Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Captivating review of Laurent Binet's new historical novel "HHhH", about rise and fall of Reinhard Heydrich. SS intelligence chief known as "Himmler's brain". Planned Kristallnacht, convened infamous Wannsee Conference. Assassinated
How to write the next "Fifty Shades Of Grey". "Every mega-hit is fast, emotionally charged and written simply, with a maverick hero who is in over his head. Each discusses a thorny issue and includes a pivotal sexual incident".
"For those of us who email on a regular basis, which is basically everyone, all the time these days, there's a certain pressure to use an '!' in every email, fearing we'd otherwise come off as dour, sarcastic or just plain rude"
Interview with Nobel-winning author, now 81. Still regrets not writing under her real name, Chloe Wofford. But interested in literary not personal posterity. Latest novel, Home, takes new approach stylistically
F Scott Fitzgerald writes to his friend Hemingway asking for his opinion on Tender is the Night. Hemingway replies. "We are all bitched from the start. But when you get the damned hurt use it—don't cheat with it"
In defence of texting and email as height of sophistication. They do not signal the end of formal writing, rather the start of a unique innovation. "They are not 'writing' in the sense we are accustomed to. They are fingered speech"
Learning requires effort. And that is how it should be. So it's dismal to see "the traditional set texts chopped up into boneless nuggets of McKnowledge, and students encouraged to do their research – such as it is – on the web"
Enough of the animated paper clip. And the autocorrect. And the HTML crust. And the forcible indenting of anything resembling a list. Word is the fax machine of our time. You really get to hate the people who still use it
Text of letter CS Lewis sent to a fan in 1956. Contains memorable advice on writing, correct use of English. Remember: "Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean 'More people died' don't say 'Mortality rose'"
Intriguing review of new title on bizarre Parisian writers' collective Oulipo, which practices "the science of literature in a conditional mood", or what it calls "pataphysics". The height of surreal linguistic trickery
Reflections on "Roget's Thesaurus", the creation of an obsessive list-maker who thought he was restoring divine order to the chaos of the English language. A vital tool, and a dangerous temptation, to generations of writers
Good writing is mostly about having good ideas. Public speaking is almost the opposite. It's about polished delivery, and working the crowd. Speaking works well for inspiration and motivation. But not for conveying ideas
Image by premieroctobre on Flickr
