Best of 2019
Terry Freedman in a cafe, where he often writes — by E Freedman
Here is a selection of articles from the past year — one from each month, starting in January. I hope you enjoy them, and that you will visit again in the new year.
Libraries
Between 2010 and 2018, 500 libraries had closed down in England and Wales. Indeed, there was even a plan to close all the libraries in one county, but a protest prevented it. Closing libraries is, in my opinion, a way of denying thousands of people access to knowledge (not everything is on the internet), great literature (ditto), magazines and newspapers (which can be quite expensive) and, where libraries are run properly, a space where it is OK to be quiet and read in solitude.
Taking notes
For a writer, anything can be material for an article, blog post, research or even a book. But unless you have a superb memory, how can you keep track of all the things you hear or think about during the day? The short answer is that you can't, which means you have to keep notes as you go. Here are ten ways of doing so.
10 Note-Taking Apps For Writers
Experimenting with different writing genres
Trying out different writing styles and subjects is a bit like going into a shop and trying on different clothes. You can leave them behind if they don’t suit you; on the other hand, you can modify your own appearance in small ways if you discover, say, that the colour red doesn’t look grotesque on you, or that you look quite dapper in a hat. You don’t have to turn from a pinstripe suit-wearing man or woman about town into a punk rocker. Even if the subject you wish to write about has been covered trillions of times, if you write it then it’s your story. It’s not the same old pap as everyone else has written, or at least it need not be.
Love And Relationship Writing -- Same Old Pap?
Know the correct meanings of words
When a local supermarket unveiled plans to build a new megastore, along with a new school and a huge apartment block, they declared that the extra cars would have a negligible effect on traffic in the area. They were right: during the rush hour, the traffic is backed up for about a mile (at least) and hardly moves, so a few hundred extra cars probably wouldn’t make much of a difference. However, I think that what the developers hoped is that people would interpret “negligible” as “small” — but they’re not the same at all.
"Negligible" Is Not A Synonym For "Small"
Making notes
James Joyce had a nice idea for making notes, using colour coding. I saw an example at an exhibition of writing at the British Library. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed, so here is a description instead.
A Great Idea For Notes, From James Joyce
Making a living from writing
Everyone, it seems, wants to be a writer, presumably because they think that it’s a path to untold riches. However, as writers’ earnings surveys show (in the USA as well as the UK), making a living from writing is actually quite hard, and very unusual.
Big News Which Isn't News: Writers's Earnings Are Down
Photoprompt
One of the things I do is publish photographic prompts, as pictures are known to be a good way of stimulating the writer’s imagination. One of my photos made it into a local newspaper, the Hackney Gazette. Here it is.
English as she is wrote
We should attempt to use English correctly, but that doesn’t mean being an absolute pedant or being a stickler for Latin-based rules that don’t apply in English anyway. I liked this book because it’s informative, humorous and, above all, pragmatic.
What I've Been Reading: Dreyer's English
One way of getting rid of writer’s block
This article describes a method I use to deal with writer’s block. It’s not fast, but it’s effective.
The Writer's Dilemma: Writer's Block
Free illustrations
Some people don’t realise that just because a picture may be found in Google Images doesn’t mean it’s free for you to use. This article looks at 10 websites where you can find pictures that you can use, without paying a penny.
10 Websites For Free Illustrations For Your Articles
Short-form writing
Writing short can be just as effective as writing long — arguably even more so. This well-structured book is very informative, wide-ranging and full of challenging prompts.
Review: Short-Form Creative Writing
Another method for dealing with writer’s block
An unusual technique to kick-start the creative juices.