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
Category: Writing
“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He looked too crisp, too coordinated, like someone who had escaped from the front cover of an out-of-date men’s fashion magazine.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
In your hands
The challenge is not being prolific, nor having ideas and turning them into something tangible - the challenge is the validation of that output. Fortunately, or unfortunately, that validation is clearly measurable these days. It's visible in the numbers: of reads, of likes, of followers, of - heaven forbid! - sales... That validation - "the scores … Continue reading In your hands
Ian Gouge - Writer 