Category Archives: creative writing

Blog, creative writing

What even IS a story? And Can AI Truly Write One?

Writers are thinking about Artificial Intelligence a lot – understandably. The lovely (I’m a bit of a fangirl) Ben Rhodes, (I highly recommend Pod Save the World and Ben Rhodes Substack, both of which are free,) discusses AI in his recent post, ‘Why Write‘. He answers this question through describing the deep thinking that goes into composing an essay – the kinds of thought processes that increase understanding, to a level of awareness he could therefore not reach if AI were to write the essay for him.

Former UK Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion standing at a microphone, reading his poetry at a small and intimate event. He is tall and stands gracefully poised, holding his book of poems in his hands.

Understanding

This need to understand is not exclusive to nonfiction writers. Former UK Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion, (again, I’m a fangirl – for his boundlessly generous energy that I experienced at Royal Holloway, for his commitment to equality, for his poetry…,) has said, ‘My wish to write a poem is inseparable from my wish to explain something to myself.’

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Blog, creative writing

Can Creative Writing be Taught? (Part 2)

When I tell people I teach creative writing, they frequently reply, ‘Isn’t writing just inspiration?’

Well, I don’t disagree with the inspiration part.

A child in a striped pyjama top under a striped duvet, reading their book with a torch. This is something that I, Gail Owen, did a lot as a child. I loved stories and reading so much that after my mum had told me it was time to go to sleep, I would pull my duvet up over my head and keep reading my book with a torch.


That Page-Turning Effect

I was one of those kids who can’t put a book down. My mum would tell me to go to sleep and I’d wait for her to leave so I could pull my duvet over my head and keep reading with a torch. As if she couldn’t see the big glowing hump on my bed. A little less romantic when I think about kids reading tablets and phones under the covers, but I hope some of them are reading stories instead of social media posts.

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Blog, creative writing

Can Creative Writing be Taught?

Well, teaching ‘creative writing techniques’ and learning ‘creative writing techniques’ are both tough propositions, for many reasons, but today I’m going to focus on one: invisibility. When writing is most effective, technique is invisible.

Classic, large, black, tall typewriter: imagine Faulkner tapping away, writing his novel, working on his masterpiece.


Invisible Force

Feeling gripped, carried away by a story, following the tribulations of characters we love, or love to hate… is like being compelled by an invisible force. To learn how to harness that force, we must deconstruct it. But how does one deconstruct something invisible?

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