Writing theory? It’s not for writers, said William Faulkner QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would … Continue reading
Summer Sale! Creative Writing Guide only 99p/ 99 cent
Because the sun is shining. Because I haven’t had the central heating on for, oh, at least a week. Because the days are still growing longer (northern hemisphere only). Until … Continue reading
Writers and Olympic athletes don’t have a lot in common – Paul Theroux Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
Notice how many of the Olympic athletes effusively thanked their mothers for their success? “She drove me to my practice at four in the morning,” etc. Writing is not figure … Continue reading
Children’s Book Writing Competition
Gransnet – the slightly creaky older version of Mumsnet – is out to discover a new children’s author. The competition They are looking for books for children aged between 3 … Continue reading
Legends of the Burren
I visited the Burren many years ago – it’s an extraordinary landscape and Ali Isaac has captured both the beauty and the stories that lie just under the surface. Cromwell’s … Continue reading
The writer’s style – Robert Frost: Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
Style is that which indicates how the writer takes himself and what he is saying. It is the mind skating circles around itself as it moves forward. Robert Frost
Do we hate short stories in the UK?
You would be forgiven for thinking that’s true because very, very few collections are published by British publishers. But hold, I hear you say: I like reading short stories…(you did … Continue reading
Graham Greene on why short stories are perfect and novels aren’t – QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
With a novel, which takes perhaps years to write, the author is not the same man he was at the end of the book as he was at the beginning. … Continue reading
International humour competition
In honour of the man beloved by quotation compilers, Mark Twain House and Musuem are running the third annual writing competition. You don’t have to write in the style of … Continue reading
Jane Eyre and the Legendary Gytrash
Originally posted on Mimi Matthews:
Snarling dog from Darwin’s Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, 1872.(Image Courtesy of The Wellcome Library, CC BY 4.0.) According to Charlotte Brontë’s 1847…
Stephen King on the hardest things to put into words: Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they … Continue reading
Short stories explode – novels smoke, says Paolo Bacigalupi Quotes for Writers (and people who like quotes)
Short fiction seems more targeted – hand grenades of ideas, if you will. When they work, they hit, they explode, and you never forget them. Long fiction feels more like … Continue reading
International short story competition
Le me be frank, the prizes on offer in the Willesden Herald short story competition won’t raise your blood pressure. 1st prize is a one-off Willesden Herald mug inscribed “The … Continue reading
Elizabeth Goudge on what to read in times of trouble QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and readers)
In times of storm and tempest, of indecision and desolation, a book already known and loved makes better reading than something new and untried … nothing is so warming and … Continue reading
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 