Tag Archives: On writing

How to edit: Rick Moody’s ‘Guide to Revision’

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Even in our days of the internet, when almost everything can be found and traced online, there are still some things that are handed on, from person to person. In a creative writing course a few years ago, I received a copy of author Rick Moody‘s ‘Guide to Revision’. It is a very helpful essay, detailing twelve useful steps to improving one’s writing. The document itself seems rather quaint: there are no publication details, but rather a PO Box address for the author, and any source I could find on the internet seems to provide copies of the same, home-typed document. Here it is again, and thank you, Mr Moody: Rick Moody ‘A Guide to Revision’

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A thought by Gillian Slovo

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I heard Gillian Slovo, the South African-born author, last Saturday at the International Literature Festival Dublin 2017. She was talking, along with fellow writer Danielle McLaughlin, to author and psychotherapist Susie Orbach, on the topic of Why We Write. Orbach was fantastic in gently teasing out subtexts and hidden corners of thoughts – it felt more like being privy to an intimate conversation than listening to a panel discussion where, in the worst cases, the same old clichés are being rehearsed.

The questions of why we write, and how we write, fascinate me. Continue reading →

A thought by Jeanette Winterson

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Jeanette Winterson (*1959) is a writer and professor of creative writing. She is the author of several semi-autobiographical books; the first among them was Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Her books often have a near magical-realist feel, as they often feature highly symbolic elements, which fit her family background rooted in Pentecostal Christianity with its focus on spirituality, miracles, sin and other topics outside of the mundane, daily world. Her book titles sometimes feature fruit (oranges, cherries…) but again, they are used symbolically. Not as food writing, unfortunately.

Book Fix Dublin – Chapters

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img_20161121_153249Where to find good books in Dublin?

No.3 – Chapters on Parnell Street. A goldmine for hardcover books, and Ireland’s largest independent bookstore.

I used to think of Chapters as a sort of bargain bookstore. The prices are shown on the front of the books with large, red-and-white stickers, and often they are “special prices” and actual bargains. This makes a big difference on  hardcover books. I have no great ambition to own my fiction in hardcover, in fact, I prefer paperbacks, as they are lightweight and fit better into my handbags. But food and cookery books often come only in hardcover, and Chapters was instrumental in helping me build up my collection of recipe and reference books on food and wine. For the same reason, anybody interested in coffee table books on Art and Architecture should not miss visiting this store.  Continue reading →

Book Fix Dublin – Hodges Figgis

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img_20161120_152432 Where to find good books in Dublin?

No.2 – Hodges Figgis. The name sounds like a Dickens character, the shopfront looks exactly how you would picture Dublin’s oldest bookstore. Huge windows full of books curve towards the door like a bell jar. Their frames and the door are dark green, like the leather inserts on a library table.

But the shop is not resting on its long and illustrious pedigree (which includes being mentioned in Ulysses, no less).  From humanities, business and sciences on the top floor to the sweeping selection of classic and modern literature, Hodges Figgis is eminently knowledgeable without being snobbish.  Continue reading →

Book Fix Dublin – The Secret Book and Record Store

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img_20161118_141610Where to find good books in Dublin?

No.1 – The Secret Book and Record Store. A bookworms’ lair unfazed by fashions.

The Secret Book and Record Store is not all that secretly located in the city centre of Dublin. Around the corner from busy Grafton Street, amidst cafés and shops, a large yellow sign adorns the entrance. The corridor burrows away into the old building. At the end of it, boxes and tables and shelves full of books fill a low room almost to the ceiling.

Continue reading →