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WRITERS’ DOCK SPAM ISSUE...
Hi Guys, We're getting a lot of spam sign ups. The ongoing effect of this is that occasionally we miss a genuine new member. If you think that this is you, please ...
Book Review: The Time Travelle...
THIS BOOK CONCENTRATES PRINCIPALLY ON FOURTEENTH CENTURY ENGLAND, which is, historically speaking, post the medieval age. One suspects - and the many references to sources throughout the book attest - ...
On-Line Publication: A Change ...
IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE STIGMA THAT ONCE ATTACHED ITSELF TO SELF-PUBLISHING is disappearing as on-line publication becomes not only more acceptable but more successful. It means that now, in bestseller ...
Interview: Robin Stevens
DEAN CODY CASSADY INTERVIEWS ROBIN STEVENS DCC: Your blog is a pleasure to read and your writing style on that site really captures this reader's imagination. You're an avid reader. So, to ...
Book Review: The Third Policem...
THIS BOOK IS BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST 'WACKY' STORIES THAT I HAVE EVER READ. The plot of this extraordinary shaggy dog story takes numerous bizarre turns. It is ...
Crabbit’s Tips for Write...
YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT LAST YEAR I STARTED A SET OF CRABBIT'S TIPS FOR WRITERS. Here's No. 5. To find the others, go to the list of labels on the ...
T. S. Eliot’s Anti-Semitism:...
IN THE PREFACE TO HIS STUDY OF ELIOT'S ANTI-SEMITISM (1995), Anthony Julius says: ‘. . . anti-Semitism beguiles, not just demagogues . . . but also creative artists of the highest quality. ...
Write a Killer Opening Line
STARTING WRITING IS LIKE CASTING A HOOK INTO A RIVER. The opening line is probably the single most important sentence you are going to write in your piece. Over the years ...
Book Review: Small Island (And...
THE STORY IS SET IN 1948 WHEN THE FIRST IMMIGRANTS from the Caribbean arrived in Britain. Among these is Gilbert Joseph from Jamaica. His wife, Hortense, with a teaching diploma and ...
What is Genre? (Part 3: When i...
IN THIS, THE THIRD INSTALMENT OF THREE IN SOPHIE PLAYLE’S INVESTIGATION OF GENRE (following her recent attendance at the Paul Cornell talk at the Bad Writing Symposium in London), ...
Crabbit’s Tips for Write...
HERE IS THE FOURTH IN MY SERIES OF CRABBIT'S TIPS FOR WRITERS. You can either read it in the post below or you can go here and download the complete ...
Book Review: The Virgin and th...
THE VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY WAS WRITTEN IN 1926 but published posthumously in 1930. It is, therefore, unedited and unrevised, and one wonders whether the rather curious ending - where ...
Interview: Maureen Clifford
GOLDEN LANGUR INTERVIEWS MAUREEN CLIFFORD GL: What first inspired you to write? Was it the work of a poet? Or was it a particular place or experience? Please share some details. MC: ...
Book Review: Birdsong (Sebasti...
OK, READERS OF THE WORLD: WHAT HAS SEBASTIAN FAULKS DONE TO YOU? What dark arts has he been employing? Because that is the only reason I can think of to ...
Writers’ Dock New Year Q...
WRITERS’ DOCK FORUM HIGHLIGHT Dear Writers As has become tradition, the Writers' Dock forum currently has its New Year Quiz up and running and you're invited to come participate. Test your knowledge ...
Book Review: Family Matters (R...
FAMILY MATTERS (A PUNNING TITLE) BY THE CANADIAN WRITER OF INDIAN DESCENT tells the story of a middle-class Parsi family in Bombay. Nariman Vakeel, a retired professor of English, has ...
Processing the Word
GOOD WRITERS ARE LIKE HEN'S TEETH. It’s relatively easy to report or relay information on a subject the writer has a background in; it’s much harder to take any subject ...
Memory and Distance in Writing...
IN ONE OF THE GREATEST WORKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, the narrator steps back in time and recreates the sights, sounds, smells and landscape ...
Writers’ Dock Christmas ...
WRITERS' DOCK FORUM HIGHLIGHT Moderators at the forum are pleased to announce the Christmas poetry and prose competition winners (and the prose runners-up). Congratulations to Lindsay Craik for his poem, At Winter ...
Questioning the Ridiculous Dif...
WRITING IS RIDICULOUSLY DIFFICULT. It involves good planning on matters of character, scene, plot, crucible, denouement, dialogue, fictive reality and such like mechanics; it calls for meticulous research; it requires ...
Book Review: Suite Francaise (...
AMONG BOOKS ON WORLD WAR II THAT I'VE READ, this one stands out for its extraordinary portrayal of lives at the time of the German invasion of France in June ...
Dreams and Writing: The Alchem...
DREAMS HAVE BEEN WIDELY LINKED TO WRITING. In a much quoted incident about Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834), it is said that he wrote his well-known poem, Kubla Khan, ...
Book Review: The Art of Fieldi...
FOR MANY AMERICANS BASEBALL IS OUR NATIONAL GAME, although (because of scandals, greed and the current need for sports enthusiasts to be entertained by continuous frenetic action) it is now ...
Book Review: Stories and Prose...
I DISCOVERED THIS SOMEWHAT TERSELY TITLED SLIM COLLECTION BY CHANCE. I’m glad that I did, despite some minor misgivings about the author’s manner of writing. Some weeks back, I chanced ...
Why Every Writer Needs As Much...
I RECENTLY RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM A WRITER who had self-published his book but had decided against professional editing because of the extra cost that was involved. I got the ...
What is Genre? (Part 2: Horror...
IN THIS, THE SECOND INSTALMENT OF THREE IN SOPHIE PLAYLE'S INVESTIGATION OF GENRE (following her recent attendance at the Paul Cornell talk at the Bad Writing Symposium in London), ...
Crabbit’s Tips for Write...
HERE IS THE THIRD IN MY SERIES OF FREE CRABBIT's TIPS FOR WRITERS. For today's tips, either read them below or go here for the free downloadable pdf to print out and pin ...
Book Review: On The Road (Jack...
DEAN CODY CASSADY MENTIONED KEROUAC'S WORK IN A FORUM DISCUSSION. This reminded me that I had not finished the book. Picking it up again, I found it bookmarked on page ...
Poetry and Prose Christmas Com...
WRITERS' DOCK FORUM HIGHLIGHT Dear Poets and Prose Writers As the festive season is upon us, we invite you to a seasonal competition in poetry and prose. Theme: Christmas Poetry Competition: any poetical form Prose ...
The Good Ship Soyinka
AFTER AN INTERVIEW I GAVE TO THE GUARDIAN IN 2009, in which I stated what I thought was an uncontroversial proposition, namely that I really dislike the term 'African writer' ...
Christmas Food Themed Stories:...
WRITERS' DOCK FORUM HIGHLIGHT The Christmas season is upon us and that means a Writers' Dock seasonal affair of writing. Whether you're a member or not yet a member, you're invited ...
Book Review: The Nice and the ...
IRIS MURDOCH (1919-1999), THE ANGLO-IRISH NOVELIST AND PHILOSOPHER, uses her signature motifs of good and evil, and class, in The Nice and the Good. The narrative is shot through the complex ...
The Poet Condition
TO BE A POET IS A CONDITION RATHER THAN A PROFESSION. Robert Graves’ words read to me as if there is a spectrum on which we’re all on: those who ...
Man and Woman: Who is the Bett...
A QUICK SEARCH FOR THE 'GREATEST POETS' OF ANY COUNTRY ACROSS THE GLOBE, and across time, invariably brings up names of men. To focus more concretely on this issue, I ...
Crabbit’s Tips for Write...
HERE IS THE SECOND IN MY SERIES OF FREE CRABBIT'S TIPS FOR WRITERS. This one is Crabbit's Tips for Getting Published. Last week's was Crabbit's Tips for Writing Fiction. For ...
Five Ways to Take the Ickiness...
MY TWIN DAUGHTERS JOINED A SYNCHRONISED SWIM TEAM THIS FALL. As part of the process of trying to reduce the fees, the team has several fundraisers throughout the year. After the ...
Book Review: My Uncle Napolean...
MY UNCLE NAPOLEAN BY THE IRANIAN WRITER, IRAJ PEZESHKZAD, turns on the machinations of the patriarch, Uncle Napoleon, to uphold the honour and ‘centuries-old unity’ of his large extended family. ...
What is Genre? (Part 1: Scienc...
PAUL CORNELL - A NOVELIST, COMICS AND TV WRITER, NOTABLY FOR DOCTOR WHO AND ACTION COMICS – was the guest speaker at the Bad Writing Symposium, held at King’s College, London, ...
World’s Shortest Stories...
US AUTHOR ERNEST HEMINGWAY WAS FAMOUSLY ECONOMICAL IN HIS STYLE. He was once challenged, supposedly for the price of his bar bill, to write a complete story in only six ...
Interview: Andrea Lowne
GOLDEN LANGUR INTERVIEWS ANDREA LOWNE GL: You write both poems and prose. To cite a few examples, your very first post in the forums, Bones (and how not to dispose of ...
Submission Guidelines (re: Age...
LUCIENNE DIVER IS A LITERARY AGENT AND AUTHOR. Here she offers her professional knowledge on the subject of submissions. Submission guidelines have been very much on my mind lately, because I’ve ...
Crabbit’s Tips for Write...
NICOLA MORGAN, SELF-STYLED AS 'CRABBIT', IS AN AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR of around 90 books. Here she offers writing advice in the first of a series of articles. The orginal post can be ...
The Essence of Writer
WHAT IS IT THAT 'WRITER' IS? I use that deliberate set and order of words to reflect the phenomenological stance, as applied to thinking. Or, initially, to put it more ...
Carpe Diem: Seize the Story
STORIES ARE EVERYWHERE. IF YOU DON'T PAY ATTENTION and reach out to grab them, you might spend months or more wondering ‘what could that story have been?’ I’ve missed many ...
Press Release: UKA Open Theme ...
PRESS RELEASE: THE UKA OPEN THEME POETRY COMPETITION You can submit as many poems as you like, in any genre, but each submission must be accompanied by the relevant entry fee. GUIDELINES: ...
Writing the Difficult Thing
MANY WRITERS ATTEST TO THE INHERENT DIFFICULTY IN THE ACT OF WRITING. George Orwell said, 'Writing is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One ...
Feast Your Senses
THERE ARE FIVE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR STORY OR ARTICLE STAND OUT, make it sing, simply by using all the senses. In each case be active not passive in your ...
Book Review: Angels and Insect...
THIS YEAR A. S. BYATT HAS COME OUT OF ALMOST NOWHERE to become one of my favourite writers. For quite a while after I read Possession I was afraid to ...
Book Review: 1984 (George Orwe...
LAST NIGHT I FINISHED READING 1984. I'm quite proud of myself. After all, I only began it ten years ago. You can blame my thirteen year-old self for this. The me that bought ...
Press Release: Comedy Competit...
PRESS RELEASE: GET YOUR COMEDY SKETCH PRODUCED BY AN AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR www.circalit.com/projects/competitions/jason Ever had an idea for a comedy sketch? Circalit is back once again helping talented comedy writers get their ...
WRITERS’ DOCK SPAM ISSUE
By Sonny - January 16 2012 10:53 AM - No Comments
Hi Guys,
We're getting a lot of spam sign ups. The ongoing effect of this is that occasionally we miss a genuine new member.
If you think that this is you, please ...Book Review: The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England (Ian Mortimer)
By goldenlangur - February 5 2012 10:52 AM - No Comments
THIS BOOK CONCENTRATES PRINCIPALLY ON FOURTEENTH CENTURY ENGLAND, which is, historically speaking, post the medieval age. One suspects - and the many references to sources throughout the book attest - ...On-Line Publication: A Change of Attitude
By Ida Jones - February 5 2012 10:35 AM - 1 Comments
IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE STIGMA THAT ONCE ATTACHED ITSELF TO SELF-PUBLISHING is disappearing as on-line publication becomes not only more acceptable but more successful.
It means that now, in bestseller ...Interview: Robin Stevens
By Dean Cody Cassady - January 29 2012 12:24 PM - No Comments
DEAN CODY CASSADY INTERVIEWS ROBIN STEVENS
DCC: Your blog is a pleasure to read and your writing style on that site really captures this reader's imagination. You're an avid reader. So, to ...Book Review: The Third Policeman (Flann O’Brien)
By goldenlangur - January 29 2012 11:40 AM - 2 Comments
THIS BOOK IS BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST 'WACKY' STORIES THAT I HAVE EVER READ. The plot of this extraordinary shaggy dog story takes numerous bizarre turns. It is ...Crabbit’s Tips for Writers 5: Ingredients of Poor Writing
By Nicola Morgan - January 29 2012 11:22 AM - No Comments
YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT LAST YEAR I STARTED A SET OF CRABBIT'S TIPS FOR WRITERS. Here's No. 5. To find the others, go to the list of labels on the ...T. S. Eliot’s Anti-Semitism: Does It Matter?
By goldenlangur - January 24 2012 11:28 PM - No Comments
IN THE PREFACE TO HIS STUDY OF ELIOT'S ANTI-SEMITISM (1995), Anthony Julius says:
‘. . . anti-Semitism beguiles, not just demagogues . . . but also creative artists of the highest quality. ...Write a Killer Opening Line
By William Meikle - January 22 2012 01:53 PM - No Comments
STARTING WRITING IS LIKE CASTING A HOOK INTO A RIVER.
The opening line is probably the single most important sentence you are going to write in your piece. Over the years ...Book Review: Small Island (Andrea Levy)
By goldenlangur - January 22 2012 01:16 PM - 2 Comments
THE STORY IS SET IN 1948 WHEN THE FIRST IMMIGRANTS from the Caribbean arrived in Britain. Among these is Gilbert Joseph from Jamaica. His wife, Hortense, with a teaching diploma and ...What is Genre? (Part 3: When is a Genre Not a Genre?)
By Sophie Playle - January 8 2012 05:20 PM - No Comments
IN THIS, THE THIRD INSTALMENT OF THREE IN SOPHIE PLAYLE’S INVESTIGATION OF GENRE (following her recent attendance at the Paul Cornell talk at the Bad Writing Symposium in London), ...
