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John Fowles: Mischanneling
John Fowles on the strengths of the novel vs. the screenplay: Why have I got it in for the novel? […] All the purely visual and aural sequences in the modern novel are a bore, both to read and to write. People’s physical appearance, their movements, their sounds, places, moods of places – the camera […]
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John Fowles: Choosing to Be a Writer
It would, I believe, be disingenuous to hold a class without offering the unsuited persons in the assembly a chance to leave the room. To be a writer – that is, someone for whom writing is closer to being a aspect of being rather than a particular activity, demands certain distinctions. There are many personal […]
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John Fowles: Writers are not Doers?
At the heart of my studies (and my teaching) is the question what is a writer? Certainly, it is not someone who simply writes things down; and nor is it necessarily someone who writes a text. An artist is not someone who daubs canvas with paint any further than frequent flyer is an aerospace engineer. […]
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Writing Dialogue
I try to avoid the Writing for Noobs arena and focus on Becoming a Decent Writer – often writing about writing is ironically dreadful, but I do admit to sharing Craig Clevenger’s pet peeves: TALKING HEADS, HEARING VOICES AND THE DISAPPEARING NARRATOR I have two major pet peeves when it comes to dialogue. First, it […]
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Visualising the Creative Process
I was talking to someone about the creative process once and came up with some imagery for it. I described the initial phase as a kind of nebulous cloud; a haze that lurks around your head. It’s made up from the stuff of your life; here and there are vague forms, a ghost of a […]
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Ideas as ‘Art’
Ideas do not make good films, or good art period. As in, ‘wouldn’t be be clever if we did this?’ Things are never clever when they’re trying to be clever. (Which is a good measure of modern art, which baffles so many. When it’s relying on the higher brain to applaud it, it is likely […]
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On writing
A person’s writing is very much them. It’s like looking into a very critical mirror of the soul. Others might not see you; but one certainly sees oneself. The process alone is traumatic; then to be concerned with the result! It’s a terrible thing to see oneself vividly. It’s the most wondrous thing! It is […]