By nature, I am a confessional writer. The more difficult, dramatic, my life is – the better I actually fare. Artistically that is. And yet… It has taken me twenty years to dare to tell one of the most transformative …
Writing Violence: A Guest Post by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
It was only after several years of studying the Armenian genocide, in an effort to write about my family’s history, that I learned about the terrorist groups. There were two – the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, …
Writing Moral Ambiguity: A Guest Post by Kate Murdoch
When I sat down to write my second novel, The Orange Grove, it was the culmination of my love and preoccupation with everything French. I had studied the language for years and visited France numerous times. Yet what really …
What makes a good personal essay?
I’ve always loved the personal essay genre, especially because of the freedom embedded within it. A personal essayist can say whatever they wish directly; unlike in fiction, there is no need to couch their views, or research, in an imagined …
Writing Through The Tough Times: Guest Post by Claire Halliday
Once, when my mother-in-law was murdered by her husband, I dealt with the shock and subsequent anger of it all by writing it out of me. Dubious poetry poured from every pore, and my freelance writing for newspapers and magazines …
Re-discovering the joy of writing: Guest post by Louise Allan
Last year, a few months after the publication of my first novel, I began writing my second book. I thought it would be easier this time, as I was armed with knowledge and experience and wouldn’t make the rookie mistakes …