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What is it that makes a character come across as a caricature, rather than a finely drawn person we can believe in? Well, clearly, two-dimensionality plays its part. If you […]

I’ve spoken before about the implicit contract a writer strikes with her reader – a contract that includes such clauses as: I promise to tell a full story, paying proper […]

In a thoughtful article recently in The New York Times, Dara Horn took a few well-aimed swipes at billionaires who devote significant fractions of their fortunes to research into… immortality. [...]

Even seasoned writers sometimes forget about what characters want. The more we work with writers and their stories, the more I’ve come to realise that “wanting” is the very essence […]

What is fiction best at? Opening up other worlds? Introducing us to people beyond our usual circle? Enabling us to escape the quotidian into landscapes in which love, justice and […]

One of our mentoring participants is busy writing a charming memoir about settling in a small community – trying to make friends and build a meaningful life among the sometimes […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Here’s the premise of your story: your character has been travelling around India in search of the meaning of life. One day, she awakes and realises the answer she seeks […]

Let’s examine how a master story-teller whips a little literary confection into existence. Stephen King is the dude I’m thinking of – and the confection in question is a feature […]