Prime Minister Etherington sat at his desk, staring at the reports laid out before him. The words swam before his eyes, with particular phrases leering at him. “Possible conspiracy”…. “grave threat to the nation”…. “utmost importance”…. “imminent danger”… “I have no idea what to make of all of this. Can any of it be substantiated?” […]
Who is the River God Tyne on the side of the Civic Centre?
Newcastle and Gateshead are currently awash with adverts for the Great Exhibition of the North. The aim is to promote the art, design and innovation in the region now. But what of its heritage and culture? We’ve played host to the Romans, the Vikings, and indigenous British tribes. With that in mind, let’s meet the mighty […]
Folklore of Fortune Telling, Superstitions, and Avoiding Danger
In the 1990s, paper fortune tellers were all the rage at my school. They were like the low-tech version of a Magic 8 ball, another fortune telling ‘toy’. Ours never looked as fancy as this one, but this is what I mean. Their use in England dates to the 1950s (Opie 2001 [1959], pp. 341–342). […]
Review of Dorothea Brande’s Becoming A Writer
Certain books reappear on ‘you must read’ lists of writing manuals. Stephen King’s On Writing is a prime example. Dorothea Brande’s seminal text on creative writing is another such title. Becoming A Writer was first published in the 1930s, yet the wisdom it contains is still just as relevant today. Most writing books focus on the mechanics […]
Awful first drafts are not the end of the world
Awful first drafts probably make up the bulk of the tweets I see about writing. If you’re reading this, then many of your contacts are probably writers. They’ve been through this too. Hell, maybe you’ve been through it! Maybe you’ve written something and thought “this is abysmal, who will want to read it?” And I […]
21 Easy Things Writers Can Learn From the Design World
It’s often easy for writers to get stuck in the mindset of only ever learning from other authors. Whether it’s the interminable round of online courses, reading blogs, or listening to podcasts, writers educate themselves by following other writers. Often, it’s absolutely the best way forward. But writers can learn from a much wider range […]
