January 11, 2026
It's the same every autumn. Maybe the air nips my exposed fingers first thing in the morning, or a weighty sky presses upon me the thought that a season of perpetual twilight is approaching, and I realise that if I want to write something appropriate for winter, the solstice, Christmas, the season of good cheer etc., I'd better get on with it. My intention is always to write something profound or beautiful, but it never turns out that way. However wonderful the piece I have in mind is, the results always feel didactic, trite or sickly sentimental. Look at the doggerel I posted last time if you don't believe me.
Why is it? There are plenty of prompts to help from Charles Dickens's ghost stories to Jingle Bells, from penguins and muddy field walks to the smell of burning sprouts and thoughts of what your granny will buy you this year. (Socks again, I'll bet!) Perhaps it's this plethora that is the problem. There are so many aspects to choose from that it's hard to narrow them down to one. On the other hand, most aspects of Christmas have been written about so many times, and by far better authors than me, that coming up with something original seems impossible.
For me, part of the problem seems to be that my ideas usually begin with a 'what if' rather than a setting. It's too late for this season, but next Christmas maybe instead of trying to narrow my writing down to one aspect, I should try combining two e.g. the Christmas ghost burned the sprouts. It will probably turn out silly again.
Not all authors are blessed with being able to make any subject a hit. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was desperate to escape Sherlock Holmes and wrote SF/Fantasy stories about Professor Challenger and funny stories about a Napoleonic soldier, but who has seen them in the book shops? Ben Jonson was a master of stage comedies but wanted to be known as a great historical dramatist. Sadly, plays such as Sejanus flopped.
We can't all be Shakespeare, and I'm sure even he had his off days. Maybe I should be content with what I am good at.
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
December 28, 2025
It is all too easy at this time of year to take everything too seriously and stress about things that really aren't worth it. So you forgot to buy the sprouts–who cares? The cat wrecked the Christmas tree.: it isn't a disaster. In future years it will be one of the fond memories you share.
To lighten the mood, and in the spirit of seasonal silliness, here are a couple of pieces to make you groan or laugh. They aren't perfect, but that's Christmas for you. Relax and enjoy it.
Inspired by Bald...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
November 8, 2025
Not literally, of course, but at the moment I almost wouldn't mind having a leg in plaster if it meant I didn't have to go on stage tonight.
I've never thought of myself as an actress and only agreed to take the part to help a friend. I should have known better. I suppose I was flattered to be asked, and the previous productions I've taken part in have been good for me. I've enjoyed meeting the rest of the cast, I've learned much about what makes a good script and I've had fun. This time, how...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
November 2, 2025
Few writers arrive on the literary scene fully formed like Athene from the head of Zeus. There are 'instant' successes, such as Zadie Smith whose first novel White Teeth was a bestseller, but most writers have to learn when they start out–me included.
Recently, I came across a publication that had an open call for a particular type and length of story. The only ones I had that I thought might be made to fit the bill, were some that I wrote when I first started trying to get published. They w...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
October 16, 2025
Writers don't have to resort to fake news to influence how readers will interpret what they write. It is not only what they say that is important, but how they say it.
Inevitably, a certain amount of editing is involved. It is impossible to include all the facts and details of even simple stories or issues. There has to be some decision on what to include or exclude. What kind of language is chosen is also influential: is it formal, authoritative, chatty etc.? This might in part be influenced...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Linguistics
September 15, 2025
The first time I remember being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said I wanted to be a vicar. For a child who wasn't particularly religious, it was a strange choice. I don't know now what I thought the job entailed or what attracted me to it, but I pretty soon decided that I'd rather be a ballerina instead. Then I found out that you had to start dance lessons by the time you were seven and wafting around the living room like a cross between a demented pixie and a bulldozer was no s...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Biographical
August 13, 2025
There is a library that gives borrowers a ticket showing them how much they have saved by going to the library instead of buying the books. No doubt, the intention is to encourage more readers to use libraries, but surely the purpose of libraries is to make books available to those who cannot afford them, and to encourage readers to experiment with their choice of reading, not to deter those who can afford it from buying books.
Among the arguments for and against the practice put forward by m...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
August 5, 2025
Self-publishing isn't for the indecisive. As if agonising over whether it's better to use this word or that, or to cut or not to cut, isn't enough, when you self-publish you're faced with a seemingly endless stream of choices about how you want your manuscript to look.
I've been putting together the Iyessi song lyrics that I originally wrote as chapter headers for the Exiles of Ondd novels. I want to publish them on Kindle and Draft2Digital as well as an illustrated paperback. As the digital ...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 20, 2025
Would you post the work of another author, albeit work that is available as Free Commons, without attributing it to that author?
Recently, someone I know did this on Facebook with 'Dust if You Must' by Rose Milligan. In fact, the poem stood alone in the post without any comment from the person who posted it. Unsurprisingly, the post was praised by several people, who asked if the poster had written it. In response, another person gave the poem the correct attribution, and suggested that the o...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
July 8, 2025
Am I the only person who shouts at the television when she sees a sign on an advertisement that says 'Invite Only'? (INVITATION Grrr!) Or grinds her teeth every time someone says 'gifting' instead of 'giving'?
There are so many more important things to get red in the face about, such as cuts to adult learning classes, artificial intelligence ripping off writers' work, online piracy, and books being banned from libraries and schools in countries that should know better. Why does the misuse of ...
Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Linguistics
