One of the things we should all do as writers is study other people's works to try to discern how they achieved particular effects, or how they use language. It's known as 'close reading'.
Read MoreEssay for an advanced literary course
Bookshelf
On this day: Oulipo books
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, On this day, Reviews
On 17 June 2021 I wrote a round-up of my reviews of books about the Oulipo. Here’s a link to that article.
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Books to be reviewed ,by Terry Freedman
Indexes and tables of contents
in Bookshelf, Reflections
One of the first things I look for when reviewing a non-fiction book is whether or not it contains an index. If it does, the next thing I check is whether the index is actually useful.
Read MoreBook review: A Head Full of Everything: Inspiration for Teenagers With the World on Their Mind
Being a teenager is not easy.
Read MoreReview: Murder Your Darlings
The book covers language, voice, audience and other aspects of writing.
Read MoreReview: A Little Book of Language
It's always been my contention that practitioners should know as much about what they do as possible.
Read MoreReview: How to read like a writer
This is a very interesting, and useful, book. It covers a range of types of writing.
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Click to see this book on Thames and Hudson’s website.
Review of Gothic: An Illustrated History (expanded review)
If watching a film in a cinema makes you wish you’d brought a friend along to walk home with, or reading a story makes you leave all the lights on when you go to bed, then there’s a good chance the film or the story was gothic.
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Click the cover to see this on Thames and Hudson’s website.
Review of Gothic: An Illustrated History -- Education version
in Bookshelf, Reviews, Short form
This review was first published in Teach Secondary magazine. I’ve included it here because it meets some of the requirements of the English Programme of Study.
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On this day: The Greek Myths
in Bookshelf, On this day, Reviews
If you have forgotten what bad writing looks like, read on…
Read MoreReview: The New Penguin Book of American Short Stories
It is also worth bearing in mind that some of the best nonfiction writers, notably Gay Talese, make copious use of the fiction writer's tools.
Read MoreReview: Story Craft
An especially useful idea is the ladder of abstraction, which is equivalent, in cinematic terminology, to the level of detail in a scene, from close-up to long shot.
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Review: Index, A History Of The: A Bookish Adventure
This book has two indexes, one computer-generated, the other compiled by an indexer, so you can compare the two.
Read MoreReview: Audio for Authors
These days it’s as difficult as it is daft for writers to ignore the benefits of using audio applications.
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Click to see this on Amazon
Quick look: The 12 Week Year for Writers
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
This is a book about strategy and meeting objectives rather than a how-to-write guide.
Read MoreShort-form writing (book review)
When your word count is restricted, you have to make every word count.
Read MoreReview: Ex Libris, by Matt Madden
This is quite unlike any other graphic novel I’ve read, and here are the reasons.
Read MoreQuick look: Overthinking My Novel
in Bookshelf
This book is free, today (2 October 2021) only.
Read MoreThe very first article on this website...
… was a review of a book called The Well-Fed Writer. That was in 2010, and the book seems to be still available. Do I still agree with it’s suggestions?
Read MoreReview: 99 Ways to tell a story
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book, Reviews
The book works in so many ways that it’s hard to know where to start.
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