"Fabulous Storytelling" Mick Herron
I have been writing and publishing books on a variety of topics since my bestselling Angry White Pyjamas came out in 1997. Other bestsellers include Red Nile, a biography of the River Nile. In total I have written 15 mainstream books translated into 16 languages. The include creative non-fiction, novels, memoir, travel and self-help. My publishers include Harper Collins, Picador, Penguin and Hachette. I have won several awards including two top national prizes- the Somerset Maugham literary award and the William Hill sportsbook of the Year Award. I have also won the Newdigate Prize for poetry- one of the oldest poetry prizes in the world; past winners include Oscar Wilde, James Fenton and Fiona Sampson.
A more recent success was Micromastery, published by Penguin in the US and the UK as well as selling in eight other countries.
Micromastery is a way of learning new skills more efficiently. I include these methods when I coach people who want to improve as writers. If that's you, go to the section of this site titled I CAN HELP YOU WRITE. I have taught creative writing in schools and universities but I now find coaching and editing is where I can deliver the most value. In the past I have taught courses in both fiction and memoir at Moniack Mhor, the former Arvon teaching centre in Scotland.
"Micromastery is a triumph. A brilliant idea, utterly convincing, and superbly carried through" - Philip Pullman
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My instagram account is roberttwiggerinstantart HERE
Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at 9:31AM I have been recently working on some more homemade books- these are one off or limited print runs. I will post up more information from time to time on instagram on roberttwiggerinstantart.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:41AM I have always been a fan of people setting up a small business that attempts to make money.
I am particularly fond of people who start with stalls, or festivals or online efforts even.
But big business has other ideas. Their idea of business is: have an idea, get a loan, buy machines and property, make money, pay off shareholders gloating in the background.
They believe the only thing holding people back from starting a business is getting a loan.
I know a few people who scored such loans and then went bust after a few years. So indirectly the cheap loan was helping the ordinary people who worked for them for a few years. Most businesses go bust in the first five years so maybe this model of wealth trickle down does work....a bit.
But the real things that stop people starting a viable business are mental not physical. The feeling that anything is possible, that you aren't being 'held back'. The people who set up environments who encourage this feeling do work at least as important as banks.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 4:20AM Bore the sudience a little.
Go on stage to make relationships- at least you won't be alone.
Be average.
Be obvious.
We've been told to 'do our best' since childhood- and what did that achieve? Words get used up, lose their power to make us act in the way we want to act. Even my parrotting these phrases- which are still potent- reduces them a little.
Keith's talent (he has recently died but his books on impro are all available) was to say the opposite of the prevailing wisdom- to point out that chink which had been missed. He also showed that contradictory advice could be very functionally helpful.
Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 6:15AM Western 'thinking' is very concerned about power and domination. So much so it undervalues and overlooks how people influence each other. The justification for such ideas that the oppressed are now 'allowed' to oppress their former masters comes directly from this simplistic model of the world being full of the dominated and the dominators.
Of course when you look at real life or your own life this model breaks down.
We actually all live in a world of multiple influences. And one of the odd laws of influence is that if one person influences another there is a reverse flow of influence too.
If there is a strong caring relationship influence can flow both ways- despite or inspite of, the 'power' dynamic.
It makes more sense to indentify influence than to get sucked into pointless and simplistic debates about who has power over whom and what they 'deserve' because of such power dynamics.
Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 9:23AM Phineas T. Barnum wrote that the people 'enjoy being bilked', that they actively like being tricked into paying for something that fails to come up to their expectations. How can this be so? It certainly defies the dry abstract analysis of the average economist...But the reason is simple. The half of us that is still a child engages a belief in the impossible. This is the part that is childish and not childlike, the part that wants to believe a drop of yoghurt culture will turn a lake into yoghurt. But that's impossible- I know, they reply, but just imagine if it worked! And that cosy dreamlike image- and it could be of anything- is what that half of us desires. But when the talking monkey or the man with two heads is proved a con, the other half, the pessimistic cynic can take over and say, "I told you so". Alternating between credulity and cynicism describes the voting public- but both attributes share a common feature- a lack of real world experience, digested real world experience. People who go from chlldhood dreams to fearful pessimism have to find a way to re-engage with experience. Sometimes this can happen by travelling, but not always.
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 9:34AM On TV there is a show in which hidden traitors have to secretly murder their fellows. It is a commercial version of 'wink', that delightful game where a hidden 'winker' winks secretly at people in the room and they fall down dead. The others grow frantic, not knowing who to trust. In the TV game we see the sheer power of group dynamics overwhelming the ability of the participants to tell who is a traitor and who is not. The TV show teaches several things- one of which is: if you want to survive in a malevolent regime, act dumb, but not too silent. But never get caught out for being 'two faced'- this is a crime no group can tolerate. Secondly, stamp on all emotion if you want to have any chance of being perceptive. The widespread belief that emotion=truth is stronger now than it has ever been. The low quality of deduction shown by the participants reflects this.
Monday, October 10, 2022 at 6:47AM Whenever we think we have a handle on 'the world' we haven't. A 'world view' is an abstraction too far. When you think you have an idea of 'the way the world is going' you probably don't. It's a good wake up call to try on a different pair of world viewing specs.