Those Long Summer Days…
“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James
Category: The Writing Process
Lost for Words
Some years ago, I published a book, Loving Imogen, in which one of the characters, a photographer, says this: “A photographer is by virtue of what he does, and these days I really manage to do very little at all.”
The Dreaded A-Word
Consider these three different scenarios: 1. The hero of a Regency romance stalks into a drawing-room and greets his bewildered valet with the words “What’s up, dude?” 2. A generally well-researched novel set in Mediaeval Europe has a scene in which the protagonist gets out of bed and puts on his underpants. (Underpants, so I’m… Continue reading The Dreaded A-Word
The Living is Easy
One of the good things about living in Italy is the general consensus that, from June onward, the weather is much too hot and sticky to keep students locked in school. By now, then, school is well and truly out, and the once-crowded school corridors are a spectral place of lone cleaners mopping the floor… Continue reading The Living is Easy
Time, Dr Who, and Writing – or Not, as the Case May Be
I sometimes swear I’m caught up in some kind of bizarre Dr Who-style time-bending experiment. I don’t know what’s happened to the space-time continuum, but it just doesn’t seem to be functioning as it once did. I can remember a time when the temporal gap between one Christmas and the next lasted for about –… Continue reading Time, Dr Who, and Writing – or Not, as the Case May Be
The Importance of Play
Recently, while tapping away at a work-in-progress, I hit the buffers. The ideas that once seemed fresh and exciting began to look dull, and the words that once seemed so alive suddenly became leaden, lifeless artefacts. Matters weren’t helped by the fact that I was beginning to sense a looming deadline – not, I should… Continue reading The Importance of Play
Clichés Must Die. Or Must They?
A wee confession: I have a soft spot for clichés (and before anyone points out that this too is a cliché, I know). They interest me, not least because many of them are just so effortlessly right. A howling wind? That nicely sums up the feral, primal intensity of the wind on the (also-clichéd) dark… Continue reading Clichés Must Die. Or Must They?
A Potentially Controversial Post…
It’s time to don my flak jacket and helmet and try to look brave, because I’m going to talk about the potentially controversial topic of controversy. This is something of a pertinent issue for me. My novella Loving Imogen has a somewhat controversial theme, and though nobody’s complained yet, someone might. Indeed, given enough time,… Continue reading A Potentially Controversial Post…
It’s Not Real, but it’s Definitely True
Last month, Authors Electric’s Bill Kirton wrote this very interesting post. He was talking specifically about the fantasy genre, but he made a point that I think is relevant to all fiction: “We carry all these race memories, dreams, imaginings; we can release people and things from their restricted functions. Maybe fantasy is simply a… Continue reading It’s Not Real, but it’s Definitely True
Linear vs Circular
I recently read this very interesting post by Lauren Sapala, in which she argued – very convincingly, to my mind – that writers, by pressuring themselves to achieve goals, can actually hinder their progress. In the post, she made a very simple but, to me, quite startling point, which in turn provoked one of those… Continue reading Linear vs Circular
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