Link: How to Write a Story, by Robert Jackson Bennett

"The first step is waking up." Brilliant: How to Write a Story, by Robert Jackson Bennett

Link: "Long-standing party loyalties, even in a less tribal world, are not easily suspended"

"... But May 2010 offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape politics for the better. It must be seized."

Fascinating list of signatories to this letter in The Guardian: “Long-standing party loyalties, even in a less tribal world, are not easily suspended

Link: An Awesome Interpretation of Avatar

Brilliant analysis of what could have been "really" happening in Avatar. Don't read if you haven't seen the film.: An Awesome Interpretation of Avatar

Link: A Self-Referential Story

"Sentient sentences": an astonishing piece of work.: A Self-Referential Story

A quote from Amanda Palmer: asking for money for your art is not selling out

ASKING FOR MONEY FOR YOUR ART IS NOT SELLING OUT.

selling out is when you go against your own heart, ideals and authenticity to make money.

selling out is an action, a 180 from a stated position.

i don’t consider pop stars to be sell-outs. the lady gagas, britneys and madonnas of the world are UNABASHED about why they got in this game: fame, money, über-success, chart-topping hits.

but if neil young were to suddenly hire the matrix to write him a thumpin' dance album and then appear on saturday night live snogging bob dylan, i’d have reservations about his integrity.

From Virtual Crowdsurfing

Link: Do I know where hell is? Hell is in "Hello"

God save us from crazy religious nutters.

The title is taken from ‘Wandrin’ Star', by the way.: Do I know where hell is? Hell is in “Hello”

Link: A report on FT.com: The man who invented exercise

Amazing story. Hard to believe that the benefits of aerobic exercise were unknown as recently as the 1940s.: A report on FT.com: The man who invented exercise

Novelist Joanna Kavenna points out that I was wrong

Ok, I was wrong when I said that no other genres had disparaging abbreviations.

"I don't understand what chick-lit means, and to a degree it's just used to dismiss quite a lot of writing by women," she says. "It's a blanket term that renders a wide variety of literature frivolous. It's used either to dismiss the writing or to avoid thinking about it." Stephen Moss interviews novelist Joanna Kavenna on her seven unpublishable novels, and eventual success | Special Reports | guardian.co.uk Books

Looking forward to hearing this

My favourite author and a favourite TV writer: together again for the first time!

Iain Banks has now taken a look at the recording script of my BBC Radio 4 adaptation of his novella ‘The State of the Art’ and pronounces himself pleased.

From Paul Cornell’s blog.