A book on temporal adventures may seem like an odd inclusion here, but it can actually be used in many ways.
Read MoreCould a book on time travel be useful for English teachers?
Review: A Date with Language: Fascinating Facts, Events and Stories for Every Day of the Year
David Crystal has triumphed again. This is a fascinating book containing hundreds of concise entries on quirky occasions, literary facts and significant events.
Read MoreThe case of the disappearing noble: A Sherlock Holmes mystery
in Creative Writing, EiS
Holmes and I were in our lodgings in Baker Street. He was drawing out a melancholy tune on his violin, whilst I was reading the latest edition of The Lancet. The silence was unexpectedly broken by the ringing of the bell.
Read MoreReview of Triggered Literature -- useful for English teachers
At a time when even Noddy books have been declared ‘problematic’ due to their use of archaic terms such as ‘swot’ (since changed to ‘bookworm’), some of us might may feel the temptation to unleash our inner ‘Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells’ in response.
Read MoreReview of Handwritten: Remarkable people on the page - Great for readers and writers
In Handwritten we get to see handwritten manuscripts by monarchs, poets, novelists, scientists and many others.
Read MoreA story in the style of Bertie Wooster
in Creative Writing, EiS
I clambered out of the four poster, but at altogether the wrong angle, so blowed if I didn't go careering straight into the wall. I tell you. I tried to ignore it and dragoon the well-known Freedman stiff upper lip into service, but the old noggin was having none of it.
Read MoreSpotting the BS
“You’ve been speaking to that blasted Freedman, haven’t you?!”
Read MoreCreative writing using constraints (a forthcoming course)
in Oulipo
This course will look at examples of constraints created by some of the Oulipo’s main proponents, with work including the Hundred Thousand Billion Sonnets, the Metro Poem, and others. Course participants will have the opportunity to try out several techniques, and invent one or two of their own.
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Photo by Terry Freedman
Remuneration
This is an updated version of an article I published on this website in 2015. In my experience, it absolutely applies to artists, teachers and other creatives as well as writers or consultants.
Read MoreA book I'm reading
I’m familiar with a few of the stories in this volume, which features some well-known names such as Raymond Carver, George Saunders, Grace Paley, Ursula Le Guin and Susan Sontag.
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I rejected a publisher
in Short form
In 2005 I was approached by a publisher who wanted to publish an updated edition of a book that had been very successful, but needed updating. I ended up turning them down
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From Unsplash
Review: The Notebook *CORRECTED*
I love the subtitle: A history of thinking on paper (my emphasis). I do think there’s much to be said for writing on paper, and there is no paucity of research showing the benefits of analogue over the digital approach.
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The original page containing my article, somewhat mangled after decades of languishing in a box
My first piece of published nonfiction
in Reflections
At the tender age of 17 I was in college, and a student representative on a body called the Joint Consultative Committee. This was a means by which the Principal could learn about the concerns of students in order to, hopefully, address them.
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Labyrinth
by Ideogram
Escapism: the answer
in Oulipo
In Escapism: a 50 word prose poem I presented readers with a prose poem constructed in accordance with a constraint, and invited them to suggest what that constraint might be. Here’s the poem again, followed by the solution.
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Books received
in Quick looks
Here are a few of the books I’ve been sent for review recently, covering AI, maps, time travel and language.
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A Practical Guide to Write On
I’ve provided this (a) as an example of how a manual should be set out and (b) in case you just happen to have a working Atari with this software on it!
Read MoreJust William
A remarkable achievement: a shout-out to underconfident writers who do it anyway
in Reflections
The most difficult thing for a saxophone learner to do is open the case and pick up the instrument every day.
Read MoreAutomated writing
years.
The term “automatic writing” is usually associated with a particular psychic phenomenon. However, software now exists that can take data, such as sports results, and generate reports from it.
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Picture by Ideogram
I never have writer's block, but...
So the great prolificist had run out of ideas, eh? Well actually no: I had the opposite problem. I’d had so many ideas and corresponding false starts that I was floundering in a sea of ideas.
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