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That Pile of Clippings Needs to be Read

I collect articles from newspapers that I want to read. I only sometimes have time to read them in detail, and I’m always sure there’s something that I will miss. On Sunday I went through a pile and kept notes on what these prompted me to think. The first clipping is an interview with Tina…

Tim Dowling on how to write an article

Four years ago, on Monday, 11 December 2017, I attended a talk given by the Guardian columnist Tim Dowling at the Guardian newspaper headquarters in North London. Tim writes amusing observational articles about his life, which he calls ‘wonky trolley’ writing. He writes about his family, playing in a band, their animals at home, and…

The Power of Lists

Kurt Cobain, Stanley Kubrick, F Scott Fitzgerald. Strange bedfellows, but one thing they all had in common was their love of writing lists. I use lists to brainstorm ideas and dig into the story ideas. At first, the words feel disjointed, like fragments floating in space, but soon it is possible to find common links…

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