Words. Words. Words. Beautiful, evocative, and slightly miraculous when you think about them. Here are 11 of my favourites - sure to capture the hearts of anyone bookish.
Category: #amwriting
Public speaking won’t kill you (probably)
I'm no expert in public speaking but in prepping for the launch of Comms For Good, I had to persuade my brain that taking to the stage wouldn't end in my imminent demise. SO here are the things that I found helped me. Maybe they'll help you too.
Idea Debt & Getting Sh*t Done
Get shit done. As a mantra, I don't imagine my granny would approve. But it's seen me through deadlines, races, awkward meetings, breakups, and pretty much my entire twenty-something life. More thousands of words to write than hours in the day? Get shit done. No sleep, surviving on coffee, horrible "real-life" workload? Get shit done. Want to stay in … Continue reading Idea Debt & Getting Sh*t Done
No Taboo, No Problem: Writing about Controversial Topics
Tuesday, 7.30pm, logging on to twitter. I’m leaving work, passing elegant Georgian houses-turned-offices, cutting through leafy squares full of exhausted suits, smiling when I run into someone with a friendly dog that doesn’t care that it’s London and talking to strangers just isn’t the done thing. There’s something about that time of the day: the shackles … Continue reading No Taboo, No Problem: Writing about Controversial Topics
Making Time: I Am Writer, Hear Me Roar
I've been talking to the lovely Virginia MacGregor, author of What Milo Saw and The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells, and debut writer Francesca Dorricot about how making time for your passion is essential if you really believe in the writer's dream.
Crazy = Genius: Why is creativity associated with madness?
I’m a little bit fixated on the dynamics between inner and outer worlds at the moment. The concept of duelling of polarities within one entity. The Scots call it 'Caledonian Antisyzygy'. I don't know what you call it when you're from London.
Dear Writing Buddies, You The Best
Solitude is the school of genius. Or so said Edward Gibbon. It’s one of those widely accepted things that if you’re a writer you must be, in some way, antisocial and a little bit weird. After all, writing is supposed to be inherently solitary. Why? Because the only fingers than can put your words on … Continue reading Dear Writing Buddies, You The Best
Writing: Of Music and Minds
Humans are a musical species. Or so argued the British neurologist, humanist and author, Oliver Sacks, in his book, Musicophilia. Sacks, who passed away in August 2015, liked to explore some of the brains weirdest and most wonderful pathways, using his patients’ case studies as starting points for ‘eloquent meditations on consciousness and the human … Continue reading Writing: Of Music and Minds
Not Another Mary Sue & Other Editing Peeves
Editors are editors because they want to be - they're not going to berate you for your typos or ding your manuscript over a bad simile. They might, however, pause if they discover any of these really, really, really, irksome traits.
15 life lessons from cats
Cats. Love them or loathe them, they’re everywhere. I mean literally everywhere. They prowl down the streets, curl up outside cafes, pad through the pages of your web browser, and tumble through adverts selling crap you never knew you ever wanted. They’re also used as a kind of cuteness therapy. Having a bad day? Here’s … Continue reading 15 life lessons from cats
