Libre Paley's Blog: Libre Paley - Thoughts on Literary Erotica, page 12

Choose your words dare-fully

We know that word choice is important in writing – in any communication form. That the ‘right’ word will – minimise ambiguity and misunderstanding by increasing accuracy – increase the impact of what you’ve said or written – in creative writing, by forming a more sensory reader experience – evoke the appropriate tone or mood … Continue reading Choose your words dare-fully

Life Editing

There are loads of useful checklists around to help you edit your writing. It’s a stage I am at now, and it feels as if you can never do enough modification and improvement. The word ‘edit’ seems to be used a lot lately, not just in terms of textual and filmic material, but in various … Continue reading Life Editing

Back to your roots

It has been the first camping holiday of the year. I do indeed take a notebook everywhere with me but wish I could honestly claim to be better at taking inspiration from my surrounding environment on such trips. I have noticed I am more likely to get some impromptu scribbling done when I am undertaking … Continue reading Back to your roots

Eat your words

They are bad news, go down like a lead balloon, and simply won’t cut it. In writing and any public speaking, we are advised to give them a wide berth, to avoid them like the plague or face the dog house. But are they a necessary evil? “A phrase or opinion that is overused and … Continue reading Eat your words

Textual addiction

I have mention in previous blogs that, when at home, I live a lot of my life with a backdrop of the BBC Radio 4 station playing (though I cannot write with the radio on, nor with music on – another topic). On the Woman’s Hour programme yesterday, one of the guests mentioned her ‘addiction’ … Continue reading Textual addiction

How long is this going to take?

How long should it take to create an original work? How long should a book take to write, for example? A successful author herself, Louise Doughty published A Novel in a Year: A Novelist’s Guide to Being a Novelist (2008) based on a column she originally wrote for The Telegraph newspaper (UK). Despite the title, she … Continue reading How long is this going to take?

If food be the music of love…

Originally posted on Libre Paley:
In a scene I’m writing, I’ve just had to stop my couple from cooking and eating together. Yes, put the chopper down people and back away from that carrot. I had to give them a different ‘warm-up activity’ to do instead. Not because there isn’t a strong affinity between food…

Please yourself

How does one stop being a ‘people pleaser’—but do it pleasantly? Pleasers are thought to have developed their characteristics in childhood, probably influenced by stringent parental expectation and a deficit of attention or support. I don’t think that fairly describes my own upbringing as a child; my folks weren’t “bad” parents. It is true, though, … Continue reading Please yourself

Ready for your close-up?

A man stands on the deck of a boat on the vessel’s approach into Turkey taking a photograph, his wife smiling in front of the lens. “Stand slightly to one side dear, so I can get in Asia Minor behind you,” he says to her as he positions his camera. I read this traveller’s anecdote … Continue reading Ready for your close-up?

Guiding Light

Packing for a few days’ city break, I’ll be adding a guidebook to my bag. We can just look stuff up on our phones, can’t we? Says my son. I suppose we could—and probably will. Though despite taking up some luggage space (well it says ‘pocket guide’ on the cover, but someone must have pretty … Continue reading Guiding Light