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 MoreWhy are positive reviews so boring?
Reviews
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Quick look: The 12 Week Year for Writers
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
This is a book about strategy and meeting objectives rather than a how-to-write guide.
Read MoreShort-form writing (book review)
When your word count is restricted, you have to make every word count.
Read MoreRecalling my Discovery of Sherman Alexie
in News & views, Reviews
I always try to follow my intuition. Thus it was that, with deadlines pressing on me, and pressure from all sides, I decided to ignore my intellectual protestations and listen to my inner voice.
Read MoreReview: Ex Libris, by Matt Madden
This is quite unlike any other graphic novel I’ve read, and here are the reasons.
Read MoreThe very first article on this website...
… was a review of a book called The Well-Fed Writer. That was in 2010, and the book seems to be still available. Do I still agree with it’s suggestions?
Read MoreReview of a graphics novel introductory course
in Reviews
Why graphic novels?
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Reviewer's desk, by Terry Freedman
How I review books on writing
in Reviews
My views on what constitutes a book on writing are fairly catholic. Indeed, it would me more accurate to denote the books I review as books for writers, rather than books on writing. The latter tend to have titles like “How to write fiction”, or “How to write magazine articles”.
Read MoreEnjoying the hard stuff: review of a course in hardboiled fiction
in Reviews
The least sensible thing one can do in circumstance like this is to read stuff which has absolutely no bearing on any it.
Read MoreReview: 99 Ways to tell a story
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book, Reviews
The book works in so many ways that it’s hard to know where to start.
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Review: The Rise and Fall of Oscar Wilde
in Reviews
I enjoyed the course, but would have preferred it to have been longer.
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Review: A Little History of Literature
As for non-students whose memories of Eng Lit conjure up trying to make sense of Shakespeare, you may discover that “A Little History of Literature” will help you to erase such memories!
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Review: Creative writing for social media
Good Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) practice may decree that the ideal blog post length is between 1760 and 2400 words, but I prefer to write for people rather than an algorithm.
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Review: Exercises in Style
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book, Reviews
Anyone interested in the craft of writing should read this book. It’s not a primer, or dictionary, or anything of that nature. But it does exactly what it says on the tin.
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A selection of my reference books — Terry Freedman
Review of the Writing Inspiration Jam course
This one-off session from the City Lit looked like an exciting course to try. It ticked several boxes: no long-term commitment, and brimming with ideas.
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Cameraman, by Terry Freedman
Who's the author?
in Reviews
If you write a play or a film script, presumably you have a mental picture of how it will look on screen or stage.
Read MoreReview: Book Parts
When you start to read a new book, what’s your routine? My routines differ according to whether the book is fiction or non-fiction, and whether I’ve been sent it to review or not.
Read MoreReview: Writing Tools, by Roy Peter Clark
Roy Peter Clark describes and analyses fifty five strategies for writers.
Read MoreReview: Storycraft, by Jack Hart
Like Chekhov's gun (if a gun appears in Act 1, it has to be fired at some point), actions like someone clearing their throat are pointless if they add nothing to how we see them as a character.
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NOT the camera I used! Photo by Terry Freedman
Testing a camcorder for interviews
A few years ago I thought I would test the capabilities of a pocket camcorder I’d been asked to review
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