Sunday, January 14, 2007

Reading About Writing

It’s ironic that someone who has the aim to become a budding writer spends so much time on his arse reading about it! I seem to have spent my day (when not out with my mates – will divulge tomorrow) reading how to write, what’s good about writing and authors thoughts on writing. Yes I have been spending my day absorbed in The Guardian Review, Friday’s Independent Arts & Culture, The Telegraph’s Review, and two writing magazines. Plus my current book on the go is ‘The Thirteenth Tale’ which is about an author and a biographer – and is very good actually!

The author Zadie Smith (who’s On Beauty I have been doing for my choice in my Book Group) wrote an interesting piece in The Guardian on reader’s and writer’s obligations with a book. Haphazard reading and writing appear to be equal evils! The writer’s magazines I am unsure on. I don’t know how helpful I have found them –mind you by that point I was skim reading – does this make me a haphazard reader? One column I'm enjoying is in The Telegraph.

The author Louise Doughty is doing a column ‘A Writer’s Year’ where each week she is teaching her readers how to cultivate and hopefully write the perfect novel. This could have been a patronising piece but it’s really good. She seems to generally want to help and by showing her readers the problems she encounters. This week she was discussing the vexation of writing a new novel in a new year – yet it wasn’t negative. The other fabulous thing that I spotted – which I had no clue about – was a competition for writers. You write the first thousand words of your novel and authors will select the best 5 and then you get a lovely lunch with agents and authors, make sense? If not, or you want to enter the details are here www.telegraph.co.uk/awritersyear

Right – I am now back of to read my book, sorry I mean write my book!

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