The first note of birdsong in the morning. Have you heard it? How it comes suddenly, breaking the silence? Yet it comes softly, nervously, tentatively as if to ask "Now? Am I the first? Are we ready?". Then that small fragment of bravery is taken up, expanded; others join to reply "Yes, Yes, Yes!". And … Continue reading “Dawn Chorus” – 100-word challenge
Category: Writing
“Near Enough” – Snippet 3
The second solid memory is a very real episode, and one which is both proven fact and unforgettable not simply because of what happened, but because of one single photograph which, if I close my eyes even now, I can recall vividly. A black-and-white image, perhaps 2 inches square, of a small boy, smartly dressed, … Continue reading “Near Enough” – Snippet 3
“Male Model” – 100-word challenge
He looked too crisp, too coordinated, like someone who had escaped from the front cover of an out-of-date men’s fashion magazine. He seemed to have taken ownership of a complete tonal range and then embarked on a crusade to shade the world accordingly. Nothing clashed; each crease was perfectly sharp. And he walked like a … Continue reading “Male Model” – 100-word challenge
About: “Collected Poems”
I have always written poetry. I remember from when I was young I had poem framed and put on the wall of the Gosport City Museum, and a masterpiece entitled "Stan, Stan, the Crackpot Man" that had them rolling in the aisles of my year seven English Class… Poetry is great. It allows you to … Continue reading About: “Collected Poems”
About: “The Big Frog Theory”
It took me maybe three months to draft the whole 120,000 words of "The Big Frog Theory" - known colloquially as "Nev". Largely because of a fantastically positive change in personal circumstances one February about twenty two years ago, I just sat down and started - 'In a Malvern tea-shop he sat, watching the steam … Continue reading About: “The Big Frog Theory”
About: “Mirrors”
The boring bits first: this is a big book (172k words, 500 pages), and took a long time to write. Well, not exactly a long time in terms of the physical process of writing those 172k words, but in elapsed time. Many years, in fact. I had the original idea way back and maybe wrote … Continue reading About: “Mirrors”
About: “Writing to Gisella”
Write what you know about they say. To a certain extent, if you only do that then you’re writing autobiography all the time. But if you take what you know - however practical, real, physical, emotional etc. - and then extrapolate it, play with it…well, then the world’s your oyster. Lucca is one of my … Continue reading About: “Writing to Gisella”
About: “Losing Moby Dick”
Bizarrely perhaps, the motivation for the story - and the initial situation Jack finds himself in - is entirely based on my own experience i.e. one day I realised "Moby Dick" was missing from my bookshelves and it should have been there. I had no idea why it wasn’t there. I never throw books away… … Continue reading About: “Losing Moby Dick”
About: “Riding the Escalators”
One of the things I like about Magic Realism is that there are no boundaries. You can put your characters in whatever situations you choose, and have them react however you want them to. As a writer, this can be quite freeing, removed from the need to be 'true to life' - whatever that means. … Continue reading About: “Riding the Escalators”
“A Perforated Soul” – 100-word challenge
A scruffy young man, tattooed about the neck, pushing a BMX, limps badly, unable to put weight on his left heel as if his shoe has been penetrated by the mother of all nails. He could - or should - be going to the Doctor’s, but he doesn’t look the sort; he looks disenfranchised, an … Continue reading “A Perforated Soul” – 100-word challenge
Ian Gouge - Writer 