Being a Writer: Advice, Musings, Essays and Experiences From the World’s Greatest Authors

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Catherine Balavage

‘From a very early age…I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer….Between the ages of about 17 and 24 I tried to abandon this idea, but I did so with the consciousness that I was outraging my true nature and that sooner or later I should have to settle down and write books.’ George Orwell.

The above is a quote from this brilliant book. As a writer I could not put it down. I loved it. It is full of inspiration to keep you going when things are rough, and also when you are procrastinating. Divided into sections of introduction, becoming a writer, methods and means, failing, the art of writing, and a sense of an ending. This book can get you out of a jam and has great advice. It now has pride of place on my bookshelf and I will be dipping in whenever I need a dose of inspiration. An essential book for writers.

The joys and challenges of being a writer are explored in this inspiring assemblage of wit, wisdom and hard-won practical advice from some of the world’s greatest authors musing on the art of writing and how they came to define themselves as writers. From Samuel Johnson in eighteenth-century London to Lorrie Moore in twenty-first-century Wisconsin, the contributors range from the canon to contemporary, covering more than 250 years, and come from all over the world. Beautifully illustrated throughout, this stunning anthology explores and illuminates the pleasures and pitfalls of the compulsion to write, with advice about the whole messy business of writing literature and what it takes to be a writer. The perfect gift for aspiring writers, curious readers, and anyone interested in what the world’s greatest authors have to say about the art of writing.

by Travis Elborough (Author), Helen Gordon (Author), Joey Guidone (Illustrator)

Being a Writer: Advice, Musings, Essays and Experiences From the World’s Greatest Authors is available here.

Anna Wintour Quotes

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Catherine Balavage

Anna Wintour is the British Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue and has been for the past 25 years. What she doesn’t know about fashion is not worth knowing. Talented, fierce and fashionable. She is incredibly inspirational. Have a read of some of her quotes below and feel inspired.

“I look for strong people. I don’t like people who’ll say yes to everything I might bring up. I want people who can argue and disagree and have a point of view that’s reflected in the magazine. My dad believed in the cult of personality. He brought great writers and columnists to ‘The Standard.”

“I’m very good at delegating – people work much better when they have a real sense of responsibility. But at the same time, I don’t like surprises. I don’t pore over every shoot, but I do like to be aware at all times of what’s going on.”

If one comes across sometimes as being cold or brusque, it’s simply because I’m striving for the best.”

“There is something about fashion that can make people really nervous.”

“I wasn’t academically successful. And maybe I’ve spent a lot of my career trying to make up for that.”

“Create your own style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.”

‘Vogue’ is a fashion magazine, and a fashion magazine is about change.”

“The notion that a contemporary woman must look mannish in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of power is frankly dismaying. This is America, not Saudi Arabia.”

“I like having young assistants in my office; they have energy, and I spend time with them to make sure they understand what we’re doing. By investing in them, I’m investing in the magazine. All over ‘Vogue,’ ‘Teen Vogue,’ and ‘Men’s Vogue,’ there are people who have been through not only my office but also many other offices at ‘Vogue.'”

“My father was a newspaper editor, so I was surrounded by journalists my entire life. I think the fact that he was so well known may be why I chose to go into magazines and move to the States at a young age.“

“It’s always about timing. If it’s too soon, no one understands. If it’s too late, everyone’s forgotten.”

“I don’t really follow market research. In the end, I respond to my own instincts.”

“You either know fashion or you don’t.”

“Because of reality television and all these celebrities thinking they can be designers, everyone imagines that they can just become a designer, photographer, or model, but that’s not the way things work. People have to go to school, learn their craft, and build a brand – that’s the right, healthy way to do things.”

“I want ‘Vogue’ to be pacy, sharp, and sexy – I’m not interested in the super-rich or infinitely leisured. I want our readers to be energetic executive women, with money of their own and a wide range of interests. There is a new kind of woman out there. She’s interested in business and money.“

“If you look at any great fashion photograph out of context, it will tell you just as much about what’s going on in the world as a headline in The New York Times.”

“Just be true to yourself, and listen as much as one is able to to other people whose opinions you respect and look up to but in the end it has to come from you. You can’t really worry too much by looking to the left and the right about what the competition is doing or what other people in your field are doing. It has to be a true vision.”

“I think possibly what people working for one hate the most is indecision. Even if I’m completely unsure, I’ll pretend I know exactly what I’m talking about and make a decision. The most important thing I can do is try and make myself very clearly understood.”

“[The democratisation of luxury] means more people are going to get better fashion. And the more people who can have fashion, the better.”

“It’s very important to take risks. I think that research is very important, but in the end you have to work from your instinct and feeling and take those risks and be fearless. When I hear a company is being run by a team, my heart sinks, because you need to have that leader with a vision and heart that can move things forward.”

“Fashion’s not about looking back. It’s always about looking forward.”

“In the end I do respond to my own instincts. Sometimes they’re successful, and obviously sometimes they’re not. But you have to, I think, remain true to what you believe in.”

“Part of the pleasure of editing ‘Vogue,’ one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it.”

“Fashion is not beautiful, neither is it ugly. Why should it be either? Fashion is Fashion”

“To be in ‘Vogue’ has to mean something. It’s an endorsement. It’s a validation.”

“I surround myself with a talented group of people that are opinionated and interesting. I try to remain very open to what others have to say.”

Kanye West Attacks Beck At Grammy’s Internet Responds By Attacking Beyonce

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Catherine Balavage

Kanye West Attacks Beck At Grammy’s And The Internet Responds By Attacking… Beyonce

When Kanye West almost interrupted Beck onstage while he was accepting his Album of the Year Grammy award, and then later said that he should respect ‘true artists’ he showed one thing: how much of a twat he is. In fact, who can forget he did a similar thing to Taylor Swift a few years ago? (Weirdly Kanye has said that he will be collaborating with Swift soon).

Beck gave a very dignified response. Saying, ‘Come back, I need some help.’ and then later telling reporters: “[Kanye] deserves to be on stage as much as anybody.” Some reactions to Kanye’s pompousness have been bang on: David Spade calling him ‘virtually impossible’ to like, Shirley Manson calling him a ‘complete twat’ but what has really annoyed me is the large amount of people on the internet attacking Beyonce. Who didn’t even do anything apart from be in the audience, embarrassed at the events unfolding.

Post by Shirley Manson.

Instead of attacking Kanye as an artist, my Facebook feed is full of meme’s attacking Beyonce’s ‘artistry’. Some of it reeks of sexism and it is bullshit. Why not attack Kanye?

Beyonce is an artist. The meme’s say she plays no instruments. I don’t actually know if Beyonce plays any instruments apart from one: her voice. Her STUNNING voice. She is talented, she is visionary and anyone who has seen her documentary Life is But a Dream cannot be anything other than wowed by her work ethic, her talent and her vision. She is not just an artist: she is a superstar. Beck is also an artist. He writes songs and plays 16 instruments. I am a fan. There is room for them both in the music industry. They are like chalk and cheese and each has their place. To compare them is silly and stupid. They also claim that Beyonce does not write any of her songs. She doesn’t write them all, but she has written a fair amount.

So, people, enough with attacking the innocent party. There is only one person who deserves our scorn and his name is Kanye West.

Naomi Watts: I Was Ready To Quit Acting

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Frostie

Some actors find success easy and others struggle for years. Naomi Watts definitely falls into the latter category. The Oscar nominated actress used to drive for hours to pick up bad scripts people refused to send her. She regularly doubted that she would ever have a career after moving to Los Angeles as things were so tough.

“[I went from playing leads] to being someone who had to drive for two hours to get two pages of really bad dialogue in some TV movie, just because they couldn’t be bothered faxing me the pages. And I did that for pretty much ten years. When it was like, you know what, I can’t handle it, I’m giving up. But every time my bags were packed, I’d get a call saying, ‘You’ve got this part.'” she told InStyle magazine.

The 46-year-old actress took anything she was offered when she moved to LA.

“Oh, listen, I did not have any snobbery about anything. I just wanted to work. I always had the attitude that work begets work and one thing would roll to the next, I think I knew I had something. But I certainly had plenty of doubt.”

The star did not get her big break until David Lynch cast her in Mulholland Drive solely from her photograph.

If you are an actor then check out How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. It is available in print and in all eBook formats on both Smashwords and Amazon.

Ashton Kutcher On Dating, Food And The UK

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Frostie

Fans of new father and, possibly, newlywed Ashton Kutcher are in for a treat. Here he is on dating, food and the UK

Ashton on, dating

The biggest mistake people make on dates is that they try to be someone that they’re not and they try to sort of over perform and then they start to set expectations for relationships which they can’t keep up with over time, so I would say the best thing you can probably do is sort of be yourself and have enough self-humility to drive whatever car you have and go to whatever restaurant you can afford to go to and then just sort of depend on you, because you’re probably good enough.

Ashton on, Food

You know what’s surprising about the best food, is that it’s surprising where you find the best what; like the best Dim Sum I’ve ever had is in London, which is like weird right? I’ve been to Bejing – you’d think oh boy, they’re gonna have great Dim Sum? The best Dim Sum is in London; that’s like a weird thing. I love Italian food so Italy kind of has my heart there, I would say like the best overall cuisine, French in France has the best overall cuisine. The greatest variety of good food; I would say is in the United States of America.

Ashton on, the UK

Well you know I’ll tell you my favourite British food is fish and chips done well, and if it’s done well its exceptional and I’ve seen like a lot of variations on fish and chips that I think are interesting, but bad fish and chips…break up. It can be nasty.

Ashton Kutcher has been unveiled as the new Wrigley’s Extra brand ambassador. The new ad featuring Ashton will air from January 1st 2015 in the UK as well as 40 countries around the world. Are you a fan?

10 Little Known Facts About Dickens

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Frostie

The Charles Dickens Museum has put some great Dickens facts together for us in conjunction with the release of The Invisible Woman which is out on DVD now. . Enjoy.

Dickens was extremely fond of his sister in law, Mary Hogarth, who was 15 at the time they first met. Mary died, aged 17, in his arms at his home at Doughty St (now the Charles Dickens Museum) and Dickens was struck low with grief. He wore a ring from her finger for the rest of his life and kept a lock of her hair. He was unable to work for months following her death – a situation previously unheard of. To a close friend he wrote of her death:

“Thank God she died in my arms and that they very last words she whispered were of me … I solemnly believe that so perfect a creature never breathed. I knew her inmost heart and her real worth and value. She had not a fault…”

· Dickens love and fondness for Mary coloured his life for years after and affected him profoundly. Years later Dickens spoke of his wish to be buried beside Mary to his friend John Forster:

“The desire to be buried next to her is as strong upon me now as it was three years ago; and I know (for I don’t think there ever was love like that I bear her) that it will never diminish…”.

· Dickens met his first love, Maria Beadnell, at age 17. He was not considered good enough for the attentions of a bankers daughter. He vowed to become an actor to impress her and even when he became a well earning parliamentary reporter in 1835, he was refused by Maria’s parents. Maria contacted Dickens again later in life in 1854 and he was once again infatuated and sent her effusive letters until he discovered she had become dull and matronly. After this he never spoke to Maria again and portrayed her cruelly as Flora in ‘Little Dorrit’

· Dickens met the young actress Ellen Ternan when she was 17 and he pursued her from 1857 and was connected to her until his death in 1870. Dickens went to great lengths to keep the affair a secret from his adoring public. Ellen was the same age when he met her as Mary Hogarth had been when she died.

· As the relationship with his wife Catherine soured, he arranged for a wall to be built in the middle of their shared bedroom making the separation complete.

· In 1858, Dickens officially separated from Catherine and to put an end to rumours in circulation about his affair with Ellen Ternan, he had a notice published in London Times and Household Words to explain the ‘amicably composed’ separation to his wider public.

· When Dickens separated from Catherine, he blamed her mental instability as the cause of their break-up rather than the affair with Ellen Ternan

· A serpent ring tells the story of strained relations between Catherine Dickens and her sister Georgina following the separation of the Dickens’s marriage in 1858; Georgina made the controversial decision to remain with Dickens as his housekeeper. Many years later, after Dickens’s death, Catherine made a gift of the serpent ring to the sister who had deserted her, the symbol of the snake implying her betrayal.

· The affair between Dickens and Ellen was covered up well into 1920’s. Subsequent generations denied that the affair ever happened. A discovery of Dickens’ stolen or lost diary of 1867, found in 1943, appears to confirm the affair through coded entries..