Sad, cross and guilty – the story of an unfinished read

My reading tastes are pretty wide-ranging. I like a challenge. I like a good story. I’m nosy as well as persistent, so however poor a start, I’ll plough on with most books because I want to know what happens.

I’ll read almost anything: from Pascal Mercier’s Night Train to Lisbon and Kafka’s The Trial to […]

So how well DO you know your main character?

On my Arvon Foundation course in early October, we had a workshop on characterisation led by Mavis Cheek and Paul Sussman. They showed us how well we must get to know our main character(s) if we want to ensure they are fully-developed. Ask them questions!

Here are a few they suggested… 1. What is your […]

Weird, or what?

Driving back from swimming today, I was carefully navigating the narrow road between old stone buildings in a village on my route, when the road gently rose to the level of the railway crossing. It’s an unprotected level crossing, from the road user’s point of view perched on a rise in the road. The barriers […]