Last night I attended one of the most interesting dinners I’ve ever been to, and like all good experiences, it ties in with an aspect of writing.

The meal was a special event hosted by Context Travel, one of their “Out of Context” events. It took place in Rome, in Enoteca Casa Bleve, and it was a scent dinner. (more…)

The BBC has an article on the virtues of typewriters.

“Have you ever tried to hack into my typewriter?” asks Frederick Forsyth. “It is very secure.”

Read it here.

If you’ve got some time on your hands, US magazine Poets & Writers has a very interesting interview with literary agent Nat Sobel (more…)

Okay crops up a lot in fiction writing, particularly in dialogue and first-person narrative. Where does it come from, and how should it be spelled? (more…)

There’s really no need for me to make a lengthy post about the semicolon; The Guardian has done it for me.

I can, at least, single out the paragraph that actually explains how to use it: (more…)

Wealthier readers of this blog might be interested in this news item on the BBC website.

Of course, buying the desk won’t make you a better writer, but it will mean you’re never short of something to talk about in restaurants (more…)

Nobody knows how to spell email. You might say, ‘nobody knows how to spell e-mail,’ but you’d be wrong. Or would you?

The issue of email vs. e-mail clearly raises blood pressures across the world. At the time of writing, the spelling question is right at the top of the Wikipedia article on e-mail. Meanwhile, a group calling itself the Email Experience Council has declared the official term to be email. They’ve even got a petition (more…)

Irregardless is a word that people love to hate. In fact, many would say that it isn’t a word at all, but rather the hideous result of a collision between irrespective and regardless (more…)

Although all writers are different (or so we like to believe), there are a few reference books that are all but indispensable to all of us. As a first post in the Writer’s Bookshelf category, here’s a list of three books that no writer can do without. Whether you’re a novice writing a science fiction epic, or an experienced professional writing a pacy crime thriller, the following should always be within arm’s reach: (more…)

Once you’ve decided on your characters’ names, you’ve still got the problem of what to actually call them. Take, say, Dr. Derek Burlington. Is he the Doctor, Doctor Burlington, Doctor Derek, Derek Burlington, Doc, Burlington, Derek, Bones, Del, Uncle Derek, D.B. or Burley?

Another Derek: Derek Trotter from British TV series Only Fools and Horses. He’s Delboy to his friends; Derek or Trotter to people he’s in trouble with; the name Trotter is spat out with contempt; and he’s the complete Derek Trotter when he’s trying to appear professional or gain somebody’s trust.

Remember Nabokov? (more…)

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