The Writer Laid Bare

One of the best pieces of advice a writer can get is – read, read, READ. Read as widely and as voraciously as you can. Make reading a priority even over writing, at least for some years. Be adventurous in …

Once, I was a full-time writer.

My day began at six, with coffee and a slice or two of fruit toast. I’d ruminate on character arcs and plot developments as though they were the very stuff of life. If time …

Some time ago I was approached by a writer asking me to mentor her. She was writing a novel set in seventeenth century Spain. I read the synopsis. The story – a young woman has to choose between her sexual …

In an interview with Design Matters, writer Dani Shapiro stated: ‘When you bring out a memoir, the feeling is of the life being reviewed — not the book being reviewed.’ Many memoirists, as they start unfolding their lives on …

Recently I read the novel Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. I didn’t like much any of its main characters – an angry, depressive rocker; a housewife who spends her life not doing what she wants; her saintly husband who nevertheless sells …

‘Remember that novel I wrote, inspired by our open marriage?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well it’s finally being published. As a memoir.’

‘I see.’

‘Don’t worry. I’ve turned you into a beautiful character.’

‘Just what I always wanted. To be a character.’

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