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Being a writer sometimes demands that you put on the mask and the costume of a moral philosopher. I’ve just heard three writers doing just that in a conversation they […]

South Africa’s feature film industry is mushrooming – and, as a result, is in desperate need of good home-grown scripts. “South Africa has a booming film industry with world class […]

Stephen King said in On Writing that writing a story is a little like digging up a fossil. You spot a fragment of skull protruding from the rock. You carefully […]

Here’s a guest blog post by All About Writing community member Aimee-Claire Smith, who joined us on the McGregor Writing Retreat and is a recent graduate of our Creative Writing Course. [...]

I attended the Kingsmead Book Fair this weekend, until the knives of a stiff winter breeze drove me home. But I was there long enough to note down a phrase […]

This month’s challenge carries an exceptional prize: three books by members of our Allaboutwriting family, generously contributed by Pan Macmillan, Jacana, and Cactus Rain in the US. The winner [...]

The other day, someone told me she didn’t need writing instruction because “I have a gift”. I’m sure she’s right and I’m thrilled for her. But what is it about […]

I struggled to get the hang of friendship, as a child.  Something would always shift: I would express a liking for the wrong band, or even the wrong hairband. And […]

Last month, we challenged you to try your hand at memoir, by writing a seminal scene from your lives. The winners of the best two entries will receive a copy […]

Here’s a thing: I bought a David Baldacci novel this weekend. I’m not sure that I’ve read him before, although it’s hardly possible to avoid Baldaccis in any given airport, […]

In life, people do sometimes behave out of character – but there’s usually a reason. If you’ve ever done one of our courses, you’ll know the store we set by […]

I’ve written about lies and liars before because writers (of fiction, at least) are, looked at from the right angle, professional liars. But there’s another way in which lies and […]