“Writing, at its best, is a lonely life,” said Ernest Hemingway, whose idea of a great social life involved a remote cabin, dead animals, and the bottom of a brandy glass. “Organizations for writers palliate the writer’s loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing.” Isaac Asimov – a self-confessed claustrophile whose greatest childhood wish, according to his autobiography,… Read more »
An email exchange between Stevie Ronnie and Liam Owen reflecting on the making of Four Years from Now, Walking with My Daughter. An animation by Liam Owen inspired by Stevie Ronnie’s poem of the same name. SR: So Liam, you’re not a big reader of poetry. What made you think about making an animation from my poem?… Read more »
I was stuck in a rut. My blogging was sluggish and I’d been working on a novel for two years with no end in sight. I was moaning to my brother over Skype about the slow path my career was taking, when he said: “So write a novel on Wattpad.” He told me his girlfriend was reading a… Read more »
The publishing industry has undergone many changes over the last few years, many of which can be attributed to the disruptions brought about by digital technologies. Alongside the rise of self-/ indie- publishing we are also seeing new types of publisher emerge, publishers who are turning traditional models and methods on their head and finding… Read more »
Ten years ago I had an idea. It happened – as these things often do – when one area of my work rubbed up against another. In this case, the question of how to shoehorn the diverse and tangential life of a forgotten eighteenth-century writer (William Hayley 1745-1820) into a book-shaped structure met the PR work I… Read more »
Self-publishing has transformed the publishing landscape forever. Kobo Writing Life is one of the platforms available to writers wishing to publish and disseminate their work. We caught up with Diego Marano, UK Manager of Kobo Writing Life, about how the platform works with writers as well as the opportunities and challenges writer’s face today. What… Read more »
Last year David Varela wrote for 100 hours straight to raise money for the Arvon Foundation. Readers could watch every keystroke David made as he composed the commissions that people pledged for. Now he has teamed up with writer, Gemma Seltzer, to produce a new Live Writing Series. Seven writers will be live writing at… Read more »
CompletelyNovel.com is an online publishing community and social-sharing site for book-lovers which helps self-published writers to publish quality print editions at competitive prices. We spoke to Anna Lewis, co-founder of Completely Novel, about why print is still important in the digital age. — Are print books still relevant for independent authors? With eBook sales on the… Read more »
We ran a workshop called The Object of the Story for the Making Day at Mix 2013, introducing our work and exploring how digital technology is offering new platforms for telling stories. Objects often spark stories or memories, from the jewellery we wear to the ornaments in our homes. Using RFID technology (found in libraries and Oyster cards), we taught the group how to… Read more »
The Writing Platform bursaries have come to a close. We caught up with Ben Gwalchmai and James Wheale. This team used the bursary to build on their existing work on story and movement and build a prototype of a mobile app called Fabler. Fabler enables users to experience story through movement: stories will play when the user… Read more »