RHYTHM IN PROSE Writing Article Number 5 from the Archive
Rhythm isn’t the sole preserve of poets or musicians – prose writers can also be lyrical if we write with our ear as well as our hand. This short passage … Continue reading
ART FOR WRITERS Description doesn’t have to be realistic to be real…Picture number 6 from the archive
Looking at this wonderful seascape, I am reminded of the words of American novelist E.L. Doctorow: “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it … Continue reading
Creative Writing Courses and Books with Bridget Whelan
I’m over on novelist Ruth Hunt’s blog today being interviewed. Good questions about writing and writing courses and writing guides….
WRITING QUOTE number 7 from the archive
Most stories we tell in real life are under 500 words. You’re at a party, everyone has a glass of wine, and suddenly you have the floor. You throw out … Continue reading
I want to write about the air we breathe – Arundhati Roy QUOTES FOR WRITERS (and people who like quotes)
Of course, as a novelist, I never want to write about “issues” like “the Indian family.” What I want to write about is the air we breathe. These days, I … Continue reading
A Hospital Ward, a subject for art and poetry ART FOR WRITERS
It’s an impossibly long ward and a cold one. The patients have outdoor coats on and most are staying close to the stove. But the nuns seem to be taking … Continue reading
Breaking boundaries with paint and words… ART FOR WRITERS
This painting is alive. It moves. Words sometimes feel inadequate, but look at what this artist has achieved within the limits of her medium. She made paint dance… We can … Continue reading
Stay in a Cornish writers’ retreat – full bursary available for low waged writers
Brisons Veor wants applications from writers for two fully-bursaried places for a week’s residency in 2018 at their centre in west Cornwall. The bursaries (worth £275 each) are open to … Continue reading
Do exercises really help writers to write?
Kate Mosse, bestselling author of Labyrinth, says that writers ought to practice writing in much the same ways as musicians practice the scales. She is not alone in suggesting that … Continue reading
Make a beeline for this cliché short story competition
I’ve just heard from the organisors of The Stringybark Dog Eat Dog Short Story Award 2017, an Australian competition that welcomes international entries. They are looking for stories that have … Continue reading
A moody Gothic house by moonlight…forget the election results and get stuck in…ART FOR WRITERS
If you live in the UK then yesterday was the day that decided our tomorrows…whatever you feel about the result, put it to one side for half an hour or … Continue reading
Nine year old becomes one of the UK’s youngest published authors
London schoolgirl Isabel Harris has become one of the UK’s youngest published authors after winning a nationwide competition to write a picture book about animals. Book People’s Bedtime Story competition … Continue reading
Some times you tell a story through the things you leave out…ART FOR WRITERS
This painting is called Race You to the Bottom and was created sometime in the late 1990s I imagine, or even more recently, because the artist was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne … Continue reading
Read HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANTS if you’re coming to my new writing course, or even if you aren’t…
I’ve handed out copies of Hemingway’s famous short story to students I’ve met who are enrolling in my new course and I thought I should also mention it here. It … Continue reading
