by PennyFreeman | Apr 26, 2013 | Featured Friday, Writing
Mark Twain gave a piece of advice that many pundits consider the essence of the author’s craft: “Write what you know.” A lot of new writers take this to mean physical objects or places or skills. I know a lot of things. I know how to change a tire. I...
by PennyFreeman | Apr 19, 2013 | Featured Friday, Writing
Seven things I can’t write without This week sees my return to the Xchyler blog, my return and yet I have complete writers block. I stare at the laptop, watch a little TV, ring my mum. In the end, I have to put fingers to keys and write something. Firstly, I start to...
by PennyFreeman | Apr 12, 2013 | Featured Friday, Writing
I am a writer. For those that put fingers on keys and ink on paper this statement carries an absurd amount of baggage. For some reason, when those that write for fun or profit get together, there is this question hanging in the air, “Does what I do count?” In few...
by PennyFreeman | Apr 5, 2013 | Featured Friday, Writing
That Difficult Second Book and Managing Expectations It’s a thing to admire about the creative arts. First, there’s the tough slog getting the first piece of work out into the world. If you’re one of the people actually reading this, I suspect you’ll have an idea of...
by PennyFreeman | Mar 29, 2013 | Featured Friday
The stories exist, whether or not they are ever written down. They float in the air; they live in abandoned homes and silent desert valleys and subway stations crammed with humanity. The stories exist—luckily, some find their way to the printed or digital page. I’m...
by PennyFreeman | Mar 22, 2013 | Featured Friday, Writing
History, a Foundation History is defined as: the study of past events, particularly in human affairs tale, story a chronological record of significant evens (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes narrative of past events,...