MacNovel on Twitter- macnovel: @isabelcostello @PeteDomican Sadly or fortunately, the post is so long it won't drive lots of traffic to you - only the bored or insomniacs. May 25, 2013
- macnovel: @isabelcostello @petedomican I'm going to put a blog post up today that mentions your blogs with links there. Hope that's OK. May 25, 2013
- macnovel: @FemalePTSD being a living artwork - falling on to that mat. It was surprisingly interesting - you do feel momentarily out of control. May 24, 2013
- Isabel Costello Literary Sofa
- This Itch of Writing
- Plain and perfect, rich and rare: what is "lyrical" writing? May 20, 2013
- This Happy Fellow: my year at Goldsmiths May 14, 2013
- Tomorrow to fresh finds and problems new May 9, 2013
- Guardian Book Blog
- Reader reviews roundup May 24, 2013 Claire Armitstead
- A brief survey of the short story part 49: Guy de Maupassant May 24, 2013 Chris Power
- The best books on Vietnam: start your reading here | Pushpinder Khaneka May 23, 2013 Pushpinder Khaneka
- The Forest for the Trees — Betsy Lerner
- So I TUrned Myself To Face Me May 23, 2013
- Sooner or Later It All Gets Real** May 16, 2013
- I Thought That I Heard You Sing May 2, 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
- My work here is done - after a free book giveaway September 5, 2012
- All my advice about publishing and writing September 4, 2012
- The Elephant in the Writing Room
- Balance May 17, 2013
- Now is the Month of Maying... May 7, 2013
- The Paris Winter: author Imogen Robertson visits The Elephant April 24, 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 myth of delayed motherhood May 18, 2013
- The extreme female brain February 21, 2013
- Kevin MacNeil and Willie Campbell Are Visible From Space October 24, 2012
- 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
- Sometimes I Lie A Little
- Some Things That
- Moira Garland’s Blog
- Partisan writing April 11, 2013
- Brain error? April 7, 2013
- Longing April 4, 2013
- Talli Roland
- Love, Cupid, and Gosling May 20, 2013
- London-versary! May 13, 2013
- Books, Bank Holiday, and Baby! May 6, 2013
- Charlie Mackle
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Tag Archives: workshops
Eurovision, Bowie and Homogeneity
It’s been so long since the last post I’ve taken inspiration from the chiller at the end of the aisle in my local Tesco and have produced three posts for the price of one. Last Saturday night, primed with a … Continue reading
Posted in General Life, Influences, Research, Writing Process
Tagged agents, art, BBC, BBC Nationwide, Bernard Falk, Capital, Cliff Richard, Creative Writing Classes, david bowie, Eurovision Song Contest, feedback, high concept, homogeneity, Isabel Costello, John Lanchester, Olivia Newton John, Pete Domican, Research, Rules of Creative Writing, song lyrics, swivel-eyed loons, The Literary Sofa, Twitter, V&A museum. verbasizer, Words and Pictures, workshops, X-Factor
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(M)eine Grafitti Shoreditch Wedding
It’s a slightly cheesy caption for the above photo but those in the know will also recognise it as the name of a pub near Old Street, on the edge of Shoreditch and the place I ended up with the … Continue reading
Posted in Research
Tagged art, Ben Eine, Boxpark, Ebor Street, graffiti, Redchurch Street, setting, Shoreditch, Street art, Wedding, workshops
1 Comment
Was It Worth It?
Last Saturday morning five of us ex of the City course met for our last workshopping session of the current year (although it’s two years since we finished the course we’re still loosely following the Sep-June academic year). I sent … Continue reading
Posted in Frustrations, Writing Process
Tagged agents, artists, Creative Writing Classes, Delia Smith, editing, frustration, holidays, London, motivation, Olympics, Publishing, Shoreditch, subconscious, synopsis, time management, time passing, tiredness, work, workshops
3 Comments
Out of the Chaos — A Manuscript
I’ve been quiet on this blog for the last month or so for a a good reason, which is that I’ve been frantically trying to pull together a draft of the novel-in-progress to be professionally read by someone who knows … Continue reading
Posted in Writing Process
Tagged agents, deadlines, first draft, magic quadrant, motivation, word count, workshops
1 Comment
Apologies to Tamara Watts
The user name below, found on an office ‘multi-function device’ (i.e. printer), appealed to my puerile streak. I guess I shouldn’t laugh — maybe Mr Timothy or Ms Tamara Watts has had to deal with such sniggering throughout their lives — … Continue reading
Not Balderdash or Piffle
I always thought Victoria Coren — of Balderdash and Piffle and Only Connect was an intelligent person but now I realise she’s a rarer breed — an intelligent person who’s not a cultural snob. In her column from today’s Observer (retweeted … Continue reading
Posted in General Life
Tagged King Lear, Michael McIntyre, snobbery, Victoria Coren, workshops
1 Comment
Non-Instant Karma — We All Shine On
I’ve recently been writing a very tricky chapter of The Angel in which Kim falls over and hurts herself and believes it might signify some sort of bad karma — which it may well be bearing in mind what she’s … Continue reading
Posted in Writing Process
Tagged Bicester Village, commuting, dialogue, exposition, feedback, internal dialogue, karma, planning, progress, serendipity, The Angel, workshops
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Claire King’s Rules For Writing Novels
I was tweeting in pique at the weekend while watching Sue Perkins’s documentary on genre fiction — a programme that I’ll probably get around to blogging about more at length but I put a comment on The Art’s Desk’s review … Continue reading
Posted in Writing Process
Tagged claire king, Creative Writing Classes, Jonathan Franzen, Twitter, workshops, writing rules
6 Comments
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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Infinite Universes
I watched an edition of Horizon on BBC2 a few weeks ago which attempted to discuss the utterly bizarre nature of what we perceive as reality once it’s considered by physicists — quantum, astro- and various other varieties. (It’s available … Continue reading
On Misinterpretation
If I ever get very rich (from writing or otherwise — though neither possibility is likely) one thing I may do is go to every bookshop I can find (possibly not that many if they keep closing at the rate … Continue reading
Posted in Writing Process
Tagged adverbs, Creative Writing Classes, feedback, Jane Austen, On Writing, passive voice, Stephen King, style, workshops
11 Comments
Co-Incidences Do Happen
Yesterday, in an example of complete chance the first non-league team in the FA Cup 5th round for 17 years, Crawley Town, drew Manchester United away — for anyone who doesn’t know, Manchester United are unbeaten in the Premier League … Continue reading
Revising/Re-drafting/Editing?
One handy aspect of this blog from my own perspective is that I’ve gradually found many other blogs that I’ve linked to and taken RSS and Atom feeds from (see toolbar on the right). Some are those written by friends … Continue reading
One Day
‘One Day’ by David Nicholls won the Sainsbury’s Popular Fiction prize at the Galaxy National Book Awards last week. I’ve mentioned this book in passing a couple of times on this blog since I read it in the summer. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in character, Fictional Genres, Plot, Publishing, Structure
Tagged adverbs, Amazon reviews, book covers, character, cinematic novels, Creative Writing Classes, David Nicholls, dialogue, Galaxy National Book Awards, genre, marketing, One Day, pop music, Publishing, Structure, the Smiths, workshops, writing from opposite gender POV
2 Comments
Noise Words
Over the summer I sent out a chapter of ‘The Angel’ to Guy to read, who’s a fellow (ex-)student from the City University course and always gives excellent, well-informed and comprehensive feedback. One thing he pointed out, which was blindingly … Continue reading
Spooked at City University
I was watching Spooks last night and jumped up off the sofa, not at any cliff-hanging drama, but because the terrorist from ‘Azakstan’ who was after a deadly nerve agent that could kill everyone in London in a week, was … Continue reading
Posted in Plot, Research
Tagged Charing Cross Station, City University Certificate in Novel Writing, location, plausibility, Research, setting, Spooks, tube, workshops
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Course Junkie
Not satisfied with having recently finished the City University Certificate in Novel Writing while also doing the dissertation of an MSc in Software Development at the Open University, I’ve now taken the plunge and started an MA in Creative Writing. … Continue reading
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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Word of the Week…
…from Monday’s workshop and Wednesday’s reading run through is ‘rippling’. I used it right at the end of my reading and it was used to great effect by Rick in his workshopped chapter and by Charlotte in her reading. I’m … Continue reading
‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser, Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie and the Bulgarian Carrot
For various reasons I’ve been incredibly pushed for time over the last week — principally related to a suspected outbreak of an unpleasant type of virus in the household. While it didn’t affect me directly, it had quite a knock … Continue reading
