19 Sunday Apr 2015
Posted in Creative Writing, TCWG
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I was delighted that my March story ‘Gold, and Blue…’ came first in the voting!
The April theme for the Telegraph Creative Writing Group competition being ‘Health’, my story of the month ‘Smoking is bad for you’ is a 500-word short fiction about a survivor of children’s home abuse. Inspired by the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision not to prosecute Greville Janner due to his dementia. All characters are fictional.
16 Tuesday Dec 2014
Posted in Creative Writing
Especially for oneself, when finding Christmas too much of a headache. Take a look at my Books 2014 page!
29 Monday Sep 2014
Posted in Creative Writing
‘Something Old…’ A short story on this month’s theme of ‘Weddings’.
28 Sunday Sep 2014
Posted in Abstract art, Creative Writing
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Abstract art, Creative Writing, Den Haag, fiction, Rothko, Writing
From the Rothko exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague.
It can be hard to connect with abstract art. Rothko’s blurry oblongs seem at first to be mute and meaningless. But following the progression of his work from the figurative, one sees how images of people, of subway and street scenes, are replaced by rectangles of colour.
The artist speaks to us mood to mood, short-cutting the middleman, leaving out the figures in a landscape, the still life. Black speaks of grief, red of passion, sombre browns and greens of quietude.
Rothko, who would withdraw from exhibitions if his works were not displayed in the right environment, would have approved of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. It’s a wonderful Modernist building from the 1930s, tiled and calm and democratic. Their audio tour was on an electronic device around my neck. I was struck by one section: Rothko’s seven core qualities for art.
I wondered if these could also be core qualities for storytelling.
Always unable to remember lists, I typed them in to my phone:
1. Death
2. Sexuality
3. Tension
4. Irony
5. Humour
6. Transitoriness and random chance
7. Hope
07 Saturday Dec 2013
Posted in Uncategorized
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TCWG Short Stories 2013 has been published by the Telegraph Creative Writers’ Group in time for Christmas. A sparkling anthology (don’t miss the writers’ bio section!). Themes include Trees, Time, Newspapers, Flitting, and many others. We all write for the fun of it, and for the enjoyment of sharing our writing with others, and so the pleasure of writing bubbles up through the pages.
The Telegraph Creative Writers’ Group welcomes any writer, from anywhere in the world. Come and join us here!
22 Sunday Sep 2013
Posted in Creative Writing, Historical fiction
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These are tiles on the wall of the Electress’s Kitchen, Amalienburg, in the grounds of Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich.
If you look closely, you will see that some of the tiles don’t match, but the overall design is still preserved. Isn’t this a perfect paradigm for historical fiction?
16 Monday Sep 2013
Posted in Uncategorized
I recently took part in an excellent on-line workshop run by Stephanie Dray of Maryland Romance Writers.
This inexpensive four-week long course explored a number of different approaches to plotting a novel. Although the workshop was particularly aimed at the romance genre, the principles applied to other genres too. I started out with a very basic idea, which might just about have made a short story, and this became amplified over the course of four weeks into a decent outline for a novel. I also rejigged my ‘Work in Progress’.
Although the course emphasised the use of Scrivener and Aeon Timeline, both being helpful software programs, the exercises could probably have been done on index cards or pieces of paper, as the emphasis was on thinking about characters, their motivations, and pivotal points in the plot structure. I have found that the planning and structuring particularly helps me as a part-time writer, making it easier to resume writing after a break.
They have more online workshops timetabled, so I shall be keeping an eye on their website.
09 Saturday Feb 2013
Posted in Creative Writing
04 Friday Jan 2013
Posted in Creative Writing
I’ve got 96% for my short story assignment on my OU course, I’m absolutely blown away by it! My tutor says he can’t remember giving a mark this high on the module.