This is how Tom Gauld sees it…
Read MoreEveryone has a book in them, and with any luck that's where it will stay
The lighter side
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
I asked an artificial intelligence bot to write advertisements for my newsletter
I asked ChatbotGPT to write an advertisement for my newsletter in various styles. Here’s what it came up with…
Read MoreSeason's greetings!
Christmas greetings from Freedman Towers.
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Aurora and Terry, by Terry Freedman
Creative writing: My attempt to write a Carolean Verse Romance
I’m not known for writing poetry, much less in the style of the 16th century. But I’ve had a go, and I like to think that my poetry is a bit better than my art.
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Epistolary writing: an update
As you may know, I’ve been exchanging letters online with Rebecca Holden. We agree that we’d write three letters each. We’ve enjoyed the experiment so much that we’ve decided to continue with it after the Christmas break.
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Snow in station by Terry Freedman
A Sunday break
Here in England it’s cold, though not quite as cold as it has been, and walking and cycling are treacherous.
Read MoreStyle matters
If a piece of writing is too self-conscious, if it’s basically shouting “Hey, look at me. Isn’t this a fine piece of writing?” I lose interest. And I’m in good company: Trollope felt the same way.
Read MoreWhat is nonfiction?
Does the Oxfam bookshop know something I don’t?
Read MoreThe hard sell (Updated)
It's always difficult to get the balance right between hard sell and soft sell. Joe Coleman's website allows you to choose your own level of (dis)comfort!
Read MoreA computational approach to Eng Lit
I often wonder if the most arduous part of the work of the people who write this sort of tripe is to ensure they don’t use the same words more than once for the same editor.
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Give me strength! Photo by Terry Freedman
A closed-loop conversation
The following conversation really happened. No wonder my hair has started turning grey.
Read MoreEgos are us?
I attended an authors’ conference a few years ago, and I have never been in a room with so many egos.
Read MoreA randomly created short story
She walked over to the window and reflected on her deprived surroundings. She had always loved urban Truro with its plain, pong parks. It was a place that encouraged her tendency to feel worried.
Read MoreWhy are positive reviews so boring?
It’s a sad fact of life that the most entertaining reviews are the ones that are highly critical of the thing being reviewed.
Read MoreIs it better to have more ideas than time, or more time than ideas?
Rather than spend time writing an article, I thought I’d draw a picture instead.
Read More50 Rules for writers
Not all of these rules were written by or for writers, but I think they all apply. I especially like Considine’s Law — which in my experience is true!
Read MoreA ridiculous correspondence
The writer Keith Waterhouse once wrote a column in which he mused that he was certain there was an organisation whose sole purpose was to drive people insane.
Read MoreA very writerly comic strip
I hope this comic strip will make you smile.
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Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Two unexpected consequences of installing a calendar archive
When I set up a calendar version of the archive on this site, it didn’t occur to me that this would give rise to two incentives.
Read MoreTampering with natural ignorance: Oscar Wilde on education
Wilde’s pronouncements on education are very humorous, but contain an element of truth.
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