photos after the London spending cuts protest

Posted on 28/03/2011 by inktuition

The Ritz in London's Piccadilly a day after the spending-cuts protest.

It was strange facing the calm after the storm, walking down Piccadilly in London just hours after the riots. What was meant to be a peaceful protest against the UK Government’s spending cuts ended up in chaos, with buildings daubed with paint, windows smashed, and 200 people arrested. It’s not a sight I was used to seeing – and nor was the damage done to the iconic Ritz hotel.

It had been cordoned off and sections of the fascia were boarded up, so workers could clean up the mess and restore it to glory. I felt such a sadness at the meaningless devastation.

Just a few minutes’ walk away, however, Continue reading →

a counter-intuitive cure for writer’s block

Posted on 26/03/2011 by inktuition

Is inspiration all a writer needs...?

Writer’s block is never something that has plagued me. I make a living as a writer and editor, and a deadline makes writers’s block a bit of a joke; there’s no time for such narcissistic indulgences.

Which is why I was intrigued by a story in The New Yorker, brought to my attention by the wonderful The Daily Post, about how a psychotherapist cured a screenwriter from writer’s block. The method, as I understand it, involved Continue reading →

Writing with a little help from your friends

Posted on 23/03/2011 by inktuition

You can never underestimate the power of friends who also lead a writing life when it comes to working up ideas for novels, books, magazines, changes in career, or any other writing project.

An evening at a friend’s house last night with three writers was filled with ideas shared, problems solved, plot lines explored – and a notebook full of interesting challenges and crises for our main characters.

So, within four hours, we Continue reading →

persisting in adversity

Posted on 23/03/2011 by inktuition

I’ve persisted today, even when I felt like giving up.

Sitting with a client suffering from depression two years after a bereavement – who just ‘gets rid of’ her days – makes me appreciate the joy I have in my life. I wanted to escape the chill of her room and the critical sharpness of her gaze. But I stayed.

Just as I have stayed with WordPress (now on my Blackberry) in spite of its technical problems, so I can commit to my postaday.

I feel that if I let it slip just one day, it would give me an excuse to slip others.

And if I abandoned that woman, what other pain would I attempt to escape from?

great quote about originality in writing

Posted on 21/03/2011 by inktuition

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

C. S. Lewis

True creativity means focusing on your target audience (what writers have known for years…)

Posted on 20/03/2011 by inktuition

New research has proven what writers have known for years: devising ideas to entertain and delight your audience is what stimulates one’s creativity. Don’t just focus on what’s interesting to you personally, as that might just fail to engage the interest of people who might want to buy and read what you’ve written.

Apparently, bearing in mind how someone will benefit from your idea can help you Continue reading →

Cheers to the biggest full moon in 20 years

Posted on 19/03/2011 by inktuition

The 'Supermoon' (seen from my garden)

I discovered today that the time of a full moon is a great opportunity to release old behaviours, thought patterns, or clutter. You name it: anything that doesn’t serve you any more, you can release with a full moon.

Which is why it is hugely exciting to know that the round, proud Supermoon in the sky tonight (19 March 2011) is the biggest full moon in 20 years. What am I letting go in honour of this big full moon? Well, I’m not keen on staging a ritual or ceremony, but I’d like to let go of something meaningful and momentous.

So, I’ve decided to release the two things holding me back: Continue reading →

The beauty of book club

Posted on 18/03/2011 by inktuition

It’s taken me years to find a Book Club: through lack of time or opportunity, I’d always listened wistfully to friends who were reading a book specifically to discuss with their avid-reader friends. For me, it’s a total pleasure to read a book for fun, and discuss it with gusto, rather than have to analyse its narrative arc, the effectiveness of the dialogue, or the nuances of tone, structure or symbolic architecture.

While I do enjoy the detailed and technical analysis of a novel (I’m studying for a creative writing MA, after all), there’s a freedom, purity and bliss in just discussing what I liked and didn’t like about a book. Looking too closely at a book can show the seams, whereas tonight I’ll be enjoying the entire garment.

Happy St Patrick’s Day

Posted on 17/03/2011 by inktuition

Is it just me, or has the world suddenly gone crazy for St Paddy’s? It’s only in recent memory that 17 March becomes the cue for card shops to transform into a sea of emerald green, for shamrocks and cartoon leprechauns to be emblazoned in front windows, and for men in big, funny hats to enjoy daytime pints of Guinness outside pubs on the high street.

Happy St Patrick's Day.

Is it just me, or does St Patrick’s Day prompt more Continue reading →

Why I write the last line first

Posted on 16/03/2011 by inktuition

When writing a piece of prose or editorial that’s meant to have some kind of impact on the reader – whether that’s business writing or creative writing – I find the piece is more effective when I define what I want to say first, and then work out how I want to say it second. In other words, I bash out my first draft, and then refine the expression and nuance along the way.

After years of being a business magazine editor, and writing a leader/opinion column each week, I discovered that the best way to give my leader shape is to Continue reading →