Category Archives: Writing
Women’s Prize for Fiction – The Orange is a Lemon
And the winner is… …a woman. Isn’t it time that the Women’s Prize for Fiction was cancelled? I’ve never been in favour of positive discrimination. Victims of discrimination are not black, white, gay, atheist, etc., they’re human beings. Positive discrimination … Continue reading
A Scribbler in the Bush…
I’ve just come back from a research trip to Australia (the hat gives it away). Well, I say research trip…it was actually more of a family visit and holiday, but I used the opportunity to do some research for my current … Continue reading
Writers’ Forum (or against ’em?)
One morning last week I bunked off work to attend a writers’ forum, held as part of the Penarth Book Festival (watch out Hay!) The presenter was Phil Carradice, a Welsh author and poet with over fifty books behind him. Actually, … Continue reading
News from the muse
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but would you like to go into battle against a Claymore wielding Scotsman if you were armed with nothing more than a Bic? I suppose you might be able to poke him in the eye … Continue reading
Hanif you think creative writing courses are a waste of time…
Apparently Hanif Kureishi does. Which makes me wonder why he runs one, and why anyone would want to attend it! I admit that I have some sympathy with his viewpoint. I think there are a number of problems with teaching … Continue reading
How to get ahead in self-publishing
I’ve been doing some more research into self-publishing, and the amount of work involved, particularly in promoting and selling your book yourself, is daunting. One website (www.writersservices.com – has anyone had any experience of using them?) says ‘resolve to allocate … Continue reading
A scent of success?
I sent sample chapters of my novel to quite a few publishers last year, without any success, or so I had thought. But then, last week, I had a request from one of them for the full manuscript. I knew … Continue reading
Ragnarok – hit or myth?
Reading is easier than writing. No need for research, no searching for ideas and inspiration, no getting into the mood, no agonising over the construction of sentences and the order of events and whether characters, and the plot, are interesting, … Continue reading
There’s no such thing as Writer’s Block
Does it count as writer’s block when you simply can’t find the time to write? I know what you’ll say – ‘if you really want to do something then you’ll find the time..’ It’s not that simple. When all of … Continue reading
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