How did the English comedian Spike Milligan break through writer’s block?
Read MoreWriter's Block, by Terry Freedman
The lighter side
Battersea Power Station. Photo by Terry Freedman
My Writing Machine
I first had the idea for a writing machine many years ago, while watching an episode of the Avengers.
Read MoreThe Shakespeare insult generator is still working!
Listen, thou fobbing clapper-clawed clotpole! The internet is useful for more things than mere facts.
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Creative writing class
Creative assessment on a creative writing course
Reading each student’s work each week, at a rate of ten minutes each, took nearly two and a half hours. Thinking of suitable comments, adding them in to the appropriate place in Google Classroom, and updating my spreadsheet markbook took another hour and a half.
Something had to be done.
Read MoreA literature course I'd like to take if it were available: an Oulipian puzzle
Ye olde book signing
I’ve recently finished a course on Macbeth and Othello, and I’ve been doing some research.
Read MoreSpotting the BS
“You’ve been speaking to that blasted Freedman, haven’t you?!”
Read MoreEveryone has a book in them, and with any luck that's where it will stay
This is how Tom Gauld sees it…
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Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
I asked an artificial intelligence bot to write advertisements for my newsletter
I asked ChatbotGPT to write an advertisement for my newsletter in various styles. Here’s what it came up with…
Read MoreSeason's greetings!
Christmas greetings from Freedman Towers.
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Aurora and Terry, by Terry Freedman
Creative writing: My attempt to write a Carolean Verse Romance
I’m not known for writing poetry, much less in the style of the 16th century. But I’ve had a go, and I like to think that my poetry is a bit better than my art.
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Epistolary writing: an update
As you may know, I’ve been exchanging letters online with Rebecca Holden. We agree that we’d write three letters each. We’ve enjoyed the experiment so much that we’ve decided to continue with it after the Christmas break.
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Snow in station by Terry Freedman
A Sunday break
Here in England it’s cold, though not quite as cold as it has been, and walking and cycling are treacherous.
Read MoreStyle matters
If a piece of writing is too self-conscious, if it’s basically shouting “Hey, look at me. Isn’t this a fine piece of writing?” I lose interest. And I’m in good company: Trollope felt the same way.
Read MoreWhat is nonfiction?
Does the Oxfam bookshop know something I don’t?
Read MoreThe hard sell (Updated)
It's always difficult to get the balance right between hard sell and soft sell. Joe Coleman's website allows you to choose your own level of (dis)comfort!
Read MoreA computational approach to Eng Lit
I often wonder if the most arduous part of the work of the people who write this sort of tripe is to ensure they don’t use the same words more than once for the same editor.
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Give me strength! Photo by Terry Freedman
A closed-loop conversation
The following conversation really happened. No wonder my hair has started turning grey.
Read MoreEgos are us?
I attended an authors’ conference a few years ago, and I have never been in a room with so many egos.
Read MoreA randomly created short story
She walked over to the window and reflected on her deprived surroundings. She had always loved urban Truro with its plain, pong parks. It was a place that encouraged her tendency to feel worried.
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