Tag Archives: business writing

Words and music

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Jamie Jauncey

I belong to that generation of Scots for whom, shamefully, Scottish culture played no discernible part in education. So I came to our national bard late and, oddly enough, through music rather than words. Last night, a musical project I’ve … Continue reading →

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Sheep and goats

Posted on January 27, 2010 by Jamie Jauncey

Tomorrow morning early I’m leaving for Geneva to see my 18 year-old son who’s working for the winter season at a French ski resort. I won’t pretend that I don’t envy him. Last time I flew to Geneva I was … Continue reading →

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Reading for survival

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Jamie Jauncey

Last week I learned that my young adult novel, The Reckoning, has made it onto a government-sponsored list of 250 books for teenagers. Every secondary school in England will receive their choice of 15 titles from the list, free, as … Continue reading →

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Sob story

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Jamie Jauncey

‘The sob is in the story. It mustn’t be in the voice.’ So said Antonia Fraser on Radio 4’s Front Row this week. She was speaking of her difficulty in reading aloud the love poem by her late husband, Harold … Continue reading →

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Trampled by mammoths

Posted on January 8, 2010 by Jamie Jauncey

Speak of resolutions in this season, and one thinks of those backbone-stiffening intentions with which we traditionally enter a new year. We resolve to do things; things recognised, even acknowledged, but previously undone. We firm our minds towards some new, … Continue reading →

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An act of creation

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Jamie Jauncey

My colleague John Simmons blogged a couple of days ago on the Writers & Artists site about the significance of the place you write being as much to do with mental as physical location. I agree with him. I’m writing … Continue reading →

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Christmas shopping

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Jamie Jauncey

I’m conscious that I ended last week’s post on a negative generalisation, making the point that in the world of business, bad writing so often puts paid to good ideas. But precisely because so much of it is so poor, … Continue reading →

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Advanced magic

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Jamie Jauncey

The visionary Arthur C Clarke once said, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ I spent an intriguing day this week in the presence of just such magic, at the Informatics Department of Edinburgh University. Informatics is the science … Continue reading →

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Goethe got it

Posted on November 26, 2009 by Jamie Jauncey

I sometimes work in my local library, the AK Bell in Perth. On the walls of its café are quotations about literature and writing from famous literary figures. There’s one by Goethe that often catches my eye: ‘When ideas fail, … Continue reading →

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Creative constraints

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Jamie Jauncey

I listened to an intriguing programme on Radio Four yesterday while driving south down the M6 in horizontal rain. Presented by the miscellaneous Ben Schott, it documented the Oulipo movement, one of whose members, Georges Perec, famously wrote a novel … Continue reading →

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