Category: The writer’s life

Why bad reviews make me happy

August 4 2017, I got this terrific review from a reader named Anne Hill in the US. THE MOST BORING BOOK EVER WRITTENI’m afraid this…

Harry 5 July 2019

0 Comments

How To Title a Book

Of all the writing habits I have, one of the worst – the worst from good financial sense point of view – is that I…

Harry 28 June 2019

111 Comments

The power of the list

Here are two facts about this ambition / profession of ours that can look daunting: It’s damn hard to write a good book It’s damn…

Harry 21 June 2019

2 Comments

New York Gets Daunted

Usually, on Thursday afternoon or so, I start pondering what I’m going to write about on Friday. This week: no pondering. There’s only one thing…

Harry 14 June 2019

6 Comments

Fractals, scenes and the bones of the fallen

I’ve been reading a terrific guest post on our blog by our Craig Taylor. (And actually, “guest post” doesn’t feel like quite the right term,…

Harry 7 June 2019

4 Comments

Today’s inspiration…

Emma 4 June 2019

1 Comment

Late nights and leakages

I had plans for today, plans that involved some interesting and actually useful work. But – Our boiler sprang a leak. Even with the mains…

Harry 31 May 2019

10 Comments

The Secret of Style

Voice. It’s the secret sauce of writing. The magical herb that transforms your stew. It’s the leaf of gold in a martini. The lemony brightness.…

Harry 24 May 2019

2 Comments

The days that say no

Here’s the place to talk about today’s email – “The days that say no” – in which I talk about that feeling of reluctance to…

Harry 10 May 2019

24 Comments

Email 3 May – All things non-fiction

Want to ask questions? Got any follow-up? Don’t agree with something I said? Then here’s the place to do it. I’ll follow the chat thread…

Harry 3 May 2019

16 Comments