on writing

Here are some thoughts on the process of writing, and also some creative pieces.

On writing:

Audito, ego sum

I wondered lonely as a crowd – on the delights of crowd mentality, and its wisdom (or otherwise) when funding

Killing beauties is live

The silence of the archives – observations on how archival lacunae can help to nourish fiction

Killing Beauties – on my novel

The scarlet letter – on the problems of writing for free (or ‘exposure’, as it’s laughably termed)

An odd exercise – something from a creative writing workshop

Revealing no coin in hand – Rock yoga. Damn, you just know it makes sense!

Please don’t teach them Shakespeare (2008) – a reaction to the then education minister’s decision that children as young as 5 ought to be taught shakespeare. Fool.

Cutting a shape in Time – An old piece on Ezra Pound and music

Freud, Klein and Dr Seuss – an old essay on Freudian sublimation, Kleinian reparation and the Cat in the Hat

Polymathematics – a response to Jim Giles’ piece in Prospect, Go figure

Writings:

Sanctuary – a piece on end-of-life care that actually won a (meaningless) prize

Nigel, Prince of DarknessĀ – if you play the guitar, you really ought to read this.

Cogito, ergo amo – on drones, AI and inevitability

A place for everything – Hamish isn’t quite on top of his game, and he’s also managed to get lost in the local shopping centre. It can only go one way …

It’s a metaphor – it certainly is. Dolphins and the tyranny of ‘only persevere’

Dramatically speaking – some dramatic things I wrote on Shakespeare, Cricket and, er, NottheArchers