The same but different

10 Mar 2019

Last year, I wrote a blog post about the High Line in Manhattan, in which I used my walk through the urban park as a structure on which to hang…

The Dragon Wakes

3 Jan 2019

I've published a book of short stories: The Dragon Wakes. It's a love letter to my corner of Somerset, among other things ... What lurks beneath an idyllic West Country…

Finding the end

18 May 2018

Some time ago, I promised myself I wouldn't do another post on writing until I was in a position where I had received enough external approval/been sanctioned in some way…

Freelancing and mental health

15 Mar 2018

Note: I agonised over whether I should share this post at all, especially on my work blog – but I decided it is better to talk about these things. I…

Starting from scratch

4 Dec 20174 Dec 2017

I've written before on how the practice of writing can help with editing. (On respecting the author, and a writer's perspective on editing.) I've now been writing properly, regularly, for a…

Back to school

1 Sep 2017

Anyone else got that back to school feeling? Yesterday I drove home from my last mini camping trip of the summer holidays against the alarming backdrop of leaves beginning to…

A week of reflection, planning and writing

26 Jun 2017

I was fortunate enough to be able to take last week off to concentrate on editorial CPD, and then a fiction writing course. First I joined six friends and editorial…

Building up, not shouting down

10 May 2017

I don't know about you, but when I publish anything – blog post, email, tweet – it is often with trepidation, and after some soul-searching, and much reading and re-reading. Sometimes…

What is good writing?

18 Apr 2017

As an editor and a reader, I hope I can recognise good writing. There are few things as exciting as that moment when I realise I am in the hands of someone…

On writing, even when the mood is wrong

20 Feb 201723 Feb 2017

Every morning, before I start my editing work, I write. This morning, though, I was at a loss as to what to write. I have several projects on the go.…