Tag: Margaret Atwood

Ed’s Casual Friday: Margaret Atwood on Time.

So why would I just reproduce a long poem by Margaret Atwood – Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” – in lieu of writing a whole new column on this Ed’s Casual Friday?

Well, first, because I’m a slacker at heart. But second, because I think it speaks to an issue that relatively few writers take into consideration whenever the inevitable “Trad vs. Indie” discussion comes up. Here is the thing all new writers should know: In the day-to-day life of a writer, Trad vs. Indie is a false distinction. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: Margaret Atwood on Time.”

The Three Rs – Rules of Riting Revisited

Illustration: Andrzej Krauze
Illustration: Andrzej Krauze

So, after flirting with anarchy in my last blog post, I’m now going to continue to obsess about rules, just like that lady who didth protest too much.

In my defence, rules are kind of fascinating, even when we disagree with them. I mean, how was it decided, for example, that in the English city of Chester, you can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls after midnight? Not even sure which part of that rule I disagree with most, especially since it’s apparently okay to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow in York at any time of day or night. Except Sundays. (Oh, that’s alright, then. And no, I promise I’m not making any of this up, you can check.)

But, back on track. My purposes here are to highlight a really cool link, in which the Guardian newspaper, following an excellent response by crime writer Elmore Leonard to a similar request, asked a bunch of accomplished writers to list up to ten “rules of writing” of their own. It really is an impressive list. Now, I could simply point you there and hope you go read them, but not only would this be a very short blog post, but the piece itself is very long, is in two parts, and honestly, even I am not that naive. So instead, I’ll grab a fairly random handful of these rules, and hold them up for inspection. As well as mockery. Okay, not mockery; some sporadic light teasing, perhaps. All done in a spirit of affection, of course. Continue reading “The Three Rs – Rules of Riting Revisited”