It’s really interesting looking at signs, because they either tell you so much, or you can use them to light a fire under your imagination.
Read MoreCreative Writing
Saxophonist, by Terry Freedman
When it comes to writing, are you trying too hard?
Sometimes, when it comes to effort, less is more.
Read MoreHIJKLMNO: A Poem
A poem written within the parameters of a constraint of sorts.
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Created in Google Imagefx
My Writing course
I haven’t finished preparing the new course yet, but here are a few things I’m considering…
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Generated in AI
Epistolary: Letter to Rebecca #25-11
Did you know that Rebecca Holden and I write a letter on Substack to each other on Wednesdays? Well, we do, and this is the latest one from me to her. Read on for a jolly good chortle.
Read MoreHow can you write a blog if you don't read any blogs?
Every time I teach my Writing for Blogs course, it transpires that some most of the people on the course do not read any blogs.
Battersea Power Station. Photo by Terry Freedman
My Writing Machine
I first had the idea for a writing machine many years ago, while watching an episode of the Avengers.
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Graphic by Terry Freedman
My North Thames Gas Saga
Quite by chance I’ve been reading about bureaucracy recently — such as in customer (dis)service — and it reminded me of North Thames Gas’s attempts to drive me mad. That was many years ago and North Thames Gas doesn’t even exist any more, but even now the mere mention of a gas company starts my nervous twitch going.
Read MoreTerry Freedman and Fred Terryman discuss the question: What makes a great and successful writer?
in Creative Writing, EiS
This is a transcript of a conversation between Fred Terryman and myself. It’s been lightly edited, with the pauses taken out for ease of reading.
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Oulipo word cloud
An upcoming creative writing course
in Oulipo, Events, Creative Writing
Can creative writing be automated (without using A|).
Read MoreImaginary libraries
in Creative Writing, Oulipo, Events
How many ways can you organise a library?
Read MoreI have been...
Have you ever thought about all the jobs you’ve had, whether paid for or as a volunteer?
Read MorePointless data
An article I wrote for a client is characterised by 24 pieces of data. More correctly: metadata. So what?
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Shoredticth in black and white, by Terry Freedman
Applying constraints to enhance creativity
in Creative Writing, EiS, Events, Oulipo
The standard advice for writers who are feeling uninspired or blocked is to allow your mind to wander where it will or to just start writing aimlessly to see what happens. Therefore to suggest the opposite approach, that of imposing some constraints on your thinking, seems completely counterintuitive.
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Creative writing using constraints: a course
What is writing with constraints? In a nutshell, it means writing according to specific and tight rules. The “official” name for this is Oulipo, which is a French acronym for Ouvroir de littérature potentielle.
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Blogger, by Terry Freedman
Nonfiction Notebook: Is creative writing teachable?
Some people say "of course creative writing can be taught", while others say the opposite. I take a slightly more nuanced view.
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time’s running out! Picture created in ImageFX
Reminder: Just a few hours left to enter a kick-ass competition to win a copy of A Town Without Time by Gay Talese
This collection of work by Gay Talese is utterly brilliant, and contains items that haven’t seen the light of day in a long time.
Read MoreOn this day: The joy of monochrome
Not everything in life is black and white -- but perhaps more of it should be.
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Creative writing class
Creative assessment on a creative writing course
Reading each student’s work each week, at a rate of ten minutes each, took nearly two and a half hours. Thinking of suitable comments, adding them in to the appropriate place in Google Classroom, and updating my spreadsheet markbook took another hour and a half.
Something had to be done.
Read MoreCompetition to win a copy of Gay Talese's A Town Without Time
Last week I announced a competition to win a copy of A Town Without Time, the new collection of work by Gay Talese. Here is the link again, this time with an unrestricted link!
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