#63 - Toby Neal - Write Through The Roof -

Interview with best-selling romance & mystery writer Toby Neal

‘People are preoccupied by crime because we want to recognise the wolves in our midst’

Writing is like a muscle – needs regular workouts
2000 words a day target
Both a plotter and a pantser. More pantser for romance and plotter for mysteries
Recording affirmations and listening prior to writing session
Themes of good versus evil and the shades of grey in everyone and how love can overcome a multitude of problems
Dark themes but with hope – fascinated with the duality between dark and light
Mastering your craft – Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell – the 10,000 hour rule
Take off your pants – Libbie Hawker – the hero needs to find a cure for their flaw
Unconventional childhood – Memoir – Freckles
Putting off writing goals for security – started with an anonymous blog – using real life experience as a school counsellor
Speeding up the writing process
Dictation, health and accessing creative brain by writing longhand
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens, The Outlander series – Diana Gabaldon
Wired Truth: multi-cultural kick-ass female main character. Pushing the envelope for what’s acceptable with female behaviour. Experimenting with different kinds of love.

‘Nothing but writing is going to make you a better writer’

‘I tried to do literary fiction and I bored myself by page 40’

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#63 – Toby Neal – Write Through The Roof