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Six years ago I sat at a table at All’Armoria, a restaurant perched on the lip of the quay overlooking the Guidecca Canal in Venice enjoying the late summer sun and a fine Campari spritz. While [...]

I’ve always been fascinated by the relationship between readers and writers; and by the implicit contract entered into between a reader and the book – and hence the writer of that book – when he [...]

Let’s think about a series of very tiny – but, some say, enormously significant – decisions that every writer has to take when beginning a story, and that is, what names should they give their [...]

Stories are universal, and some are told over and over again, in different ways, with diverse characters and in vastly differing times and places. Never be afraid of approaching a story of love, [...]

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya stands on the brink of an athletic breakthrough that many thought could never be achieved. In the Berlin marathon in September, he set a new world record of two hours, one [...]

Need some instant inspiration to get writing? Who doesn’t. Here are ten of our Monday Motivations, all focusing on story, sure to spur you on. Read them all at once, or one a day, to gain advice, [...]

Welcome to this month’s newsletter Many of our community, it seems, have earmarked 2018 as their year for writing. We’ve had so many requests for help and support, we’ve decided to dedicate [...]

What would our fourth annual Venice Writing Retreat give you? That’s easy, if we quote one of our past participants, who called it “a life-changing experience”. It will certainly provide [...]

I often contemplate the power of habitual behaviour. I observe it daily in our cats. One habitually sits with his front paws – I tend to think of them as his hands – resting neatly on his curled [...]

There is a time when writing requires contemplation for ideas to coalesce. To write you need sometimes to daydream; to allow your thoughts to roam aimlessly. But this is dangerous territory. When [...]

Were you anticipating the new year with any relish? We usually do look forward to the new year with some degree of excited anticipation. The world conspires to encourage us to do so. It’s the [...]

Stare at the screen. That’s my advice for the week. I know, holidays are over, we’re all back at work and now we’re faced with the reality of those good intentions. And … your mind is blank. You [...]