If you have a paper that you'd like to enter in a legal writing competition, check out Prof. Kathryn Sampson's new Legal Writing Competitions blog (and its archives). Some...

Lots of juicy workshops and seminars at the forthcoming Birmingham Book Festival. Including a one-day http://www.birminghambookfestival.org/index.php?view=details&id=34%3Athe-writers-toolkit-a-conference-for-the-writing-industry&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=53"> http://www.birminghambookfestival.org/index.php?view=details&id=34%3Athe-writers-toolkit-a-conference-for-the-writing-industry&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=53">conference on the writing industry on Sat 18th Oct 08… “The Writers’ Toolkit is a day for emerging and established writers and anyone working in the writing industry to learn about aspects of the business in greater detail, connect with other writers and those working in writer development. A mixture of presentations,...

I run more sites that I really ought to. I had a personal one, a writing one, and two other writing projects, plus I'm a contributor to a number of other blogs. And that began to beg the question what is it all for?.My writing site has all the biographical details I want to give out. It details who I am, what I am up to. My writing blog charts my thoughts on the process of writing, how I am doing, and I've noticed that increasingly my life, as it affects my writing, features there.So, there is no need for most of the pages on this site. The blog still serves a purpose, so I've repurposed some code, had a word with the internet elves, and now this entire site is just the personal blog, and so it will remain.Since I've taken the template from it for my writing site, I had the...

1 ) Can you explain how you got into writing and, more specifically, writing short stories? I think I’ve always been writing. And apart from a period where I was writing angsty poetry (I was at uni doing an English Degree - it’s practically the law) I’ve pretty much always written prose. I did a Masters...

Poet Laureate Andrew Motion says the task of writing verse for the Royal Family is "entirely thankless" and gave him a case of writer's...

Suzanne Mcleod is the author of the Spellcrackers.com series. She lives in the UK with her husband and two rescue dogs and they all share their garden with a colony of pipistrelle bats. Read on and win a signed copy of Suzanne’s new novel! Thanks so much David for letting me stage a mini take-over bid in your corner of the web. It’s much appreciated *g*. Okay and now onto How to get your novel published! And a subject close to my heart – Critiques! If it wasn’t for me both critiquing and receiving critiques, I doubt I would be published now. I believe critiquing is one of the most significant ways you can improve your writing, and improve it quickly. And there are plenty of ways to go about getting feedback as you can see below. But first what is a critique? [henceforth...

Writing fiction is about sharing. When I started writing very short stories I wanted to share them with other people: I wanted a readership. There isn’t a large commercial market for 250 word stories, so I had to do something for myself. I ended up self publishing my stories as a book collection. I’ve always...

Isn't it ironic that lessons in literacy and numeracy were called the "Three Rs"? The only thing more ironic would have been calling it the Four Rs.A quick update for you all. I've not been writing much on here because I've been writing elsewhere. Don't worry, I've not become a turncoat and found my way to another blog, instead I've been working on my creative writing. I finished my first short story this week, a 5000 word delve into insanity and questioning reality, with a rather disturbing hallucination along the way. I'd put it up for y'all to look at but for the moment I can't post it anywhere because I've entered it into a competition. I don't expect it to get anything other than laughed at, but it's all experience, right?Anyway, I've started on my next story already, and this one is...

Expert help and advice with Writing. Please see this Web-site and Writing blog for examples of our writing and work. We help students to attain their potential. GCSE, A Level, Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students are most welcome.If you are student with a heavy work load and need some advice about self- expression, contact us. We can help you. We offer help with the following: Proof ReadingEssay AdviceDetailed Annotation Argumentation Analysis and DirectionStructural AdviceClarity Evaluation and ChangeIntroductionConclusionWe also offer help with:Creative WritingGhost WritingGrade Enhancement StrategiesStudy SkillsPresentationsSeminar SkillsRing Dr Janet Lewison on: 01204-690025 or Moira Eribenne on: 01204-400449...

Over at Write Anything a new writing meme has been posted, and Janie has asked for readers to respond on their own blogs, and post a linke back on the site. The meme itself was started by Becca at Write on Wednesday.Do you write fiction or non-fiction? Or both?I write mainly fiction, although on my other blog I write about politics, law and other non-fiction topics. On my creative writing sites, as the name suggests, I mainly focus on fiction, but there are the odd non-fiction articles about writing.In terms of genre, most of my writing is Gothic or Romantic (please note the capital "R" - my writing style is Romantic, I do not write Mills & Boons style romance..."). I sometimes venture into Lovecraftian horror and speculative science fiction.Do you keep a journal or a writing...

The Scribe I went to the scribe and asked to borrow his pen. "What do you wish to write?" he said. "I don't know." "Well, you can't write if you don't know what you want to write," he concluded. "Yes, I see why you should say that," I said -- and then, after a pause -- "But, all the same, I should like to write. I should like to write *anyway*. You see, I'm not convinced I'm who I am, so that makes things different." "If you're not convinced of that, then there's no convincing you of anything." "Yes, yes I understand that too. But you see, this isn't about my trying to convince myself. It's just about writing, writing in despite of it." "You say it isn't about trying to convince yourself; then you say it's about...

Is it even worth the effort for our parents to repeat that golden adage? “Don’t play with your food!” How can we not when there are so many gadgets which encourage exactly that? It’s not always easy being a geek. The word itself encourages the breaking of rules and boundaries. And such is the downfall of geek obsession. But we’re not talking about murder or anything purely sinful. The Writing Spoon is simply a gadget which makes playing with your food a more organized activity. This spoon and ballpoint pen hybrid transforms your eating utensil into a writing instrument. It’s a rare opportunity to make the spoon mightier than the sword. Spanish designer Julie Mariscal created the Writing Spoon with a special incision on the tool’s tip to create a...

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on March 23, 2008. The original text can be found here. By coincidence, I was again away this weekend, without my laptop (although not without internet access, albeit limited). I did however take a pad and pen with me, and got some writing done.Adverse writing conditionsBy the time you read this, I may be sitting at the top of a mountain, in the middle of Derbyshire, fumbling with a pen and paper through thick gloves, huddled against a craggy outcrop, sheltering from the wind and (possibly) the rain.I have taken a short break and returned to the same area I visited immediately after finishing NaNoWriMo, to relax, recharge and to be re-inspired. At the time of writing (Wednesday) the weather forecast is not...

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on March 16, 2008. The original text can be found here.Hello Real Job, welcome to my writing…In February and March, Janie provided invaluable advice on protecting your online reputation, and the fourth entry touched on pseudonyms and pen-names.If things had worked out differently, you would not have been reading an article by "Paul Anderson" today. If life had turned out as I had originally planned, then you would need to visit the law section of your local library to find anything by "Paul Anderson", and right now you would be looking at a website called tonymcbeth.org.uk."Tony McBeth" was the pseudonym I picked for myself, the name under which I planned to have a second career, in addition to my academic...

Elsewhere The reason I haven’t been writing much here. Some new reviews at Behind The Sofa. Endgame & The Stranger, the latter of which is not safe for work for reasons which will become clear. I’ll never look at Paul McGann in quite the same way again....

It’s been a hell of a long time since I did one of my writing tip round-ups… but I’ve been collecting links ever since. There are nearly fifty links in the following post, and I culled it down from close to a hundred so we just got the best and most pertinent. So read on - for here be wisdom. *** We’ll kick off with some tips from rising star and all-round top chap Gareth L Powell. Gareth has some advice on how to start writing a story, and here’s another five useful writing tips 1. Never tell anyone the plot of your story until you’ve finished writing it. Once you’ve told your story, even in outline, some part of you relaxes. Next, Luc Reid explains the nuts and bolts of plot - if you’ve ever been a little fuzzy on where plot begins and...

JOURNALISTS have less chance of dying at work than truck drivers. But it depends on where you are writing, and who you’re writing about… And how many journalists today actually do any reporting?...

One thing I've always been told is that I have a strong voice - the writer's voice, that elusive literary shibboleth, I have it.But I wanted to break mine.I wanted to learn to write neutral prose. I wanted to train myself to be a hack. Anything. Any time. Anywhere.I began by aping other writers, bad writers, trying to crack their formula. I divided the page into holding pens - x words for an introduction, y for the main content, z for a conclusion - and then made them run an assault course of plot development.When I looked at what I'd written, it was shit. Not good shit. Not marketable shit. Just shit. I had no enthusiasm to rework it or start again. It was battery farmed writing.So, trying another tack, I sat down at my desk and commanded myself to produce something brilliant.OK, get...

Elsewhere Here’s tonight’s chunk of writing: “Since this is, and I know it’s hard to believe, the first time since last September that there hasn’t been some iteration of the franchise on television, I’m returning to them again, a junkie reaching for his methadone.”...

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on February 24, 2008. The original text can be found here.HonestyI’ve mentioned the idea of honesty in writing before. I have written about fiction being a series of beautiful lies, lies with a purpose to inspire. I recently brought up the topic of lying for fun, as a means to creativity. Rather than writing about lying again, I thought this week I should look at honesty.Honesty is such a lonely wordEveryone is so untrue…W. JoelOr so the song goes. How honest are you in your writing? And please, be honest…Despite all outward appearances (and this may make some people who know me laugh) I don’t like confrontation. I find it difficult to be blunt with people, and so often hide and soften what I mean,...

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on February 17, 2008. The original text can be found here.I know it like the back of my hand...I've asked about character names, and now I’m asking about locations. It’s relatively easy to come up with a character. You can let your imagination run riot, and there really aren’t many restrictions on how they look, behave, think etc. Settings for writing however are a completely different ball-game. It’s one thing to come up with the psychological landscape of a main character, but quite another to create a geographical landscape. Still, in the realms of fantasy writing you are God, and can create any vista you want. Who is to tell you that the little hamlet of Corshyn is anything other than you imagine it?...

I’m bored out of my tiny mind. So I’m writing topical limericks:A Tory MP sought to raiseThe issue of 42 days.So he stood for his seat,But with no one to beatHis win disappeared in the haze.OK, so far I’m only writing a limerick. Maybe more as the day drags on and I get some other...

Music is the very essence of what things are. – Eli Siegel ('Speech of Moon in the Heart of Ceylon')Words and music (or Bob and Joe as they prefer to be called)In 1961 Samuel Beckett wrote a number of radio plays that incorporate music: Words and Music, Cascando and Rough for Radio I all of which incorporated music. I have already written extensively about them so if you want to know the details please check out the various Wikipedia articles. I doubt they've been altered much since I first posted them. The main thing that's common to all three plays is that Beckett doesn't use the music as accompaniment; the music is a character in its own right. A theme running through all of Beckett’s writing has been the impossibility of meaningful expression through words alone and these plays...

The University of Warwick has launched a £50,000 writing prize, but the best part is that our good friend Stephen Mitchelmore, ReadySteadyBook-contributor, blogger at the peerless This Space, has been asked to be one of the judges: How does writing evolve? Where is its moving edge? Is all writing at its very best a type of creative writing? To explore these questions and to identify excellence and innovation in new writing The University of Warwick is today launching the £50,000 Warwick Prize for Writing. This substantial prize stands out as an international and cross-disciplinary award. It will be given biennially for an excellent and substantial piece of writing in the English language, in any genre or form. The theme will change with every prize: the 2009 theme is Complexity....

A gallery of light-writing set against global landscapes. Simply stunning. [via] Image via cenci goepel + jens warnecke...

Kit Reed on why we writers have no time to get around to doing any actual writing these days: The Internet does not necessarily make us dumber, but it does split concentration. Can I really write as well as I did before I started checking Facebook friends' updates or Googling or skimming blogs instead of staring out the window when I get stuck? It's too soon to tell. I just can't blog about it. I have a novel to write. There is some truth in it I think. I’ve just spent a few days setting up a Facebook page, a Myspace page and a Live space page, none of which I’m entirely happy with yet. So I will have to spend more time on getting them working correctly and keeping them going, instead of doing any real worthwhile writing....

I’ve gone from writing by hand, to working on a notebook and a PC and back to handwriting. It’s been quite a journey. When I started I was worried that long hand was ‘disorganised’ and hard to edit later on. It’s weird to think of it now but I was focused on the editing stage even before I’d started any writing. Looking back that strikes me as the wrong way to do things. These days I scribble my short stories down on whatever comes to hand, scraps of paper, old printouts - anything. And I used to be picky about what kind of pencil I used (a certain brand of inexpensive mechanical pencil being my favourite). Today I take whatever is around me, ball point pens, pencils. I’m not fussy. One of the things that strikes me is the way I’m focused...

The Guardian newspaper is running a series of discussions (internal, I think) called Future of Journalism and blogging about them. So yesterday I asked Jess of F Word how her event went, which focused on women on the net. This is an issue because its open knowledge that women on Comment is Free get a disproportionate amount of abuse in the comments, especially if they’re writing about women related topics. Some get threats, others lewd messages and many frequently get called a man-hating lesbian for no good reason. Jess said the Guardian had more of a responsibility to ensure women writers didn’t get so much abuse. But it’s not just women of course, any minority group from Jews and Muslims to black people and the religious get abused a fair bit. Some spend a silly...

In 'Wanting, needing, yearning, dreaming' I said that thinking about a piece of writing after you've written it can teach you much more about how writing works than reading a textbook before you start. The more formalised insitutions of academic creative writing seem to divide into two kinds: the departments and degrees which discuss ideas and theories of writing, and then write to explore them, and the places where the writing comes first and the analysis afterwards. A piece in Times Higher Education argues that creative writing is reviving the sort of liberal humanism in English departments that Theory banished, but the piece and the comments didn't rule out the theory-first approach to CW from which I instinctively recoil. So why do I recoil from it?...

HERE's the latest review for The Greatest Freelance Writing Tips in the World. Just a snippet follows: An excellent book about starting out in the world of freelance writing for newspapers, magazines and the internet as well as lots of great tips for commercial writing - catalogues, press releases etc....It will either increase your enthusiasm or convince you that this type of work is not for you. So a big thank you to the reviewer for going to the trouble of posting that. I'm really...