The difference between poetry and prose sounds like a superfluous question until you’re a writer with a bunch of words on a page (or still in your head) and you don’t know if you’re writing a poem or a story. The difference isn’t in the length, for there’s that famous six-word story that Hemingway wrote…
Author: samuel
Can Poetry be Taught?
I enrolled on a Creative Writing degree with a passion for poetry, several full notebooks of practice, and the hope that the place would show me how to become a poet. I knew it would take work, and I also knew that not everyone could learn. If a student didn’t have any interest and talent…
How to Edit Well: 14 Micro Editing Tips.
Here’s an editing cheat sheet. I’ve used it for almost ten years since the most influential teacher of my life handed it to me. In ‘The best writing advice anyone has given me‘ and ‘Should writers worry about offending readers,’ I shared advice from Carl Tighe and Moy McCrory. But it was Adrian Buckner, another…
Be Succinct in your Writing.
Your writing is more cluttered than you realise. Mine, too. I know because I see it every time I read through and edit. When working through our first and second drafts, be on the lookout for everything that doesn’t need to be there. Be succinct in your writing, focus on one flower instead of the entire…
Kill Your Darlings.
For some, it’s a fundamental and obvious piece of writing advice that they’ve practiced for years. To others, it sounds so odd that following it would be detrimental to your writing. Because why would you want to kill your darlings? Aren’t they supposed to be cherished and nurtured? This post will show what the phrase…
Does writing advice work?
Through my studies, work experience, and social exchanges with writers (online and real-life), I can confidently say that we are all quite different from one another. I recognize our differences, but I also see what connects us, and nothing highlights this better than how we respond to the question, ‘Does writing advice work?’ Writing advice…
Should writers worry about offending readers?
The answer is yes. Writers should worry about offending readers. Just not for the reasons you’re thinking. On ‘controversial’ topics in fiction, Moy McCrory once said, “The only writing that offends me is bad writing.” And that’s my truth too. So despite its subject and plot, Lolita didn’t offend me, and Fifty Shades of Grey is…
Carver and Lish: how much editing is too much?
Raymond Carver was a short story writer and poet, recognized as one of America’s greatest writers. But how much of that is down to his editor, Gordon Lish? And how much editing is too much? Creative Writing degrees love Carver. His stories are short, and his writing is a perfect model for minimalism. And at university, Carver became…
F—k Writer’s Block!
‘Writer’s Block’ is a huge topic. Since graduating from university in 2012, I’ve spent most of my time writing in isolation, and writing a lot. I only realised that writer’s block was affecting a lot of writers out there when I joined the online writing communities when I launched the About Writing blog last year….
If you’re going to try, go all the way.
I haven’t been updating the blog as often as I usually do because I’m deep into something—my novel. And I had to remind myself very recently that ‘If you’re going to try, go all the way.’ By the way, I will start posting regularly again, and I see this site as a long-term project that…