The working life of a professional writer is not exciting. You write. You read what you have written. You sigh. You try again until, with luck, something passable appears on the page or screen before you. Now and then – again, with luck – you get published. Rows or bust-ups in the little world of… Continue reading ‘Play nicely, children,’ said the Society of Authors …. They didn’t.
Read moreLook at the first of these two rules, and you’ll see that nothing divides authorly opinion like writer’s block. Most of these insights are either self-pitying or briskly unsympathetic – successful writers seem to believe in tough love when dispensing advice – but there is one piece of caring practical advice. Surprisingly, that comes from… Continue reading Top Nine Writer’s Rules: #5 Block
Read moreThere was a time when I took a swaggering, what-the-hell atittude towards a writer’s responsibility to those close to him. Few authors speak up for decorousness or kindness, in fact, preferring to trot out the hoary old cliché, said by Czeslaw Milosz and quoted by Philip Roth, “When a writer is born into a family, the… Continue reading Prim? Moi? A radio debate about the writer as good (or bad) citizen
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