Writing
Why do we write dedications in books?
When my siblings and I were clearing out my dad’s bookshelves (he died earlier this year), I made sure to…
Would James Joyce have finished Ulysses without coloured pens?
The Mesopotamians wrote on clay and the ancient Chinese on ox bones and turtle shells. In Egypt, in about 1,800…
Dear Mary: how can I stop myself procrastinating?
Q. I am not a professional writer but on the strength of a short piece I contributed to a Festschrift…
Why catastrophising is my idea of a good time
When, on a test of general knowledge, the highly educated score far worse than chimpanzees, university degrees may be overrated…
Taki: How I learned to write
Gstaad What I miss most up here in the Alps are the literary lunches conducted on the fly with writers…
Ian Rankin’s diary: Paris, ignoring Twitter and understanding evil
After ten days away, I spent last Friday at home alone, catching up on washing, shopping for cat food, answering…
Road rage and hot air balloons: Jessie Burton’s diary
The week starts well. My debut novel, The Miniaturist, is a year old. On the anniversary of its publication, my…
The return of the fountain pen
A real writer sticks to his nibs
Exciting new ways of not writing a novel
Procrastination is easier in the age of Google – but less honest
Sebastian Faulks’s diary: My task for 2015 – get a job
Just back from Sri Lanka, a place I first went to in 1981. It was then a dreamy island. I…
Ian Fleming: cruel? Selfish? Misogynistic? Nonsense, says his step-daughter
Between the brothers Peter and Ian Fleming, Fionn Morgan wonders who was the better writer and who the better man
Jeffrey Archer’s diary: My personal trainer only smiles when I’m in pain
The week leading up to publication is a strange time for any author. You subject yourself to doing everything from…
The views that inspire writers
Do writers really need inspiring landscapes? Or the opposite?
