Blobs and Fanzines
Recalling The Blob, the hand-written magazine project I lead and edited at school, 33 years ago. Isn’t it lucky I didn’t have access to DTP software…?
Writing for Myself
Exploring the benefits of writing for yourself, rather than to a preconceived idea of what agents and publishers are looking for.
Forever Awesome
I’m awesome, you’re awesome, we’re all awesome. Equally, we’re pretty awful at times. We all make mistakes, carry guilt, have regrets – often for things that have been forgotten by everyone else – and, basically, are human. Social media is a place where mistakes are amplified. Minor infractions seem to get the same…
Lockdowns: Great for Writers, Not So Great for This Writer
It’s been months since my last blog here. It’s funny; I wouldn’t have previously believed the saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” but the past 12 months seems to have proven this to be the case. A by-product of lockdowns and tiered restrictions has been home schooling. And where…
More Writing, Less Hiding
I’ve been an awful blogger. I mean, I technically earn a living from it, mostly writing tech tutorials for www.makeuseof.com, but specifically I’m terrible at blogging on my own sites. This is the third iteration of my personal space, but you shouldn’t be wondering about the others (they’re incorporated here one way or…
How and Why I Relaunched Kasterborous for Podcasts
Back in 2005, I started a Doctor Who blog, Kasterborous, which at one stage was a popular resource for fans looking for news and reviews. By 2015, however, I’d had enough, and sold the site. Everything was over, other than the podKast with a K, a Doctor Who podcast. …except, not all of…
Scripts and Things: What I Learned from the Comedy Writing Workshop
Following on from my notes about the comedy workshop I attended, I thought it might be a good idea to share some of the material from the session. Two intensive scripting exercises were set during the day, in between talking, “workshopping,” and watching the first episode of Modern Family. The first was a…
I Attended a Sitcom and Comedy Writing Workshop!
As previous posts will indicate, I have spent many years dabbling with various comedy scripts. I’ve regularly entered the BBC Writer’s Room Sitcom scheme, for example, with a couple of other initiatives and competitions along the way. I have four or five scripts drifting around, but so far failed to get anywhere with…
Chipping Away at the Coal Face of Comedy
Odd thing about this blog is that I find it hard to just be me, rather than the writer guy who is doing well. Guiding people through the world of tech is one thing. It’s not what I see myself doing long-term, however. Instead, I want to write novels. Maybe comic strips. Perhaps…
All My Tech Blogging Tips
Beyond the worlds of Doctor Who and trying to write comedy (more on that in a later post), you may know that I write extensively about technology. This is my primary income, and currently ranges from writing for Linux Format (Future plc) to contributing and editing at MakeUseOf.com, as well as producing a…
