21 posts tagged “writing”
Great piece from Cory Doctorow on how to avoid distraction and just get on with writing. I particularly liked:
Don't be ceremonious
Forget advice about finding the right atmosphere to coax your muse into the room. Forget candles, music, silence, a good chair, a cigarette, or putting the kids to sleep. It's nice to have all your physical needs met before you write, but if you convince yourself that you can only write in a perfect world, you compound the problem of finding 20 free minutes with the problem of finding the right environment at the same time. When the time is available, just put fingers to keyboard and write. You can put up with noise/silence/kids/discomfort/hunger for 20 minutes.
(via Lifehacker)
Great column from Justine Picardie about one of my favourite books. Her description would surely make anyone want to read it?
There are many good reasons to read Dodie Smith’s “I Capture The Castle”: it provides excellent advice about dressing on a budget (dye all your clothes sea-green); how to cope when the man you love falls for your older sister (keep a diary) and your stepmother dances naked in the rain (ditto)."
The Guardian is running a seven-part guide to writing. Looks good. Insert your own spelling joke here.
Beautiful post from Susan Hill on real life, writing and time spent alone.
Pantalons and sacre bleu, I am still ill as my flu has now transmuted into a chest infection. Still, I am starting to perk up a bit and get round to thinking about things I'd like to do this year. So, in no particular order, in 2008 I am going to:
- Learn to play a new song on my guitar each month
- Use the lovely craft supplies that my equally lovely boyfriend bought me for Christmas and make a new craft item each month (possibly starting with something similar to this)
- Write, write, write!
In practice I suspect I may end up taking a 'ketchup bottle' approach to these projects, with no progress for months and then a great dollop of activity, but we shall see.
I love words. Always have. Some words because of their meaning, some words because they are funny, and some words because they just feel so pleasing in your mouth. So when I read Bloglily's post about Free Rice, I was feeling fairly confident. And also fairly virtuous - test and improve your vocabulary and donate rice at the same time? Win/win, surely?
The site says:
There are 50 levels in all, but it is rare for people to get above level 48
but I rashly thought I was in with a good chance of getting a 48. Huh. Half a crest-fallen hour later, I wasn't feeling quite so smug. Best score so far? 43. But am I down-hearted? Well, OK, a bit, but I don't like to be beaten, so on I go...
I was also quietly cheered by James Meeks' piece in yesterday's Guardian, which asked:
How often do you bother looking up an unfamiliar word? Should writers make us reach for our dictionaries?
Great article. And now I know what albedo means.
The Woman Who Talked Too Much points to an interesting Bookarazzi conversation about Inner Critics and Inner Editors, and how to cope with them both.
Marie Phillips first novel, Gods Behaving Badly, has been receiving rave reviews all over the place, so when she gives us her Top Ten Of Everything I Know About Writing A Novel That You Were Not Afraid To Ask then I, for one, am keen to listen.
Having just finished reading Stardust, which I loooooooved, I was very interested to read Neil Gaiman's piece on fairytales in last Saturday's Guardian...
Once upon a time, back when animals spoke and rivers sang and every quest was worth going on, back when dragons still roared and maidens were beautiful and an honest young man with a good heart and a great deal of luck could always wind up with a princess and half the kingdom - back then, fairytales were for adults.
Authors including Robert Harris, Esther Freud and my favourite author Iain Banks on why they write.
