The Book at War is a fascinating study of how books and other reading matter have variously influenced politics, propaganda and history over time.
Read MoreLibraries and readers in an age of conflict (book review)
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Review: The Artist's Journey
in Bookshelf
Elborough’s central premise is that artists’ travels have always influenced their art – albeit more obviously in some cases than others.
Read MoreAn example of popular academic writing
A long-held belief of mine is that no writing is wasted. I hear of people who have spent time writing something, decided it's rubbish, and then deleted it. But the process of evaluation that someone goes through to arrive at the conclusion that the thing they've just slaved over is rubbish is valuable in itself.
Read MoreThe creative writing course I’m teaching: evaluation of a press release
I have a course coming up, one that I’m teaching. I asked an AI writer to draft a press release for it. Here’s what it came up with, with my annotations in italics and in square brackets.
Read MoreReview of Fantasy: Realms of Imagination
The shelves in libraries or bookshops labelled Science Fiction and Fantasy interest me only for the former, not the latter. Games like Dungeons and Dragons have never appealed to me, and much as I like maps and strange lands, the works of Tolkien leave me cold.
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Quick looks: Triggered Literature
I haven’t read much yet because it came only a few days ago, but have discovered already that someone regards Hamlet as a sort of school spree killer.
Read MoreBravery
in Memoir
“This should do it.” My father was responding to my mother’s growing exasperation with the two-year old me constantly getting under her feet in the kitchen.
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Review: The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper
Who would have thought that a material as commonplace as paper could have such a rich history and profound effect on our lives?
Read MoreReview: Once upon a prime
As someone who had little in the way of mathematical prowess at school, I initially opened Prime with some trepidation.
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On this day: 27th December 2019 -- Preverbs
Many people advocate free writing as a way of cutting through writer’s block. Well, it’s never worked for me, and it doesn’t seem logical anyway. If you can’t think of anything to write, how would allowing your mind to just generate stuff do any good?
Read MoreReview of The Girl at the Tram Stop
On the surface, this would seem to be nothing more or less than an example of performance art presented as literature. However, there is much more to it than that because Johnson has introduced elements of randomisation…
Read MoreReview: Solutions for Writers
Just about every sentence contains a gem of advice. For example, Stein writes…
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Christmas reading
in Bookshelf, Quick looks
Here are a couple of suggestions for your reading pleasure. They are not Christmas books, but big hefty tomes that need a bit of time to wade into.
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Quick look: The Artist's Journey
in Bookshelf, Quick looks
Back in April 2023 I reviewed The Writer’s Journey, and this is a companion volume by the same author.
Read MoreExperiments in style: Hardboiled + Analysis
in EiS
A good way of honing your writing skills is to rewrite a simple story in different styles. That’s what I’ve been up to over on my Eclecticism newsletter. I post a new style every Sunday, and often on the following Friday I explain how I did it, what the challenges were, or the literary devices I employed.
Read MoreTreading the boards
in Memoir
The curtain goes up, to reveal Terry slaving over a hot keyboard. He turns to the audience….
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Robot reporter, by Terry Freedman
Can artificial intelligence be used to write blog posts?
I decided to find out! In this post I show the results of:
Asking AI to create some personas, ie target readers.
Come up with some blog post ideas.
Write an outline for one of them.
Write an article for one of them.
My blog post (a demo)
Blogging has become an integral part of our modern online culture. With its ability to easily share thoughts, ideas, and expertise, blogging serves as a platform for individuals to express themselves and connect with a broader audience.
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New Online Blogging Course
I will be running another online course in blogging in the evenings of the 17th and 24th November 2023.
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The path to St Peter’s Church — photo by Terry Freedman
Second-hand bookshops #1
Two bookshops reviewed! “Although the place gives the impression of haphazardness, what with armchairs and stools all over the place, it is anything but.”
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