early years of the city where the first two games (and both DLCs) are based. I’ve generally been mistrusting of this type of book, feeling they often lack the depth…
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Words & Terms I Wish Advertisers Would Throw on a Fire
This is going to be one of my “Grinds My Gears” type posts. Some types of business speak really grind my gears, as I have already discussed. Advertising though is a whole other kettle of fish. There are some words and terms that I really would not be upset if I never encountered them again.
MG Mason Creative
Freelance Writer MG Mason
MG Mason Creative 