Category: Uncategorized

Uncategorized2 Comments

Writing Fiction: Raising the Bar

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Originally posted on paulgapper:
Forgive the irony, but sometimes you’ve got to grab a cliché with both hands.  In Brain Pickings Weekly recently, they summarised the findings of Daniel Goleman in his book The Hidden Driver of Excellence.  In short, he concludes that, contrary to received wisdom, just practising a new skills for ten thousand hours isn’t enough to become a genius.  It needs to be a deliberate attempt to improve, often concentrating on just one aspect at a time.  (And to keep that open to feedback.)  As Stanley Donen, director of Singing in the Rain has said, ‘Talent is… Continue reading Writing Fiction: Raising the Bar

Rate this:

Uncategorized5 Comments

Emoticons: regressed cave paintings or evolved punctuation?

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

They are everywhere, aren’t they, those annoying little intrusions? Visual shorthand for the inarticulate; signposts for the emotionally illiterate; and evidence, as if more were needed, of the effect of the internet on our increasingly soggy brains. Or are they? Recently, a dignified row broke out on an academic forum because a student had used a smiley in a thread dedicated to formal critiquing of submitted work. The argument was that, as the course was about writing, writing should be the medium by which ideas and views should be communicated, and this should be constructed so as to convey maximum … Continue reading Emoticons: regressed cave paintings or evolved punctuation?

Rate this:

Uncategorized8 Comments

‘No Animals …’ – the story behind the story

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I had just started writing this when I saw that the author of Digging Deep, which followed mine on EDF, had done exactly the same thing. His account of the genesis of his story lets us into the history of it, the emotional drive, and also the subtext that, for better or for worse, is so often implied rather than exposed in very short fiction. Aaron Polson wrote in his blog about the intensity of feeling that underpinned Digging Deep because he wanted us to know, I imagine, how deeply he felt that connection. It is important to him and … Continue reading ‘No Animals …’ – the story behind the story

Rate this:

UncategorizedLeave a comment

‘No Animals Were Harmed …’: a deadly reality TV show

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

An SF piece in Every Day Fiction today and not for the claustrophobic: ‘[Neela] squinted into the matt black dark, wishing her optical enhancers would come-the-hell on line. She pushed up, kicked; no movement. “Shit!” [She] raised her legs, then both arms, braced her body to test the surfaces above and below. She made a snow-angel. Smooth, top and bottom — but where were the sides? Why couldn’t she feel the sides?’ Continue reading ‘No Animals Were Harmed …’: a deadly reality TV show

Rate this:

UncategorizedLeave a comment

Halloween: What’s wrong with evoking the “scarey mental patient” stereotype?

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Originally posted on Sectioned:
. Update: Scroll down for new additions (flagged with the handy yellow update picture), including links to numerous other people’s posts, a defence by a theme park enthusiast & an overview by a theme park industry website . On Thursday, it came to the attention of the lovely twitter people that one of Britain’s major theme parks, Thorpe Park, had a “scary mental patient” experience as part of its Halloween offering. It was called Asylum. Just as when, a few weeks ago, Asda, Tesco and Amazon marketed their “mental patient fancy dress costumes”, the mental health… Continue reading Halloween: What’s wrong with evoking the “scarey mental patient” stereotype?

Rate this:

Uncategorized3 Comments

‘Puddles like Pillows’ in Zouche Magazine

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Another little dose of weird: After a while, with the streets and parks getting less cluttered, it started to look as if some cosmic recycler had dropped by to tidy us up. So then people stopped using the bins and just hung about with their cameras waiting for their banana skin or whatever to take off. Read More: http://zouchmagazine.com/puddles-like-pillows/#ixzz2dFpRSbtW Zouche has been away for a while but now it’s back with its lovely graphics and varied content and I’m delighted to be back too [see A Tale of Two Sixties 2011]. Continue reading ‘Puddles like Pillows’ in Zouche Magazine

Rate this:

Uncategorized8 Comments

Left brain, right brain – who’s really making it up?

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

  I am not a neuropsychologist so I’ve let the left brain-logic/right brain-creative issue ride. After all, that sort of simplification is not going to kill anyone and it might just help sometimes. But with the increase in focus – via everything from apps and exercises to meditation – on hauling your right brain out from under its mossy rock to perform in public, I’m pleased to see a nice clear and competent article that puts the matter straight.   Christian Jarrett is editor of The Psychologist – the professional magazine outlet for the British Psychological Society – and he busts the … Continue reading Left brain, right brain – who’s really making it up?

Rate this: