All the posts by Jody Medland
Before you say anything, I don’t personally believe there is a definitive list of 10 simple tricks to make you write the next best-selling book or blockbuster hit.
So much goes into every book and screenplay that each finished story is invariably unique in some way, so you can never escape the fact that the hard work and determination needed to write a great story has to come entirely from the writer.
However, I’ve been in the industry long enough now to have …
To some, the title of this blog appears as something of an oxymoron.
“Visuals?” I hear you cry. “I’m a writer. I paint with words, not images!”
It’s true that every writer is different in both style and approach, but what is undeniable is that, when used correctly, words can be the most powerful and explosive device ever created by man. Why? Because it allows us to stimulate the almost limitless potential of the human mind.
When Martin …
When we copywriters sit in an interview, we all know it’s a matter of time before we’re hit with the loaded question: “So what made you want to become a copywriter?”
Internally, I’ve wrestled with this question for many years. It is my strong belief that nobody actually wants to be a copywriter. It’s just not a profession our younger selves would think to dream of or aspire to.
When I say this, I mean no offence …
So for me, 15th July 2015 was a really special day. Not only was my first paperback novel released but it was also when my first successful crowdfunding campaign drew to a close. I spent the whole afternoon in a bubble of exhaustion and warm satisfaction, but there wasn’t really much time to absorb the fact the past year’s work had been realised and the book was now available for people to buy.
As the days …
As somebody who is not the greatest fan of non-fiction books, I took a little persuading before I got involved in Kate Summerscale’s meaty account of an infamous murder that took place in Wiltshire many moons ago. In fact, it was only because a fellow industry peer continued to recommend it that I finally gave in.
In 1860, a young child was murdered in a stately home belonging to the hugely wealthy Kent family and subsequently …
Desmond Christy from The Guardian once famously offered £500 to anyone that could guess the solution to the crime set out in Gaston Leroux’s The Mystery of the Yellow Room. It was a safe bet, because quite simply, it’s impossible.
For me, this is the major flaw that has always prevented me from becoming a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes franchise. The moment that a mystery becomes impossible to solve, you become a passive reader, …
When a close friend of mine stepped forward and handed me a copy of The Psychopath Test, I felt compelled to ask what make them think of me after reading it.
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First person narratives, in my view, lend themselves perfectly to comedy because it gives us direct insight into the lead character’s decision making process. In this case, our hero is Pat Solatano – an innately sweet guy with the ability to explode. In fairness, he only gets angry when the circumstances are justified, but since his subsequent placement in “the bad place,” fairness is no longer something he can take for granted.
Behind every great story …
I first fell in love with Mitch Albom when I read his breakthrough non-fiction book, Tuesdays with Morrie, where he did such an incredible job of relaying the humour and heartbreak of the last few days spent with his dying high school lecturer, Morrie Schwartz. The book really struck a chord with me because of the close relationship I had with my English teacher, who I had not seen for a number of years, and …
People always seem fascinated when comedy actors take on a serious role. Suddenly, a whole wave of people fall silent before turning to their friends in the cinema and whispering in dismay: “He can act!”
Quite frankly, it amazes me that people such as Will Ferrell (Stranger than Fiction), Steve Carell (Dan in Real Life), Jim Carey (The Truman Show), Adam Sandler (Punch-Drunk Love) and more recently, Ben Stiller, were ever labelled as anything other than …