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Just because something is “true”, just because it happened, doesn’t mean it’s a story. This came up recently because we were assessing a manuscript – a memoir – and had to give the writer advice [...]

A piece of writing is like a set of dominoes. Overset one aspect and you overset all those that follow. We come across this problem a great deal in our mentoring programme. Each scene follows [...]

Today I am venturing into the tricky waters of self-helpiness… Although, to be honest, I guess that everything I’ve ever written for this blog – which claims to have magical motivational [...]

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” – Pablo Picasso There’s a certain point at which writing skills must melt away and become part of your being, [...]

Are there secrets to good writing? You know all the platitudes as well as I do, the ones that insist that it’s mostly a matter of sweat, and very little of inspiration. The idea that persistence [...]

I am not qualified in any sense to make the following statement: Mathematical models in the field of physics and cosmology bear a truly remarkable resemblance to the reality they purport to [...]

I once read about a study which compared the happiness levels of those who had children to those who were childless. The general levels of happiness were higher, apparently, among the childless. [...]

Germaine Greer once interviewed Luciano Pavarotti at his Italian villa. She was ushered through into the presence of the great man on the terrace where he was having breakfast. He looked up at [...]

A friend of mine once found herself seated beside a doctor on a flight. “And what do you do?” he asked expansively, after treating her to a half-hour discourse on his many achievements. “I’m a [...]

If I were to give you a writing exercise challenging you to describe yourself, how would you go about it? What sort of information would you give? Well, of course I have no idea whatsoever what [...]

Douglas Adams, whose star shines brighter today than ever, is famous among writing and publishing communities for declaring that he “loved the sound of deadlines whooshing by”. In short, he was a [...]

Enjoy a bit of literary fun with All About Writing and Slow Life at our creative writing workshop at Casa Labia in Muizenberg. Be inspired by the cry of gulls as you release your creativity, [...]