New year's resolutions are so last year, don't you think? Besides, I have a constant conversation with myself (mostly not out loud, but the occasional exhortation gets vocalised) about being more disciplined, focussing on what's important, keeping the day job in perspective, not giving in to diversionary tendencies (that sounds like a political crime in …
Category: writing
antithematic
As a writer, I'm allergic to themes. Or, perhaps more accurately, I have an intolerance of themes, rather than a full-blown allergy. I can see why magazine and anthology editors like themes - to give structure and shape, an overall coherence to the final selection. The theme may also help restrict the volume of submissions …
all quiet on the literary front
Not much writing going on, for various reasons (excuses?). I'm still adapting to (resisting) the full time work routine. And then, last week, there was my significant other's significant birthday to celebrate. Cue: midweek break to Margate for bracing walks, sea air, magnificent skies and a visit to the new Turner Contemporary gallery - unprepossessing …
a few dread words
Goals. Targets. Prioritising. Career. The language of business and the grown-up world. I resist, buck against it, my contrary side fights through. I think I can safely say I have succeeded (watch it!) in my stated desire not to have a career (with all its overtones of ambition, monetary motivation, seriousness, achievement over integrity). Writing …
a crumb of literary comfort
On a lunchtime wander this week, I came across this plaque: There I was, dragging about in a fog of head-cold and office blues, and suddenly I'm connected to Eliot - his 'lonely cab-horse steams and stamps' only a few streets away from where I earn the crust that keeps the wolf from the door. …
an array of pencils
Here is my current selection of pencils. I like to have a few on hand, two or three in each room and at least one in my handbag. There is something pleasing about using a pencil. It's modest, workaday, unpretentious. There's nothing to go wrong; they'll last as long as there's lead in the casing. …
a new chapter, and other clichés
I've been resisting writing too much about recent personal events (apart from screeds in my private journal), but now that one chapter has closed and a new one is about to open, I thought it high time to chuck a few clichés out there. I've been living through them, after all, for the last few …
three good things I did this week
1. Wednesday evening to Loose Muse at the Poetry Café, for some stimulating and varied readings from women writers. A mixture of open mic spots and longer readings from the two featured poets, Karen Head and Katrina Naomi. I was particularly taken by the poems Katrina Naomi read, which were quirky, a bit edgy, perfectly pitched. …
sabbatical stats
So, my six month sabbatical comes to an end at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. And what have I achieved in my time off? A fair amount, I reckon: One short novel, The Alloa Journal, completed Two short stories Five poems 24 blog posts And one - the only one - true love, my literary-and-more companion Nick, …
double dose
Two literary evenings on the trot. First up, on Tuesday, to the London Review Bookshop to hear Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts read from and discuss their new book Edgelands: Journeys into England's True Wilderness. In the spirit of their collaborative approach to writing the book, they took turns reading passages from the chapter …
Hilaire 