You’ve done the courses, bought the books (maybe even read them), attended conferences and masterclasses, and queued up for a signing with a famous author. Perhaps this makes you feel like you’re becoming a better writer yourself. For a while. And in and of themselves there’s nothing wrong with doing any of these things. I’ve…
Garrison Keillor’s advice struck a chord the first time I heard it, and I often come back to it: My advice to writers is very simple. It is to get out. Get out more, don’t sit in the house. Go for walks, it’s good for you. Writing is an obsessive activity and it’s too…
I’m an alligator, I’m a mama-papa coming for you I’m the space invader, I’ll be a rock ‘n’ rollin’ bitch for you Keep your mouth shut, you’re squawking like a pink monkey bird And I’m busting up my brains for the words I love Moonage Daydream ; it’s probably my favourite Bowie song and I listen…
A proofreading tip that tells you not to proofread? I know it sounds counter-intuitive but stay with me; there’s method in my madness. What I mean is don’t proofread your text… … at first. In other words, just read it. Like, for pleasure. Not only will this make the job easier in the long run,…
Love (or ‘luv’, as we say in the north). Every year on Valentine’s Day we are all encouraged to show love for the special people in our lives – our partners, family and friends. I also love my cats (as I do all animals), who give and receive an awful lot of love too, every day…
Many new words came to prominence in 2016. Those that made the top three for the Raw Text Word of the Year include the ubiquitous portmanteaux ‘Brexiteer‘ and ‘remoaner‘, while others longlisted include ‘bigly‘ (coined by the US President Elect), ‘pussy’ (well, we are cat lovers around here) and ‘Corbynite‘. As a proud example of one,…
Even if your text is destined for paper, the chances are that at the proofreading stage you’re looking at it on a screen. Because if you’re like me, you started out with a notebook and pen and wrote your ideas out longhand, then went to a computer to type up your ideas. Computers are definitely great for…
My husband plays the guitar and composes his own music. After a recent period of intense creativity in which he’d composed several pieces he was pleased with, there was a piece that just wasn’t going his way. He had the body of a song and some ideas for an intro but nothing that felt right. He was…
I was recently struck by this tweet: Japanese believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful. – Barbara Bloom pic.twitter.com/BZ7OIzRazK — Mateusz M (@themateuszm) 2 July 2016 I always love discovering words for which there is no English equivalent. And not only does this one describe a powerful metaphor for…
