Creative reading (pa r t 2)

We have wandered many months through this land of Building Blocks. It is time for a break. Learning is a weary trek. And writing is not all about learning. Writing is about, well, writing. The doing o

Novels, for me, have come from somewhere I wasn’t looking. In my twenties I was carrying an idea about a woman wandering around Ireland on a quest she didn’t understand and I sat in the Reading Room o

We tend to imagine our literary icons in ivory towers – poised, thoughtful, wrapped in something muted and cashmere, tapping away at sleek laptops. Perhaps it’s how you picture yourself when attemptin

You have the universe in your hair and the stars on your brow. I would wrap you up in heaven’s rainbow cloak, But I am a poor man. My only currency is hope. You are like an orchard abundant with fruit

No one can edit for everything all at once. My systematic approach to editing breaks down the revision process into manageable activities. You focus on and improve one aspect of your novel at a time.

When you have finished your basic research and want to dig deeper, academic journals can be an excellent next step. They offer a wealth of highly focused, up-to-date and often peer-reviewed informatio