Just as with painting and decorating, it’s all in the preparation. This is my method of writing articles fairly quickly.
Read MorePencil, by Terry Freedman
exasperated, by Terry Freedman
Note to would-be contributors: the grapeshot strategy is a waste of time
Have you ever seen an article on here about pre-menstrual tension?
Read MoreAdvice for would-be book reviewers
Terry’s top tips for writing professional book reviews.
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Books, by Terry Freedman
An unintended consequence of wishing to be nice when reviewing books by female authors
in News & views, Research
I’ve been reading Phillipa K. Chong’s “Inside the Critics’ Circle”, in which she attempts to discover the process by which books get reviewed. It’s a very interesting read. I haven’t finished it yet, so am not in a position to review it as such, but I was struck by the extract cited here.
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Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Two unexpected consequences of installing a calendar archive
When I set up a calendar version of the archive on this site, it didn’t occur to me that this would give rise to two incentives.
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Frustration, by Terry Freedman
Where are my articles?!
in News & views
The article archive keeps disappearing, and while the problem is easily fixable (temporarily), it’s extremely frustrating. Here’s my workaround.
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Reviewer's desk, by Terry Freedman
How I review books on writing
in Reviews
My views on what constitutes a book on writing are fairly catholic. Indeed, it would me more accurate to denote the books I review as books for writers, rather than books on writing. The latter tend to have titles like “How to write fiction”, or “How to write magazine articles”.
Read MoreEnjoying the hard stuff: review of a course in hardboiled fiction
in Reviews
The least sensible thing one can do in circumstance like this is to read stuff which has absolutely no bearing on any it.
Read MoreThe Big Sweep
I think it’s important for writers to not only read widely, but also write widely. By trying out different styles and genres, you can start to see how they work.
Read MoreHow to read faster
in Fast writing
There is so much to read these days, that a leisurely stroll through thousands of words is no longer feasible. At least, not if you’re going to keep on top of all the new books and articles that appear every day.
Read MoreHow to help an editor
Reading this book made me reflect on the “tiny noticeable things” that a writer might do to make a magazine editor’s life easier.
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Photo by Rumman Amin on Unsplash
Bath time
Bath is a very beautiful city. It has a lovely cathedral, a nice canal walk (although I didn’t like the sheer drop on the edge of it), and an open, airy feel. But that’s not what made an impression on me.
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A bang on the head -- DIY version
In this version, I’ve decided to pass the story over to you.
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Dominoes, by Terry Freedman
Domino effect
in News & views
This blog post is dedicated to all those writers who are looking after elderly relatives, young children, holding down a job, dealing with gas bills, doing shopping etc etc etc.
Read MoreReview: 99 Ways to tell a story
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book, Reviews
The book works in so many ways that it’s hard to know where to start.
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Review: The Rise and Fall of Oscar Wilde
in Reviews
I enjoyed the course, but would have preferred it to have been longer.
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Click the cover to see this on Amazon (affiliate link)
Review: A Little History of Literature
As for non-students whose memories of Eng Lit conjure up trying to make sense of Shakespeare, you may discover that “A Little History of Literature” will help you to erase such memories!
Read MoreReading streak? Oh, puh-lease!
in News & views
How do you encourage people to read?
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Review: Creative writing for social media
Good Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) practice may decree that the ideal blog post length is between 1760 and 2400 words, but I prefer to write for people rather than an algorithm.
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Click on the cover to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Quick look: Guerrilla Publicity
This book is aimed at the small business person who has more energy than money to spend on publicity. That sounds like a description of most writers!
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