accidentally broke a teacup – reminds me how good it feels to break things Ishikawa Takuboku Japanese poem translated by Carl Sesar I found this poem by accident and it reminded me, also, how good - and how bad – it can be to break things. When I was a child, I quite often broke … Continue reading accidentally
Words. Keep looking out for them. Collect them. List them. Value them. Stop worrying about WOW words and find the word that does the job. You know that nouns and verbs work hard for you. You have specialist knowledge -names of things you know well. Use them. So keep on gathering and listing. Don’t just … Continue reading Be specific
Welcome to September! I hope that many good things happened for you in August, and that, maybe, you even wrote (and sent) some postcards. We have been reading what writers say when they are asked to give advice about writing. As we have said before, the consistent advice is to read a lot and to … Continue reading Believe in yourself
We are going to take a break for a while so that we can gather more ideas and enjoy the sunshine. Don’t stop writing! How about writing postcards? You could write one a day. You could send the postcard, give it to someone in your family or keep the card for yourself. You might have … Continue reading Postcards
Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other people. Nothing that happens to a writer – however happy, however tragic – is ever wasted. P D James This advice is about noticing. Whatever happens to you. Who you meet. What you notice. All these things are good for a writer. Take notice … Continue reading Advice from a writer 2
When Mole first meets Ratty, in The Wind in the Willows, Ratty takes him out on the river. He stows a picnic hamper in the boat and Mole, curious, asks what’s inside it. Ratty replies, There’s cold chicken inside it … coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeefpickledgherkinssaladfranchrollscressandwichespottedmeatgingerbeerlemonadesodawater – Oh, stop, stop, Mole cries. It is too much. Ratty is worried. ‘Do … Continue reading It’sapicnic!
The Meaning of Liff is a little book put together by John Lloyd and Douglas Adams, who wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It is a collection of definitions that they have made up for place names: Ely (n) The first, tiniest inkling you get that something, somewhere, has gone terribly wrong. Seattle(v) To make a … Continue reading The Meaning of Liff
The names of things make for interesting writing. A noun can contain masses of information. A noun conjures up the detail. A noun can take you precisely to the thing it names. A noun often brings with it associations that are yours alone. ‘Westridge Road’ conjures for me a house, a street, a time in … Continue reading Knowing the names
Read lots. Write lots.Ian Rankin Summer holidays. Now is the time to take Ian Rankin’s advice. ‘Read lots. Write lots.’ Ian Rankin writes crime novels. He lives in Edinburgh and most of his stories are set there or nearby. He is not the only writer to give that advice: Read lots. Write lots. Read things … Continue reading Advice from a writer
Many of you have been writing about your day to day life for the last few months. You may have poems, lists, observations. Now is the time to put those to use. Kettle’s Yard Gallery has ut out a call for Lockdown Letters. They would like you to write a one page letter telling them … Continue reading Lockdown Letters
Writing Box 