top of page

Hello and welcome to my new blog, which I hope you’ll enjoy and join.
I intend to cover various topics, some of which will be directly related to writing. That’s not to say that I’ll be offering advice, as I’m still acutely conscious of how much there always is to learn.
No, I’m leaving that to my guests, some of whom have given me invaluable help on my writing journey, and are far more qualified to offer guidance.
That said, I’m always eager to discuss aspects of writing, as I’d like to share impressions and experiences and invite you to do likewise.
A special thank you to Dilvin Yasa (see citation), whose excellent piece inspired the first post and two more related ones that follow later, after we've covered some different topics.
Search


Mood Music
Why do I like particular types of writing, for example philosophising by the characters? I’ve just enjoyed “Next of Kin” by Joanna...
Alan Dale
May 18, 20233 min read
11 views
0 comments

Two Shakespearean Titles To End A Project Nightmare?
Wikimedia Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Needing one quip to exit convincingly from a near disaster...
Alan Dale
Aug 19, 20223 min read
13 views
0 comments

We Sorted This. No Outsiders Ever Knew. Now It’s All Good Plotting Material
Licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. All seemed to be going smoothly, that’s to say...
Alan Dale
Jun 1, 20222 min read
12 views
0 comments

Yes, There Are Two Ways To Catch A Dagger – But The Better One Can Still Hurt.
I was lying on the stairs, my head hanging downwards, several treads below my feet. Below me, out of sight, came a terrible, persistent...
Alan Dale
May 18, 20222 min read
8 views
0 comments

Welcome Hints – They’re Stories With An Image Problem
or how fearful whispers may herald very promising fictional material When I began plotting my début novel, Theta Double dot, I knew I’d...
Alan Dale
Apr 27, 20223 min read
15 views
0 comments
A Little Industrial Monologue
or Free Comedy, Complete With High Metal Chairs You never knew when it would be on – that was the best thing about it, in a way. We...
Alan Dale
Jul 8, 20213 min read
32 views
0 comments
Fiction’s Mythical and Legendary Origins
Are The Theories About Them Equally Fictitious? Myths are generally held to contain no verifiable, factual elements, frequently serving...
Alan Dale
May 16, 20213 min read
11 views
0 comments
Fiction’s Mythical and Legendary Origins - Are The Theories About Them Equally Fictitious?
Myths are generally held to contain no verifiable, factual elements, frequently serving to illustrate perceived moral or ethical...
Alan Dale
Apr 29, 20212 min read
11 views
0 comments
Where Fiction & Philosophy Meet - Mind The Gap
Fiction and philosophy could be said to “meet” in several senses, approaching the border between the two from either side. Tolstoy...
Alan Dale
Apr 1, 20213 min read
13 views
0 comments
Your medicine is called fiction – please read the enclosed leaflet
Why fiction is good for you ‘Escaping into a good book’ has almost acquired the status of a cliché in its own right. Who hasn’t instantly...
Alan Dale
Feb 11, 20212 min read
20 views
0 comments
Does Fiction Matter?
Fiction matters deeply to me, although I’m aware that it represents the irrelevant or trivial to some. Here are some principal reasons...
Alan Dale
Jan 7, 20212 min read
4 views
0 comments
Unintentional Humour – The Best Freebie That They Never Even Advertise
Happily progressing through a novel, I realised that I hadn’t the faintest recollection of said hat’s previous appearance in the...
Alan Dale
Nov 11, 20202 min read
5 views
0 comments
Never Be Afraid To Bin Your First Idea – It Probably Is Hackneyed.
How cross-fertilisation of ideas (sometimes) works for me Our Covid-determined zoom version of a writers’ circle meeting drew to a close....
Alan Dale
Oct 22, 20203 min read
1 view
0 comments
The Value of Fiction - A Conceptual Two-Edged Sword?
A country’s fictional output offers insights into its historical, cultural, artistic, musical, political, social and economic development...
Alan Dale
Oct 8, 20202 min read
3 views
0 comments
My Friend The Surprise Guest
How I came to enjoy philosophy, as a mechanical engineer I think I first encountered the faintest hints of philosophy, in the final year...
Alan Dale
Sep 8, 20204 min read
5 views
0 comments
Primary Schadenfreude Revival’s Greatest Hits - A little socioeconomic history saga - Part 4
A fellow student, with whom I shared my first digs, had fallen into the so-called poverty trap. His parents’ income was marginally above...
Alan Dale
Aug 21, 20202 min read
4 views
0 comments
Primary Schadenfreude Revival’s Greatest Hits - A little socioeconomic history saga - Part 3
OK, I know that neither of my examples examples even approaches the daily humiliations of millions of disadvantaged people of all ages...
Alan Dale
Aug 10, 20201 min read
7 views
0 comments
Guest Post by Neil Irani, Founder & Editor of Smart Kids' Magazine
A big welcome and many thanks to Neil Irani, Founder & Owner of Smart Kids’ Magazine, for coming to guest post. Writing for children of...
Alan Dale
Aug 6, 20203 min read
15 views
0 comments


Guest Post by Esther Chilton
I am delighted to welcome Esther Chilton, author, copywriter and Writers Bureau tutor, to guest post. See Esther’s blog at...
Alan Dale
Jul 30, 20205 min read
37 views
0 comments
Primary Schadenfreude Revival’s Greatest Hits - A little socioeconomic history saga - Part 2
You might assume that vignettes such as my experience in Part 1 would have faded rapidly into oblivion, amid the onslaught of...
Alan Dale
Jul 28, 20201 min read
8 views
0 comments
bottom of page