Signs in the environment can provide great stimulation for our imagination, and tell us about history in some cases too.
Read MoreCure, by Terry Freedman
Creative Writing
Books, by Terry Freedman
Read like a writer
Reading like a writer is a different way of reading. There’s a great series on the subject from Electric Literature.
Read MorePhotoPrompt #34: Tobacco tins
What stories can old tobacco tins tell, or conjure up?
Read MoreCreative writing experiment in structure: Unforeseen Consequences
This article was written in January 2019. I wanted to write a narrative about one of our cats, but using a different time structure. You’ll see what I mean when you read it.
Read More
Park benches in the time of Covid, by Terry Freedman
PhotoPrompt #33: Park benches in the time of Covid
The effect is to heighten the prevailing sense of dystopia.
Read More
Shops in the time of Covid, by Terry Freedman
PhotoPrompt #32: Shops in the time of Covid
When is a shop not a shop?
Read More
A school, closed, by Terry Freedman
PhotoPrompt #31: Schools in the time of Covid
Is a closed school a school?
Read More
A Minor Harp, by Terry Freedman
Writing the blues
What do these pieces of writing have in common, apart from being examples of creative nonfiction about blues music?
Read More
Cat in a box, by Terry Freedman
PhotoPrompt #29: Cat in a box
This photo reminds me of one of the first books I read. Could it provide the basis of a new story?
Read More
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
The long goodbye
This is an article I wrote for a creative nonfiction writing assignment, dealing with dementia. It was first published in an anthology called Between The Lines.
Read More
Robin, by Terry Freedman
PhotoPrompt #27: A robin
If I were a poet, I think this photo would inspire me to write. It’s not a great picture from a technical point of view — or at least I don’t think so — but the early Spring colours are lovely.
Read MoreAlways wear trousers on Skype
Seeing as we are in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, with millions of people either in lockdown or self-isolating, many previously face-to-face activities are starting to be carried out online. I thought this true story might serve both as a cautionary tale and as some light relief.
Read MorePhotoPrompt #26: Rush hour
Here is what the rush hour looked like on the last day I travelled in London.
Read More
Spitalfields in the rain, by Terry Freedman
PhotoPrompt #25: Spitalfields in the rain
The building shown in the photo is located just before you enter Spitalfields itself.
Read MoreReview: Oulipo and Modern Thought
If your interest in the Oulipo goes beyond simply trying out their techniques, and you wish to learn about the context in which it was conceived and the developments in went through, you will find this book very useful.
Read MoreThe 100 word constraint
Working within a limit of 100 words is both terrifying and liberating.
Read More
Blue Cube, by Terry Freedman
A short story involving homophonics: the answers
In a recent article I set a puzzle: identifying the hidden homophonics in a short story. Here are the answers.
Read More
Neon tube map, by Terry Freedman. I’m thinking: does this count as a visual homophone (a homovide?) of a tube map?
A short story involving homophonics
Homophones are words that sound the same but don’t mean the same, such as fare (food) and fare (cost of travel), or their and there. In Oulipo, you take a phrase and think of one which sounds like it. I believe that it is permissible to stretch the definition of “sounds like”, so I have taken advantage of that fact.
Read More
Shock, Horror! by Terry Freedman.jpg
Sect's Grindstones! The message decoded
My Christmas, Oulipo-inspired message decoded.
Read More
Click the cover to see the book on Amazon (affiliate link)