Dead Ringer

Dead Ringer by Nicola Martin

Write the story from the sidekick’s perspective, too – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

During one particular rewrite of Dead Ringer, I felt like I’d tied myself up in knots. My protagonist was breaking up with her boyfriend, but he seemed to be taking it too well. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking or feeling during the scene. So I decided to write the entire novel from…

Dead Ringer by Nicola Martin

Let your readers hear your protagonist’s thoughts – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Dead Ringer started life as a third-person novel, until my agent suggested I make it first-person. This was a big change, but it made the protagonists’ voices much clearer. The reader gets to sit in their heads, hear their thoughts. This, I think, is the superpower of novels (versus TV or movies). You get to…

Dead Ringer by Nicola Martin

Make your protagonist the type of person who jumps into the fray – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

In life, I’m a risk-averse person. I always weigh up my options and try to act prudently. In novels, I’ve found that prudent characters make for boring protagonists. Dead Ringer got immeasurably better when I added in a second narrator, Jem. She’s reckless and rebellious and will always throw herself into the fray. For this…

Dead Ringer by Nicola Martin

Don’t give ’em a reason to stop reading – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

One of my favourite pieces of feedback I’ve got on Dead Ringer is: “I stayed up past my bedtime reading it.” During one of my later re-drafts of the book, I did something bold. I re-cut all the chapters. I made them shorter and I changed the places where the chapters ended. My purpose (and…

Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer
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You’ll have to rearrange your life in order to write a novel – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

If there’s one myth about writing that I hate, it’s the myth that great novels were written in snatched 5-minute bursts. “Get up earlier and write while drinking your morning coffee! Write in your lunch break! If you’re not writing while simultaneously making a risotto and changing a duvet cover, you obviously don’t want it…

Nicola Martin at Virtual Noir at the Bar
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To Newcastle in a flash: my experience of reading at Virtual Noir at the Bar

One unexpected upside of a global pandemic is that it makes “travel” much easier. Virtual travel, to book events, anyway. Attending Newcastle’s Noir at the Bar, a boozy evening with crime writers, would have been difficult for me two months ago, what with the expense and travel time. Now that all our social gatherings are…

Dead Ringer by Nicola Martin
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Joining a writing group will save your soul – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

When I look back and try to identify the ONE thing that took me from slush pile to publication, it’s joining a writing group. Specifically, a workshop critique group. This was a big, scary step for me, because (like most writers) I haaate having my writing critiqued. At the time, it felt like someone was…

Science of doppelgangers
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Is there a stranger out there who shares your face? (guest post for Confessions of a YA Reader)

What is the likelihood that you have a doppelgänger somewhere in the world? The scientific facts are stranger than you think. The idea of the doppelgänger – a stranger who looks uncannily like you – stretches back through history. The superstition is that encountering your “double” is a bad omen that could lead to your…