Inspired By Silicon Valley, I Now Want To Be A Quirky Coder. Hello Python!
I have been binge-watching Silicon Valley on HBO Max, and it has made me want to code. I think I am having a mid-life crisis, which might be related, but … Read More
Category: Writing
How To Escape The Per-Word Trap And Make Real Money As A Writer
I have been paid per-word or per-hour for about five years now. In my previous bouts of freelance writing, dating back decades (I’m old), it was the same. For writers, … Read More
Switching Focus To Short Stories To Make A Fortune
Or a pittance. Time will tell… The popularity of short stories has waxed and waned over the decades. They have always been around as myths and fables like the Arthurian … Read More
AI Writes Poor Prose – Use It To Fix Procrastination
And how to make an AI assistant I use AI to cure my colossal procrastination but don’t use it for any writing – you can probably tell. I was a … Read More
Scheduled Tasks On ChatGPT Is Actually Pretty Cool
Scheduled Tasks is a new function on ChatGPT, which I have been playing around with recently. It is still in Beta, but it works really well. It looks at first … Read More
Fantastic tunes to listen to help write more and focus
I listen to tunes when I write. This is often to drown out the noise of fellow humans, but I also really like it and it can induce flow state. … Read More
To Monetize Or Not? Reaching An Astonishing 100 Subscribers On Substack
I hit 100 subscribers on my Intriguing Times Substack yesterday and am pretty damned excited about it. ‘Astonishing’ is admittedly a bit hyperbolic, but it is apparently good for SEO. … Read More
From Zork to AI Dungeon: How AI is Revolutionizing Interactive Text Adventures
AI is so damned useful that I am overwhelmed and am still thinking of ways to use it. You can probably tell that I don’t use for writing by looking … Read More
How to be more productive when writing – great music and apps!
I listen to music and use a few apps that really help when writing, and consequently, I thought this might be something helpful for others. I write for a living. … Read More
Getting Substack subscribers and changing writing focus
It has been around a month and a half since I launched my shiny new Substack. Previously, I’d had a science fiction and fantasy newsletter for a month and it … Read More
Plotting vs. Pantsing: What’s Better for Writers and Readers?
In the world of fiction writing, few debates are as enduring as “plotting vs. pantsing.” Writers and readers alike have strong views on the merits of each approach. Some prefer … Read More
The Intriguing Times Substack is now live!
Intriguing Times – my new Substack newsletter – has been live for almost three weeks. It already has 35 subscribers and over 90 followers, which is pretty damned good if … Read More
MacBook Air 13 inch vs iPad Pro 13 inch after a couple of months. Which am I using most?
I’ve had my MacBook Air 13 inch M1 for about three and a half years now. Whereas, I bought the new iPad Pro 13 inch M4 two months ago. I … Read More
New Substack, The Cosmic Scroll, is essential reading
I started a new Substack called The Cosmic Scroll. If you’re a writer, you will probably know the importance of having an email list. If you are a writer without … Read More
iPad Pro 13-inch M4 the all-in-one device I’ve been looking for
I love my iPad Pro. Actually, that should be plural as I have the original 13-inch version from 2015, and an 11-inch from 2021. Remarkably, both still work, if a … Read More
You should do this with subscriptions and despair
I am increasingly starting to think a lot of subscriptions are scams against the unwary. And that definitely includes me. I recently saw a post somewhere that suggested you list … Read More
How to be more productive and creative
As Ricky Gervais once said: ‘It’s better to create something that others criticise than to create nothing & criticise others. Go create!’
If you have a big project, try Scrivener.
I love Scrivener and have been using it for over a decade. However, I was recently chatting with someone who wanted to write a book, and they asked how I … Read More
Brain.fm for writers and creative types
I have become mildly obsessed with Brain.fm recently. I read a lot about productivity, especially in relation to being a writer – it’s an ironic form of procrastination. I kept … Read More
How and why you should increase your typing speed
As a writer, I spend a lot of time typing. Yet bizarrely, it had never really occurred to me to get better at it. Thinking back to how much time … Read More