Why do you write? On Tuesday I had lunch with the excellent writer and about-to-be new mum, Anna Packham. One of the things that makes Anna such a good copywriter, as well as fiction writer, is that she is a communicative writer. I’ve been trying to formalise the idea that writers fall into one of […]
Things I like … … in no particular order: Getting paid to write fiction – like being God, but with wages! Reading a short story that makes me think, and think, and think again. A rare but lovely experience, like seeing a rainbow. Meeting other writers. Knowing that National Novel Writing Month is nearly here, […]
The inadvertent joys of editing When we write in the first glorious heat of creativity, we don’t (or shouldn’t) stop to measure our words. Later we return to our work (if we’re wise) with the cold viewpoint of a bored and jaded reader, and re-evaluate all that hot and sometimes purple prose. But sometimes we […]
Thinking about clichés There are two definitions of a cliché: 1 – a trite or overused phrase 2 – an expression so exact that it moves into common language. I’ve been pondering these two in relation to a couple of copyediting jobs I’ve had recently. The doornail is an example of the former. Why is […]
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