So are elevator speeches completely useless? On the contrary, I think you need to develop several of them.
Read More20 autobiographies: excessive? On the contrary
Photo by Terry Freedman
My life in cafés: extra
In 2023 I wrote an article about my enjoyment of cafés over the years — three in particular. I’ve used Google’s Notebook LM AI program to provide a summary — and an automated discussion. The latter is quite gob-smacking.
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station platform, by Terry Freedman
The train now standing on platform 10
Transport in London these days is, for the most part, sleek, efficient. The epitome of this newish Utopia is the Elizabeth Line, with its silent, gliding carriages, air-conditioning and wi-fi. The announcements are soothing...
Read MoreReview: Waterhouse on newspaper style
This book may be thirty years old, but its advice is still pertinent. If you want to have a blitz or crackdown against, or shake-up of, bad writing (all examples of 'tabloidese'), then this is the book for you.
Read MoreCan writers learn from computer programmers?
in Bookshelf, Reflections
Introducing and applying Conway's Law, Gresham's Law and the sunken cost fallacy to the practice of writing.
Read MoreThe Notebooks of Sonny Rollins
A fascinating glimpse into the mind and development of a true virtuoso.
Read MoreCritical analysis of the Borgesian story: Using AI as a soundboard or critical friend
In this essay I have used three different AI apps to analyse a piece of my writing, and to make suggestions for improvement.
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Experiments in Style: A Borgesian Story
in Creative Writing, EiS
One of the things I’ve been trying out is reworking a piece of text into a completely different style. This one was written in the style of Borges.
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Libraries, by Terry Freedman
Library madness: a trabble of trouble
in Reflections
The worst thing about belonging to more than one library is that it's all too easy to take a book back to the wrong one. I did that a few months ago, and the following conversation ensued.
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Six-word reviews
When writing short-form I think it helps to think in terms of the minimum viable wordage, or MVW...
Read MoreNot just a numbers game
in Reflections
I’ve been thinking about definitions of success recently.
Read MoreGeoffrey Chaucer's Complete Works: which edition do YOU prefer?
in Bookshelf, Reflections
We visited the William Morris Gallery at the weekend, and Chaucer’s Complete Works was one of the books Wm Morris published.
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Knighton Wood, by Terry Freedman
Success -- at last! A short, hopefully interesting and chortlesome, memoir piece
It is understandable that an ambitious young man, in his late twenties and early thirties, wanting success in all its various guises, and with a belief in the power of the mind, would be attracted to certain kinds of books, tapes and courses. The young man I’m talking about was, of course, me.
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Books added to the TBR heap
in Quick looks
This article is an excerpt from a longer one that appeared on my Eclecticism newsletter.
Read MoreNano reviews
You’ve heard of six-word stories. How about nano non-fiction?
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The scream by Terry Freedman.jpg
A rather annoying side effect of scanning a typed document and converting it to text
in Technology
It was my intention to provide you with a guide to style guides. But...
Read MoreThe art of writing originated from a very prosaic need, not a creative impulse
The art of making paper was kept secret for hundreds of years.
Read MoreBooks I'm reading or about to read
in Quick looks, Reviews, Bookshelf
I’ve been sent the following books by publishers, and will review them in due course. Here is some information about them.
Read MoreIf you learnt how to write well at school, maybe you're lucky
The typical school writing assignment involves working in a way that no real writer does.
Read MoreLet's hear it for the introverts!
This review was originally published in Teach Secondary magazine, and so is aimed at teachers rather than writers, but as writers are often called upon to speak in public I thought this might be useful for them too!
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