Category: writers

writers, writing6 Comments

Writing well and coathangers

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

You’ll recognise all those descriptions of how easy it is to write – ‘stare at the page until your eyes bleed’, that kind of thing – and they work for writers because we have been there. But what about the people who can’t? How do you describe the process in a way that puts them in your space? And what about really understanding it ourselves so that we can be more efficient about our own writing process? Bleeding eyes is not a good marker for success. Yesterday, struggling first to get ‘out of the room’ as it were, because someone … Continue reading Writing well and coathangers

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learning disability, writers, writing2 Comments

Winterbourne abuse scandal

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Writing is writing, right? Someone in ‘Good Will Hunting’ said that, if you can do it, you should, on behalf of all those who can’t. Well this link to my other blog, my other life, is my writerly way of speaking for those who can’t. Others have done the same. Journalists have made erudite comment. The BBC gave us the material. But we all knew it was happening, somewhere in our souls, our collective psyche. We knew that we could not always trust humans to act with humanity, or decency, or even just plain neglectfully. We knew that some would see an opportunity for … Continue reading Winterbourne abuse scandal

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authors, writers, writing10 Comments

The #Scrapslush campaign

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I already knew this, I can’t say I didn’t, so why then do I feel  disquiet at the notion of the ‘slush pile’? It’s not the fact of being in a queue or of waiting for an evaluation of suitability, those are regular experiences in my world. It isn’t even the element of subjectivity, the lack of control, or the length of time invested in the wait because these too are familiar in matters such as applications for research funding. In both circumstances, there are rules to be followed; this many words or characters, this kind of remit, and that … Continue reading The #Scrapslush campaign

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writers13 Comments

Blog tag game (thanks, Dragon lady!)

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I’ve been back to Here be Dragons twice now, citing incapacity, incompetence (or was it incontinence?) and a sudden sighting of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as reasons for not quite getting on with this tagging business and so, while I sit here poised to scare the bejabbers out of my visiting rats (I’ll tell you later but it involves a remote spray, an infra-red control and better eyesight than I can claim), I’ve decided to stop procrastinating. So this is the deal, I answer a series of questions in an entertaining manner not necessarily fully acquainted with the … Continue reading Blog tag game (thanks, Dragon lady!)

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authors, publish fiction, twitter, writers, writing3 Comments

Authors and writers in Second Life

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Just a little while ago, we were talking about the kinds of support we get from other writers and how we value the small communities that build up around blogs and tweets. Some of us are beginners with little to offer except awe for those who are into their third novel. Published or not, that’s tenacity, and if so far they haven’t hooked a publisher, this may say more about the vastness of the market than the quality of their work. If you can’t find ’em, you can’t impress ’em, and as the same principle applies in reverse, getting an … Continue reading Authors and writers in Second Life

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twitter, writers4 Comments

The Twitter Imperative

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Fabulous thing, this integrating of blog and tweet business. You write your headline, develop your theme, and press the button so that publication and dissemination occur simultaneously. Magic! Or at least it is if, once twitter has separated it from its context, the headline doesn’t look like your geography teacher’s demand for the submission of your homework . Reading my previous post, plucked bald of its message and lying exposed on Tweetdeck, I suddenly see the words ‘Did you read ‘Madness’?’ in a different context. This time my hopeful inquiry born of earlier discussion is replaced by the image of … Continue reading The Twitter Imperative

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short story writing, writers, writing4 Comments

Did you read ‘Madness’?

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

If you did, just out of interest and in relation to the post on profanity, what is your impression of the language used in that story? I won’t remind you because I’d like your thoughts based on what you recall rather than a dissection of the words themselves. We talked a lot in various exchanges about realism and the kinds of expressions particular characters might use and this is clearly a situation in which the main character might be expected to let rip. I wonder, then, how far the impression of authenticity was affected for you by what was or … Continue reading Did you read ‘Madness’?

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authors, writers, writing2 Comments

Writing as cabaret

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Here’s a thought. Ever seen those sketch artists on the street or at local fayres who produce a portrait of you in a matter of minutes and you love it just because of the unique focused attention it offers? Well, how about an equivalent for writers/wannabe writers? Quite a few talk about doing their writing in cafes or bars (here, it would be the local pub – wey hey!) which presumably means either buying quantities of coffee or beer or trying to avoid attention while making just one last three hours. What about trading your services for a bit of … Continue reading Writing as cabaret

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