Writing Secrets: Details are your magic carpet
Details are magical. Use them well and they can conjure us to another time and place. They can also transport us into the state of mind and emotions of the […]
Monday Motivation: A yeasty tale of bread and inspiration
I had a long conversation with a breadmaker last night. It was the occasion of a friend’s seventieth birthday party, and the tables groaned beneath a range of dishes too […]
Writing Secrets: Prepare for a volcano
I was listening to a podcast the other day about two guys who’ve created an app which generates inspirational messages from random phrases. First they fed it vast numbers of […]
Monday Motivation: Irresponsible and risky – but we do it anyway
It strikes me that discussions of political correctness are somewhat risky affairs, since it’s so easy in tippy-toeing around the sensitivities of others, to avoid debating a real and substantial [...]
Writing Secrets: Fool yourself with files
I’m a great one for fooling myself, because so much about writing can make you sad. Saying goodbye to a great idea because it doesn’t carry your current story forward, […]
Monday Motivation: Should books we disapprove of be burned, banned or banished?
I think I might indulge myself and write a little meditation on prejudice, judgement and forgiveness both in life and in literature. What prompts this? Well, it was a piece […]
February Newsletter: Want to see your name in lights?
Want to see your name in lights? We launch our first Screenwriting Crash Course of 2019 in a week’s time. It is, we think not quite modestly, a really good course, […]
Writing Secrets: Characters who hijack the story
Should you allow your characters to run off with the story? I was asked this again recently while teaching a Summer School course on fiction writing at a local university. […]
Writing in a visual medium: Useful lessons for all writers
We launch our first Screenwriting Crash Course of 2019 in a week’s time. It is, we think not quite modestly, a really good course, both practical and inspiring. The question is: […]
Unveiling the results of our December/January Writing Challenge
The winners of our December-January Writing Challenge are… We had a great sheaf of entries for our Challenge which went like this: Describe a seaside holiday house, from the perspective […]
Monday Motivation: Treat your characters with utmost respect
You’re sitting opposite someone on a train. She is deeply engaged in a book and you take the liberty of examining her closely. She’s attractive and you enjoy your silent […]
Enter our new challenge to sharpen your creative writing skills
All About Writing’s latest writing challenge offers the winner a literary assessment on 5000 words of writing worth R 2750 or a voucher to the same value to use on one […]
