That’s the name of a one-day course I will be teaching at the City Lit on 13 June 2026. It’s already half full.
Read MoreCreative writing using constraints
in Creative Writing, Events, Oulipo
Events
London Book Fair , by Terry Freedman
London Book Fair 2026 News
The London Book Fair is nearly upon us, and there is now a very short time left to register. Here are some items you might find interesting.
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Feedback relating to a course I taught recently: "Flash Fiction: Getting Started"
I was asked to teach a one-day course on flash fiction. Here’s what the students said about it.
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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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“You got a problem?” Self-portrait cartoon by Terry Freedman
Problem resolved!
in Events
As it happens, I did have a problem: one dead link and two dud links
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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?
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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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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.
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Late Lines Event
in Events
The City LIt, where I teach a creative writing course, a course for would-be bloggers and a course on the Oulipo is holding another Late Lines event.
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The London Book Fair 2025 #2
More news about the LBF’s programme this year. This post is about a seminar for self-publishers.
Read MoreThe London Book Fair 2025 #1
It’s coming up to that time of year again: the London Book Fair.
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A writer, by Terry Freedman
My 60 Minute Writer course
Next week I’ll be teaching a course called The 60 Minute Writer. The title always makes me smile because it sounds like I teach people how to be a writer in an hour. It reminds me of a joke by, I think, Frank Carson…
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The 60 Minute Writer
in Events, News & views
My creative writing course
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Blogger, by Terry Freedman
Blogging is not dead!
in Events, News & views
There is still a great interest in writing blogs. One of the reasons I know this is that my course on blogging currently has twelve sign-ups. That may not sound a lot, but many courses at the City Lit have far fewer.
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More about the creative writing course I'll be teaching: books
In London on June 8th I’ll be teaching a course called Creative Writing Using Constraints, an introduction to the world of the Oulipo. This is a round-up of some of the books I’ll be referring to and talking about.
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Saxophonist, by Terry Freedman
The Johnny Sax Chronicles -- 29 February 2024
Writing in different voices, genres or styles is a really good way of improving one’s skills.
Read MoreThe creative writing course I’m teaching: evaluation of a press release
I have a course coming up, one that I’m teaching. I asked an AI writer to draft a press release for it. Here’s what it came up with, with my annotations in italics and in square brackets.
Read MoreReview of Fantasy: Realms of Imagination
The shelves in libraries or bookshops labelled Science Fiction and Fantasy interest me only for the former, not the latter. Games like Dungeons and Dragons have never appealed to me, and much as I like maps and strange lands, the works of Tolkien leave me cold.
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