Write it all down

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My three 1980 notebooks

I am a great fan of notebooks. I have always kept what I call an Everything Book: just one journal that I carry everywhere with me in which I put everything: notes taken at meetings; ideas for stories;  word or line sketches of things that take my fancy; eavesdroppings; doodles (rather too many doodles, if truth be told).

Why an Everything Book? Well, I am an alphabetiser, an organiser, a categoriser. By recording everything in just one place, I save a lot of energy that would otherwise be wasted by deciding where to put it.… read more

The Back Burner

So just a couple more name-drops here. I went to the exceedingly fragrant Charleston Festival with my friend Ruthie and we heard Esther Freud and Edward St Aubyn talk about drawing from their lives for their work. Then, after lunch by the marquee, we went for a big old walk up Firle Beacon. After that it was Joanna Trollope being interviewed by (and at times making mincemeat of) William Nicholson.

I love Joanna Trollope’s writing – it is so clean and clear and well-structured – a bit like her, in fact.… read more