Search

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 […]

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 [...]

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 […]

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 […]

I grew up on a diet of Laurel and Hardy films that were even then, although I didn’t know it, repeats from an earlier golden age for the comedy duo. […]

Our local is just a short walk away from our boat in Priory Marina in Bedford. Local cinema, that is. (Our local pub is even closer.) Yesterday evening we took […]

This is the first piece I’ve written in this brand-new, fresh-out-of-the-box 2019. I’m in trouble. But it’s not the first time I’ve been here. I seem to remember that I […]

Some people have a kind of preternatural understanding of story structure, an inborn ability to create memorable characters and a clear appreciation of the need for detail, tension and conflict [...]

Most of us agree with Garfield’s opinion on Mondays: They suck. A lot. To make Mondays just that much more enjoyable, All About Writing facilitator and teacher Richard Beynon composes […]

Characters, like quarks*, come in many different flavours. There are large, silent characters, whose presence is felt but not greatly demonstrated. There are small, voluble characters that, like [...]

Most narrowboats on the United Kingdom’s three thousand miles of waterways are powered by diesel engines, great hulking beasts that lurk under the rear decks of our vessels beating with […]

I’ve been writing a little fable about the adventures of Bella and Basil who’ve been charged with looking after a bookshop in Wigtown for a couple of weeks. The inspiration […]