Shauna felt the chewed mash of meat and batter and gravy turn to a hot gluey knot in her stomach. She belched and tasted pepper and flesh. Falling off the vegetarian wagon had become a regular occurrence on work nights out and she always did it with something deliciously disgusting like a kebab or aContinue reading “Wall”
Author Archives: leytonwritersgroup
Creature
This is the first piece I read out at the first group last Monday. Not sure why I decided against reading The Conduit, the piece I posted previously. I wrote it very quickly and it seemed to go over ok. I appreciated the comments pushing me towards being more explicit about the nature of theContinue reading “Creature”
The Conduit
So this is my response to the first writing exercise. Like a terrible human I haven’t finished it or even stuck to the parameters of my own task as I haven’t managed to steer the story round to the second sentence (The boat drifted gently out to sea). I challenged myself with this one toContinue reading “The Conduit”
The shade and the super-human
A date has been set for the first group: Monday 27th January at my kids’ favourite juice spot, Phlox on Francis Road in Leyton. That being the case, the worrying and self-doubt can really begin in earnest. Who in the name of Danny Dyer’s ghost writer do I think I am, starting a writer’s groupContinue reading “The shade and the super-human”
Comic Book Death and resurrection
*Warning: contains Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker spoilers* I often struggle with the absurdity of writing. Not absurd writing, that can be great; I’m talking about the absurdity of writing fiction; the act itself. You tell people in words that stuff is happening, or has happened, and you describe what people lookedContinue reading “Comic Book Death and resurrection”
Devil in the detail
The thing about a period setting is all the research. I should clarify that. I’m not spending days on end in the British library reading rooms poring over any dusty tomes. I have a job and two small kids. No, my research is more of the ‘Googling “What sort of trousers did they wear inContinue reading “Devil in the detail”
Poor old Paris
In an interview on 6 Music the other day, Phoebe Waller-Bridge likened talking about your writing to ‘drinking your own bathwater’. Everyone should probably listen to and live by everything she says so I am loathed to do much introducing or picking apart of what I’m going to share in this post. But then again,Continue reading “Poor old Paris”
In support of the bit players
These days I have my social anxiety mainly where I want it: it’s still around but I know its tricks and can deal with it. Some of this comes with age; at 40 I’m aware that a failed social exchange doesn’t equal a total failure as a person, and with a wife, kids and friendsContinue reading “In support of the bit players”
Untitled fantasy tosh
Some of these posts, I’ve decided, will be stuff I’ve written previously that I think might deserve an airing. This one is the opening of a sprawling fantasy epic that failed to sprawl a few years ago. The concept was consciously archetypal fantasy, multi-stranded and featuring trolls and humans. And maybe elves. I worked itContinue reading “Untitled fantasy tosh”
I Am Group
To be clear, Leyton Writers’ Group is currently just me. Less a group, more an individual with ideas above his station. The aim, of course, is for the group to flourish and for its name to enter the ranks of great culturally significant collectives: the Bloomsbury Group; the Bauhaus movement; piano rock innovators Keane. I’mContinue reading “I Am Group”
