nothing in the rulebook
A collective of creatives bound by a single motto: There's nothing in the rulebook that says a giraffe can't play football!
Category: Writing tips: from writers for writers
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Sophie McDonald considers the giant planetary forces that influence the choosing of fictional character’s names.
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The type of intensive, cloistered work of writers can lend itself to solitude. Sometimes, this can be accompanied by activity – such as running – but it can also be just as much about stillness. In this article, author Tim Leach reflects upon the art of waiting; of embracing these moments of stillness to help aid…
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Even the greatest writers need a little help and advice from time to time. In 1934, shortly before noting his famed list of books every aspiring writer should read, Ernest Hemingway received a request for feedback and writerly advice from his long-time friend and fellow literary great, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Following a nine-year period in…
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Good writing advice is hard to find. We’ve previously compiled various collections of writing tips from some of literature’s greatest minds; but we’re always looking to go one step further. As writers and creatives, our learning is built on the mentoring and advice of our peers and our mentors. The imparted knowledge they can share with…
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If you’ve always suspected there’s a novel in you, one writing project could help you get it on to paper in just 30 days. Founded in 1999, NaNoWriMo (short for National Novel Writing Month), is an internet hub built for budding writers. Participants agree to start and complete a novel of 50,000 words or more…
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James Baldwin on the real meaning of words and the artist’s struggle for integrity – audio recording
For all artists, there has long been a struggle between creative expression and meaning. Particularly for writers, there is a curious difficulty often in ‘choosing the right words’. This is because, as the post-modern critics and theorists like Derrida and Lacan argue, the meaning of words depends on their context. Yet we never understand contexts…
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Good writing advice is hard to find. We’ve compiled various collections of writing tips from some of literature’s greatest minds; but when it comes to motivation and inspiration sometimes the ordered lists and quotes don’t go far enough. As such, today we’ve brought you some uncompromisingly honest advice on the essence of great writing…
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Aspiring creatives know only too well the difference between how we think things will turn out when we are younger and how they actually happen as we grow older. At school, when we are often in the top groups for art, theatre, English, music, it’s easy to get stuck thinking that it will be this…
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In 2010, inspired by Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing, The Guardian asked authors for their personal lists of dos and don’ts. We’ve gone through the whole list and, week by week, will be bringing you the timeless counsel of the great writers of the 20th and 21stcenturies. Last time out we brought you the rules of writing…