Joy of Writing (Groups)
I’m too old to play in a sandpit anymore with my toy cars, toy gorilla, and action man. And if I did, people would think it odd; at best, eccentric. Some might even alert the authorities…
Articles
An Emotional List
I read recently in a newspaper about a study into the range of emotions human beings can feel. The study turned up 27 of them. And this was a study undertaken by the University of California Berkeley, and not some random list drawn up by two men in a pub over a pint…
Wandering with a Story
A friend sent me a link to an article in The Atlantic. It’s about how writers run. Maybe she was suggesting something. I’m a writer, but I don’t run…
Withnail & I
Picture this: A large, empty, cavernous movie theater auditorium in the depths of winter. I’m in a jacket and scarf, and my breath is visible. It’s a matinee screening and no one else came. The lights go down and the ruby red curtains part. A soulful saxophone echoes: a four a.m. version of Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale. Up on the screen, a man sits in profile in a darkened sitting room and smokes a cigarette. He’s contemplating the universe, or he’s about to face a firing squad…
Brief Encounters of the Story Kind
Writing a book or a short story is like a relationship. You meet a pretty girl (you think of a cool idea for a plot). You discover the girl is super smart and intelligent (the idea has depth and resonance, and is compelling), and you become even more attracted to her. You start on page one (you ask her out), and there begins your relationship in earnest…
Architecture of Decay
J.G. Ballard’s novel High-Rise had been on my radar to read for many years, and I finally did so over the last month when I learnt it had been made into a movie by a film director whose movies I tend to seek out and watch (more on that in a moment)…
The Heart of UX Design
Let’s take a short journey to the center of UX design and find out what lies at its heart. The only travel items you’ll need are a couple of minutes and a cup of coffee. I’m a technical writer and UX analyst for an international software company, in case you’re wondering….
The Queen of Crime
Edith Ngaio Marsh was born in 1895 (April 23; same birthday as Shakespeare) and died in 1982. In both instances, in Christchurch, New Zealand. If you want to talk about New Zealand and crime/mystery fiction, you start (and can pretty much end) with Ngaio Marsh…
The Function of a Title
Every story you’ve ever read has probably had a title. Be it a short story, a novel, a novella, novelette, or paragraph of flash fiction (even this little article has a title)…
The Long White Cloud
You probably didn’t expect to read an entry from me in this slot. I’m in New Zealand house-sitting for the kid (Stephen Ross); he’s gone on vacation to work on his book. I suspect he’s really gone on vacation to catch up on his reading; he’s a prince among procrastinators, and there’s a gap on the bookshelf where his collection of Perry Mason mysteries used to reside…