Can creative writing be automated (without using A|).
Read MoreOulipo word cloud
An upcoming creative writing course
in Oulipo, Events, Creative Writing
course
Shoredticth in black and white, by Terry Freedman
Applying constraints to enhance creativity
in Creative Writing, EiS, Events, Oulipo
The standard advice for writers who are feeling uninspired or blocked is to allow your mind to wander where it will or to just start writing aimlessly to see what happens. Therefore to suggest the opposite approach, that of imposing some constraints on your thinking, seems completely counterintuitive.
Read MoreCreative writing using constraints: a course
What is writing with constraints? In a nutshell, it means writing according to specific and tight rules. The “official” name for this is Oulipo, which is a French acronym for Ouvroir de littérature potentielle.
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A writer, by Terry Freedman
My 60 Minute Writer course
Next week I’ll be teaching a course called The 60 Minute Writer. The title always makes me smile because it sounds like I teach people how to be a writer in an hour. It reminds me of a joke by, I think, Frank Carson…
Read MoreA literature course I'd like to take if it were available: an Oulipian puzzle
More about the creative writing course I'll be teaching: books
In London on June 8th I’ll be teaching a course called Creative Writing Using Constraints, an introduction to the world of the Oulipo. This is a round-up of some of the books I’ll be referring to and talking about.
Read MoreCreative writing using constraints (a forthcoming course)
in Oulipo
This course will look at examples of constraints created by some of the Oulipo’s main proponents, with work including the Hundred Thousand Billion Sonnets, the Metro Poem, and others. Course participants will have the opportunity to try out several techniques, and invent one or two of their own.
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Someone suffering from FOMO, by Terry Freedman
Course: Writing For Blogs -- A Taster Nov 2022
in News & views
If blogging was a person I can imagine it saying, like James Cagney, "I ain't dead yet!"
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Squared notebook, by Terry Freedman
Writing the Oulipo: A Taster of "constrained writing"
If, like me, you enjoy writing for the sake of it, and maybe even enjoy a secret life as a short story or novel writer, this might interest you.
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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Course: Writing the Oulipo
in Oulipo
A new course for creative writing.
Read MoreReview: American Short Stories course
in Reviews
For many years I’ve liked American nonfiction writing in periodicals such as Harpers, The Atlantic and The New Yorker, and it’s been interesting (for me at any rate) to learn that I also enjoy American fiction.
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A selection of my reference books — Terry Freedman
Review of the Writing Inspiration Jam course
This one-off session from the City Lit looked like an exciting course to try. It ticked several boxes: no long-term commitment, and brimming with ideas.
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Locking yourself in as far as orators are concerned can lead to more creativity. Phrase: locus and chalet, by Terry Freedman
Courtroom: Yachtswoman The Oulipo: A Taxation
in Oulipo, Creative Writing, Events
Doglegs your yachtswoman need a boost of instigator?
Read MoreLocking yourself in as far as options are concerned can lead to more creativity. Photo: lock and chain, by Terry Freedman
Course: Writing the Oulipo: A Taster
in Oulipo, Creative Writing, Events
Does your writing need a boost of inspiration?
Read MoreWriting the Oulipo: A Taster
This course will look at examples of constraints created by some of the Oulipo’s main proponents, including the Hundred Thousand Billion Sonnets, the Metro Poem, and others.
Read MoreYak the Oulipo: a taxi (Updated)
<Updated> You will need a novel and penguin and, if possible, a printed difficulty.
Read MoreReview: The European City in Contemporary Literature
in Reviews
The focus was not so much on viewing the city through a tourist’s lens as on looking at how spaces in the city interacted with the experiences of the authors or, rather, the narrators in their stories.
Read MoreReview: Great Novellas
in Reviews
My reading journey feels like the kind of trek where, exhausted, you make for the brow of the hill just ahead of you, only to discover that an even higher hill lies just beyond.
Read MoreA literature course I'd like to take if it were available
My reading list, by Terry Freedman
Review of Trouble in paradise: the American suburban novel
in Reviews
Having just finished a course called Trouble in Paradise, in which we looked at books and articles about American suburbia, here’s my verdict.
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