A couple of years ago I was experimenting with writing articles of exactly 100 words. This was one I wrote about detective stories.
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Image from John Hain on Pixabay
Is satire dead?
It seems to me that for satire to work it has to walk a fine line between being so close to reality that it’s not funny, and so far-fetched that it’s not credible.
Read MoreA 10% discount, Ulysses, book burning, libraries
Coming up in Terry Freedman’s Books Bulletin…
Read MoreGetting your ideas down
Did Samuel Pepys, for example, carry a quill and an inkwell around with him?
Read MoreThe right way to write blog posts?
in News & views
What is the 'correct' style for a blog post? Indeed, is there a correct style?
Read MoreEgos are us?
I attended an authors’ conference a few years ago, and I have never been in a room with so many egos.
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Image by Augusto Ordóñez from Pixabay
Not reaping but sowing
What ultimately matters to the freelance writer, of course, is how many commissions you’re offered.
Read MoreThe new definition of "cosmetic"
We writers have a duty to do what we can to preserve the dignity of the language in which we work.
Read MoreReview: The New Penguin Book of American Short Stories
It is also worth bearing in mind that some of the best nonfiction writers, notably Gay Talese, make copious use of the fiction writer's tools.
Read MoreReview: Story Craft
An especially useful idea is the ladder of abstraction, which is equivalent, in cinematic terminology, to the level of detail in a scene, from close-up to long shot.
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Review: Index, A History Of The: A Bookish Adventure
This book has two indexes, one computer-generated, the other compiled by an indexer, so you can compare the two.
Read MoreThe get-rich-quick itch (Updated)
I would love to be able to write blog posts or conduct my social media affairs in such a way that I became an overnight sensation, as verified by an astronomical rise in my bank balance. But…
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Photo from lucasbieri. Licence: CCO
Foreword, Preface or Introduction? (Updated)
I was faced with a conundrum: should I write a Preface to the 3rd Edition, a Foreword to the 3rd Edition, or just stuff it all into the Introduction and be done with it?
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If you think it, write it. Photo = Reflections, by Elaine Freedman
Writing for the sake of writing
Dr Johnson said that nobody but a blockhead ever wrote for anything except money. I have a great deal of sympathy with this view, but I don’t altogether agree with it.
Read MoreReview: Audio for Authors
These days it’s as difficult as it is daft for writers to ignore the benefits of using audio applications.
Read More7 characteristics of good writers (Updated)
What do good writers have that bad writers don't?
Read MoreThe perils of writing software manuals (Updated)
Writing software manuals or books, or even mini tutorials on how to do something in a particular program comes with a huge occupational hazard.
Read MorePhotoPrompt: Cats Eyes Removed
in PhotoPrompt
Proof indeed that punctuation really does make an awful lot of difference.
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A bang on the head, yeah?
This article is part of series I am writing called Experiments in Style. It is my version of Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style.
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Books (cartooned) by Terry Freedman
Coming soon in Terry Freedman's Books Bulletin
Terry Freedman’s Books Bulletin is short and sweet, and free. The new issue is going to come out tomorrow, 24 December 2021.
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