Sep 28, 2012
Having exhorted you to slash and burn in a recent post, I thought it might be helpful to give you an idea of the kind of things you should be cutting when you are in editing mode.Take the scissors to any adverbs (or -ly word). You shouldn’t use two words if one...Sep 26, 2012
There’s a lovely moment in Cider with Rosie, where Laurie Lee is told wait there for the present on his first day at school and he waits, and waits, but there is no present… I was reminded of this when we were in France over the summer. We saw this sign...Sep 24, 2012
Over the weekend, while the weather was still fine, I edited my garden. By editing, I mean sawing off whole branches of our aggressive Buddleia, cutting back leggy shrubs and unwinding bind weed, endlessly. Slash and burn, horticultural style. By the time that we had...Sep 21, 2012
I watched Imagine on the BBC the other night, Alan Yentob’s reflective programme about the new memoir Salman Rushdie has written about the time he spent in enforced hiding following the Ayatollah’s fatwa. The book is called Joseph Anton — this...Sep 18, 2012
During the last couple of days I’ve been moving into a new computer — nightmare — and for a twenty-four hour period it has felt as bad as moving house: all my metaphorical boxes are piled up just anyhow and I can’t find where anything it is....Sep 14, 2012
I’m up against a deadline today, so forgive me if my post is rather brief, but with a nip in the air and the summer on the turn, I thought this fascinating remark made by the inestimable Hilary Mantel in the Guardian on 16th of August might provide food for...Sep 12, 2012
I went to see the National Theatre’s dazzling re-imagination of Timon of Athens last weekend. Director Nicholas Hytner has worked wonders with what has traditionally been regarded as one of Shakespeare’s problem plays, bringing it radically up to date by...Sep 10, 2012
Time to raise the tone a bit, I think, so here goes… I came across this little fellow in Tournus, gateway to the south of France. St Guilhem was a ninth century fighter of Saracens, and a cousin of Charlemagne. Apparently when he died, the church bells rang of...Sep 5, 2012
In this instance, probably better if it had stayed lost! I’m sorry, I know, I know, I just couldn’t help myself…Sep 3, 2012
Z is for…ZealHearty, persistent endeavour! Yes! That’s what you need as a writer, almost as much as you need talent and patience. My dictionary also includes fervour in its definition and it helps if you feel this for your story and your...Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |