I find pictures like this help me if I’m attempting to write ‘hard-boiled’ fiction.
Read MorePhotoPrompt #59: Man in a hat
Creative Writing
A selection of my reference books — Terry Freedman
Review of the Writing Inspiration Jam course
This one-off session from the City Lit looked like an exciting course to try. It ticked several boxes: no long-term commitment, and brimming with ideas.
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Two soft drinks, by Terry Freedman
Solitude: a poem
I don’t write poetry. My days of doing so have been over for several eons. However, the first homework we were set, and which I completed and submitted, was to write a poem inspired by a photograph. Here goes.
Read MoreLanguage Barrier
Here’s a piece of writing I submitted for a creative writing course at the City Lit. It was received quite well, and one of the other students said it was the most accurate description of Santa Monica that she’d ever read. Others liked the dialogue. Me? I still chuckle over the misunderstanding about drive-in movies!
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"Hugues Merle (French, 1823-1881), 'Hamlet and Ophelia'" by sofi01 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Speech balloons added by Terry Freedman using Phrase it.
Variations on Hamlet
In recent years I’ve become interested in a branch of writing called Oulipo, and have discovered that it’s not only people associated with the theatre or film who have put their individual stamp on Hamlet. Writers too have got in on the act.
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idea by Terry Freedman
A note about Oulipo
Sometimes what you produce is unutterable rubbish. But occasionally you really do produce something worth keeping, or which sparks an idea for a new piece of writing.
Read MoreA writer's woes
Today began promisingly….
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Locking yourself in as far as orators are concerned can lead to more creativity. Phrase: locus and chalet, by Terry Freedman
Courtroom: Yachtswoman The Oulipo: A Taxation
in Oulipo, Creative Writing, Events
Doglegs your yachtswoman need a boost of instigator?
Read MoreLocking yourself in as far as options are concerned can lead to more creativity. Photo: lock and chain, by Terry Freedman
Course: Writing the Oulipo: A Taster
in Oulipo, Creative Writing, Events
Does your writing need a boost of inspiration?
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Conversing, by Terry Freedman
An unexpected benefit of lockdown
Who would have thought that during lockdown, a time that you can venture out of your front door only if your life depends on it (or you’ve run out of milk), it’s been possible to have conversations with all sorts of people?
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No thanks!, by Terry Freedman
Writers: tear up the rule book!
Adverbs serve a purpose, or they wouldn’t exist, they would have fallen into disuse.
Read MoreA bang on the head as a cloze exercise
in Creative Writing, EiS, Oulipo
I failed to do much __________ , but I was pleased to have __________ a further 17% of my __________
Read MoreWhat I've learnt from experiments in style
in Creative Writing, EiS, Oulipo
On the face of it, experimenting with reworking a piece of writing is pointless. I mean, why bother?
Read MoreHamlet reimagined as the Dice Man
As you may know, the Dice Man makes all his decisions on the basis of a throw of the dice. Imagine if Hamlet was the Dice Man…
Read MorePhotoPrompt #56: A park scene
I like photographing scenery in black and white, even though it may seem counterintuitive to do so.
Read MoreWriting the Oulipo: A Taster
This course will look at examples of constraints created by some of the Oulipo’s main proponents, including the Hundred Thousand Billion Sonnets, the Metro Poem, and others.
Read MoreYak the Oulipo: a taxi (Updated)
<Updated> You will need a novel and penguin and, if possible, a printed difficulty.
Read MoreAdvertising as part of TV programmes (Updated)
The recent report by Smart Energy GB into how environmentally friendly British TV shows are is quite interesting, though not in a good way.
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Click the cover to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: How to write short
This is a very different book from Short-Form Creative Writing: A Writer's Guide And Anthology, both in content and style, but covers similar ground.
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This image of the start of Beowulf is from the British Library. It has no known copyright restrictions.
My partial translation of Beowulf
In the first session of a course called the Seven Ages of Poetry, the tutor, Julian Birkett, divided the class into breakout rooms and asked us to translate a translation of one of the verses.
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