Blog

Writers need to be nurtured, like apple trees need to be watered. Writers need to soak themselves with ideas. I was blown away by hearing American storyteller Susan Strauss the other day. She recited myths of creation from native American mythology. The stories poured out of her, were channelled through her, like the water of life of which she talked. Her book, the cover of which I show here, is co-written with a botanist. I love cross-fertilisation! So, think about watching a film, seeing a show or listening to a...

Life stories can be inspiring. Radio Four recently had a portrait of the soprano Pretty Yende, who was chosen to sing at the Coronation this week. It told the story of how, as an aspiring artist, she had the chance to take a trip from South Africa to Europe. She took the opportunity in both hands and booked up for as many competitions as she could possibly fit into that time available. Success in winning a big competition in Europe helped her make a breakthrough in her career. For the...

Nature has come back to the centre of poetry – Simon Armitage Our world is fragmenting. Communities fracture in favour of time spent in front of a screen taking selfies. Apathy has taken over from activism. Meanwhile, countries denuded of assets suffer from extreme weather events. ‘The climate crisis is a background hum that won’t go away’ declares the current Poet Laureate. Consider looking outwards not inwards. As the weather improves, let’s walk instead of taking the bus and notice the ‘microjoys’ given to us by the planet, while they...

Do you ever feel like you’re banging your drum in the dark? Being a thinker within the box of your brain, and writing in the seclusion of your own home can create an echo chamber. In the last year I have stepped out. This year we had COP26 in Scotland. When I heard there was going to be a pilgrimage, I thought, time for a Chaucerian experience! Trudging in the rain for 15 miles a day I found a fellow poet along the way. Walking and talking about your art...

Writing Groups  If you are not already part of a writing group, I am going to encourage you to join one even if you think it’s not your thing. I’ll give you some idea of some of the plusses and minuses of putting yourself up for criticism. You get free editing. You do get a number of readers all at the same time Probably you won’t like all the suggestions that members of the group make, but that is part of the editing process. Even a small query may help...

Mornings or evenings are the most obvious. A word in favour of mornings. You may be an early riser, who is up with the larks. I highly recommend getting the job done in the morning. It will improve your mood for the rest of the day, and you won’t have the nagging thought at the back of your mind that you need to try and fit time in later on. Lighting the fire of ideas in the morning has the benefit of generating a smouldering effect of ideas brewing up...

Commit. You just need to commit. The day I wrote this blog, I was in the highlands of Scotland and got to watch salmon trying to leap up a waterfall. The season was late and the river in full spate. At this time of the year, the tiddlers were probably not going to make it, but that didn’t stop them trying. In the late summer I had seen the big ones jump and jump and jump, trying until.... they got just far enough, got to just the right angle, in...

The writer Virginia Woolf gave her famous book this title. She argues that writers who have, in the past, been marginalised by their gender or financial circumstances must be given space and means to write. Perhaps you are a writer who has big barriers to finding writing time in busy environments. You might have to go to a public library to find space, like Karl Marx. Nowadays it might be a café of one’s own! There are at least three cafés in central Edinburgh who claim to have paid host...

Simple. Brief. Succinct. That’s the kind of style you need to cultivate.  You don’t want your readers or listeners having to do a double take. If the listener can’t ask you to pause when you are in full flow, they lose the next part of what you’re saying. That is because their brain is stuck puzzling over a tricky bit. Words frozen on the page are a one-way form of communication, therefore make sure that you are being crystal clear. Think about the language you’re reading this book in, English....