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- XX or XY? Do readers care about gender of author? June 17, 2013
- Guest Author – Susan Elliot Wright on Writing a Dual Narrative June 10, 2013
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- This Itch of Writing
- Guardian Book Blog
- The best books on Egypt: start your reading here | Pushpinder Khaneka June 19, 2013 Pushpinder Khaneka
- A note on Neil Gaiman's politics June 18, 2013 Paul Owen
- Neil Gaiman in conversation June 17, 2013 Paul Owen
- The Forest for the Trees — Betsy Lerner
- I Love You Just the Way You Are June 16, 2013
- I’m Trying To Beat Life Cause I Can’t Cheat Death June 3, 2013
- Could It Be That It Was All So Simple Then May 30, 2013
- Kathy Greethurst’s Blog
- Untitled January 10, 2013 Kathy Greethurst
- Bloody Flies by Andrew J Keir - Review by Helena Frith Powell June 7, 2012 Kathy Greethurst
- A wonderful afternoon in Avebury February 22, 2012 Kathy Greethurst
- How Publishing Really Works
- Does The Self-Publishing Review Fall For Robert Duperre? March 29, 2012
- The Self-Publishing Review Goes In Search Of The Menopause Ranch March 22, 2012
- Travelling To The Self-Published Review March 15, 2012
- Female PTSD — A Blog By A Brave Female Victim of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Help I Need A Publisher
- I'm still here... December 31, 2012
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- Two last questions for DEAR CRABBIT September 3, 2012
- The Elephant in the Writing Room
- Sunshine and Showers June 15, 2013
- Not a lot of writing but a whole load of reading... June 5, 2013
- Jon and the Pacemakers May 31, 2013
- Bren Gosling’s Blog (ex-City Novel coursemate)
- Short listed for the Harry Bowling Prize ! January 30, 2012 Bren Gosling
- About - Sweeping up the Village- by Bren Gosling January 16, 2012 Bren Gosling
- A taster... December 22, 2011 Bren Gosling
- Charlotte Haigh MacNeil’s Blog (ex-City Novel Coursemate and Journalist)
- The real reason insomniacs can’t sleep June 7, 2013
- The myth of delayed motherhood May 18, 2013
- The extreme female brain February 21, 2013
- Michael Braga Writes (ex-City Novel coursemate)
- THE SIGNS -A short story by Michael Braga Oct 2010 October 10, 2010
- Friday thoughts on a Monday afternoon September 6, 2010
- The pursuit of sadness August 25, 2010
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- Partisan writing April 11, 2013
- Brain error? April 7, 2013
- Longing April 4, 2013
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Tag Archives: psychology
Know What You Write
I’ve recently been writing a new scene for the novel involving street art. As readers of the blog will know, I’ve spent plenty of time recently learning about street art and observing it around Shoreditch (on Thursday this week I was … Continue reading
Posted in Influences, Research
Tagged Adam Neate, art, art galleries, artists, Berlin, Elms Lesters Painting Rooms, graffiti, Kim, Love Art London, method acting, psychology, setting, sex, Shoreditch, Street art, Tate Gallery
2 Comments
Broad Beans and Sea Urchins
I was in London today and took the time to do a bit of novel-related research. I’m planning on setting a small part of my novel in the Tate Modern and so thought it might be in the spirit of … Continue reading
Posted in Research, Writing Process
Tagged aphrodisiacs, backstory, broad beans, Daunt Books, food, Gerhard Richter, iguanas, London, psychology, sea urchin, setting, Tate Modern, The City, The Shard
1 Comment
What Happens in Vegas…
…ends up in my novel. This may be something of a surprise seeing as most of it is set in an English country pub which, apart from the copious amounts of booze drunk, is probably one of the places least … Continue reading
Posted in Influences
Tagged backstory, Beatles, contrasts, Emma, James, Kim, las vegas, psychology, Research, sex, theme
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Senseless
Having written a post about what a vibrant, international city London is — and having written a significant number of words for my novel that use London as a setting — I’ve been feeling physically sickened by the events over … Continue reading
Posted in Frustrations
Tagged criminality, Hackney, James, Kim, London, looting, motivation, Pembury Tavern, psychology, setting, thuggery
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Behind Closed Doors
In W.H.Smiths in Marylebone Station I recently spotted a new novel by Lucy Kellaway, the FT’s management correspondent, whose debunking of management theory codswallop is always entertaining. Her last novel ‘Martin Lukes: Who Moved My Blackberry’ was my holiday reading … Continue reading
Do It Like A Dude
The Angel has an old-fashioned love triangle at its heart and, while I know the eventual outcome I want to write, I’ve been gripped by an internal debate about how much of this tension should be shown in the novel … Continue reading
Posted in Influences
Tagged drugs, feedback, Jessie J, Katy Perry, Lady GaGa, Lip Service, motivation, pop music, psychology, sex, workshops
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Yellow
I’ve been writing a part of the novel where Kim is painting and she uses the concept of colour association to both tell James what she’s thinking and also to send him a coded message and ultimatum, should he be … Continue reading
Posted in character
Tagged art, colour, Kim, Mark Rothko, painting, poetry, psychology
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The Pub Landlord Discovers the Art of Germany
Just like buses — you wait for a programme on German art for ages then a whole series comes along on BBC4, which started last night. This should be fertile material for anyone writing about a character who’s a German … Continue reading
Posted in character, Research
Tagged artists, BBC4, Germany, Kim, motivation, Plot, psychology, rural traditions, setting, suburbia
12 Comments
Playlists
This is a post mainly about playlists associated with novels but also has a few references to the BBC3 TV programme Lip Service, which ended its first series last night. Having had a look at a few website analytics I have … Continue reading
Posted in Influences
Tagged copyright, Dead Kennedys, Lip Service, Penny Rudge, playlists, pop music, psychology
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Strictly No Sex Please in the British Literary Novel?
After the Facebook campaign that led Tony Blair’s ‘A Journey’ to be involuntarily moved within bookshops to the war or crime sections, there’s much excitement that a passage from the book has been urged for short-listing in the Literary Review’s … Continue reading
Posted in character, Influences, Writing Process
Tagged 'On Chesil Beach', Andrew Motion, Auberon Waugh, character, dancing, eroticism, experience of reading, Hilary Mantel, Ian McEwan, language, Man Booker Prize, Martin Amis, point of view, psychology, readings, sex, Strictly Come Dancing, subconscious, Susanna Rustin, tango
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John Nash in Meadle
An update to the post on ‘Totes Meer’ below. I was in Tesco’s and they’ve started to do a small selection of ‘local’ books. One was a walks in Buckinghamshire guide. I like to flick through these as they usually … Continue reading
Posted in Influences
Tagged artists, Germany, John Nash, psychology, Research, setting, subconscious, Tate Gallery, The Cornfield, The Moat Grange Farm Kimble, theme, walking, War
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Churning Through the Mud
Autumn seems to have crept upon us — it’s grey, drizzly and windy outside — and I’m facing the realisation  that I’ve not written half as much as I hoped over the summer. I made some amends last week by … Continue reading
Posted in Writing Process
Tagged agents, Certificate in Novel Writing course, deadlines, feedback, German, Kim, motivation, noise words, pace, Penny Rudge, poetry, productivity, psychology, redrafting, subconscious, workshops
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The Narrative Center
As mentioned in the last post, I just spent a very long weekend in Center Parcs (staying until late Monday afternoon. trying to get most value for money). I’ve been to all the Center Parcs in the country although the … Continue reading
Posted in Plot, Research
Tagged Action Company Challenge, Aerial Adventure, author, BA, Center Parcs, customer service, Disneyland, Elveden, holidays, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, MBA, motivation, narrative, narrator, Penny Lane, planning, Plot, psychology, Research, security, Structure, subconscious, The Economist, Thomson Holidays
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Top Bombing
A friend of mine sent me a YouTube link to the new John Smiths’ Peter Kay advert. His observation in sending it was that it picks up a subtle difference between the sexes in that often women try to guess … Continue reading
Posted in character
Tagged character, evolutionary psychology, James, John Smiths, log lines, Peter Kay, psychology, relationships, sex
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