Hatchford Vale Press — Writing & Notes https://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/ Articles about writing, research and fiction from Lee Barnes. en-gb Writing, Rewriting and Everything in Betweenhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-rewriting-and-everything-in-between.htmlhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-rewriting-and-everything-in-between.htmlSun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000It's been a little quiet here, but the writing certainly hasn't stopped. Two published novels, another manuscript that's grown and shrunk through several rewrites, and a different project taking shape behind the scenes. Writing Against the Clockhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-against-the-clock.htmlhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-against-the-clock.htmlSun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000A deadline can give a thriller momentum, but it needs to do more than provide a countdown. In State of Containment , the five-day limit changes what the characters can discover, where they can go and how long they have to decide who or what they can trust. Writing Outside the Familiarhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-outside-the-familiar.htmlhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-outside-the-familiar.htmlSat, 05 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000State of Containment is a very different book from Crispin's world. It has also taken longer, changed more often and taught me rather more along the way. Writing What You Know — and Researching What You Don'thttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-what-you-know-and-researching-what-you-dont.htmlhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-what-you-know-and-researching-what-you-dont.htmlSat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000Familiar places and subjects give fiction somewhere believable to start. The interesting part often begins when the research takes you somewhere you didn't expect. Writing Around Everything Elsehttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-around-everything-else.htmlhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/writing-around-everything-else.htmlSun, 16 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000Writing is still something that happens around a full-time career, evenings, weekends and everything else. I'm beginning to share a little more of that process. Confidence, Competence and Crispin Lockwood-Fetchhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/confidence-competence-and-crispin.htmlhttps://hatchfordvale.com/writing-notes/confidence-competence-and-crispin.htmlFri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000Some people quietly solve problems. Others become very good at sounding as though they have. One of the ideas behind Certified in Sounding Official .