Archive for the 'Writers' Category

People starting out in the writing life sometimes ask this question.
Where do ideas come from?
I seem to have no trouble coming up with ideas for writing. They just seem to be everywhere. I usually have far too many story ideas to use myself - that’s why I often feature short story starters here on my […]

Today we celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday.
It is 444 years since he was born. Imagine the cake and ALL those candles! I’m sure the fire brigade would have to be on standby. It could have been a very dramatic moment. (Just a thought: the candles would have to be rather large, because by the time you’d […]

Think what you you are prepared to sacrifice. Writing a novel takes many, many hours, and those are hours you could spend planting roses, raising children, earning money - or even just having a nice life. What, in your life, is going to disappear, to allow you the time to write a book?” Louise Doughty […]

“A lady’s imagination is very rapid: it jumps from admiration to love. From love to matrimony. It a moment.” Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.
I am writing this post in my daughter’s office. She is a avid Jane Austin devotee. The above quote she has on a bookmark pinned to her notice board in front […]

“The art of writing is what you get to do once you become familiar with the craft” [of writing]. Elizabeth George in her book “Write Away.”
Learning the craft of writing is like developing any skill: get someone to show you how to do it and then start doing it yourself.
For example, when my wife and […]