@brassoteach
Actually, this came up last night. My daughter is taking GCSE maths, and my husband said ‘If you get stuck then look at the info given and start with what do I know about this? Often it will jog your thinking onto the right path.’
@patrick_ness
I did this during a film. I couldn’t follow the plot and they were getting noisier and noisier.
I just said ‘For God’s sake, will you just shut up!’ My kids were 😬 because I’m not a shouter. Anyway, the man who was noisy tried to say something to me and others stepped in.🙌🏻
I've just hit 1,000 followers, tipped over the edge by a chap called Bertha who's looking for a sugarmomma. 🤨 To celebrate, I have £100 to spend on people who want to enter literary competitions, or courses, but can't afford it. Who wants it? (Not you sugarBertha)
@kate_rackham
A thing I did for my friend was to contact everyone she’d known, throughout her life. I asked them for any memories, photos, funny anecdotes. They came flooding in and her husband read everything to her. She said it was wonderful and brought her to life for her kids.
@mandalore1228
My bonus daughter says she’s noticed some guys now step in when other guys harass her to say, ‘That’s not OK.’ Modelling masculinity as being strong enough to call out bad behaviour is a very powerful force in society.
@AshSinclairOF
@MaloreeKeeker
@_celia_bedelia_
This is really interesting. For some, keeping below a certain weight takes huge focus, and exhausting restraint. For others, it’s relatively easy. Some people choose to spend their lives focused on more interesting things than reducing weight. Shaming them won’t change that.
@hughosmond
My key concern is the massive surge of girls with ROGD. Many teen girls, when they are met with tight stereotypes, struggle with self-loathing. The message is being pushed to them by schools and social media that they can fix their discomfort medically. This is horrific.
Help! I have a 12 year old who is a voracious reader. Her two favourite books this month are Nevermore by Jessica Townsend and Skylarks War by Hilary McKay. Any suggestions very much appreciated.
@snide_sally
Wow, this is really thought-provoking. I’ve just researched and created an episode on how to help our teens develop emotional intelligence. I’d never thought much about why mine is so heightened. It’s a survival mechanism.
@stacybmitchell
My daughter is dating a girl. My eldest, hetero, bonus-daughter said ‘Oh, that’s the ideal.’ My husband was completely non-plussed. All the women had a little giggle.
By the time I had finished writing my novel my skills had improved so much I had to re-write the earlier sections. In doing that I learnt so much that the later writing needed work. I have been re-writing the later sections. Doing so has taught me so much that...oh never mind.
@emilykmay
This is so poignant. I call mine my bonus-daughters, because that’s how I feel about them. I was very careful about my role when their mother was alive, because they had a mother and that’s a very special relationship. Judging other women like this is a terrible thing to do.
@hkist
I hated Naples. We departed ASAP on a public ferry for lovely Ischia. Better than Pompeii is Herculaneum. It’s nearby, but far fewer visitors and WAY more impactful. I cannot begin to tell you how good it is in comparison. Get a guide, because it’s worth every penny.
@IdreamofNarnia
@jojomoyes
My grand mother in law clutched my arm whilst I was pregnant, telling me to keep my legs closed until October. When I enquired why she said ‘Too many born in September. People are saying the Richards’ only have sex once a year.’
@DanJonesPE
I remember doing an interview with a psychologist about the impact on kids who see traumatic things. She said, as long as the parent seems OK, the kids can normally cope. You did a great job of keeping them safe. Use this to tell them you are a powerful family, and a safe space.
@cbcreative
@MarianKeyes
The red Kia slid to a stop, snow-chains clanking. Eve peered over the wheel, rubbed at the windscreen with her sleeve, then blinked. She could call Tom, hope their hide had a signal, but then what? "You know my dead aunt's gaudy chairs that I sold? Well one has just turned up."
Margaret Atwood on scrapping the first hundred pages of a novel and starting again in first person. 'A lot of things just don't work out. The wastepaper basket is your friend. It was invented for you by God.'
@seery_theresa
@Ladycorvia
I agree. I had breast cancer last year. Everything is supposed to happen in two weeks. The only reason things did was because I kept calling the appointment hotline and got cancellations.
@mara_yamauchi
My husband has been talking about this. He's been looking at the qualifiying times to run in the Boston marathon. He said, if he entered as a woman or non-binary he'd get in no problem. As a man, he'd need to be 30 minutes quicker, which would be far harder for him.
My daughter bought this book, because the review resonated. She says it has made a massive impact on her ability to frame her experiences; so many of which were the same. It’s a surprisingly engaging exploration of a really painful topic. We highly recommend it.
@HadleyFreeman
@AshSinclairOF
@MaloreeKeeker
@_celia_bedelia_
I disagree. Shame is learned within a community. I choose to create a community where shame isn’t wielded to try and change people, because it doesn’t work; it only causes suffering. People change when something truly resonates with them.
@sophiassocials
What a tree!!! I remember waiting until Christmas Eve and buying one for £5.50 and carrying it home through the streets of East end London. I was determined to get that Christmas feel.
@SResisters
I did the research for this episode. The parents, or those who support her, need to become the most pleasant nuisance they can at the school. Call daily to get a meeting about it. Log all calls. Log every incident/comment, make them aware of every one.
@lololeereverie
@TheAssHaulers
So many young boys are following Andrew Tate, and men in the manosphere. It’s starting really young; teaching entitlement and misogyny. It’s heartbreaking and needs active support and intervention.
Anyone who'd slept beside a much-loved relative, who is drowning in their own body fluid because of inoperable cancer, would understand the case for assisted dying.
@LaurenInTheWild
@sewistwrites
I have turned Christmas into new pyjamas, one present and smaller stocking gifts, but really it’s about playing games all day together as a family. The presents are great, but secondary.
@WomensRightsNet
@CaigerRob
@allyrudd_times
@thetimes
@parkrunUK
I’ve known a girl since she was five, who has trained relentlessly in sports and selected for an England development squad. She was also an incredibly fast cross country competitor. I’ve just heard she’s given up because a born male kept coming first. She can’t see the point. 🤦♀️
@Lolpet52
@kyokoTHEpoet
My daughter always seemed straight, but has fallen in love with a girl. I couldn’t be happier because their relationship is the most beautiful, loving, supportive thing I have ever witnessed.
@thetimes
@HadleyFreeman
When MP’s are suggesting that our kids should be educated in how to strangle safely instead of doing everything in their power to protect them from the worst excesses of porn we need articles like this and we need to fight back. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I have finished the
@cbcreative
Edit and Pitch your novel and thought it was excellent. I would recommend it at any stage after first draft. You get six weeks of high quality guidance beginning with unpicking your novel for editing. 1/2
@sharrond62
In my area, people have been so disgusted by the options that they now put up local candidates who’re unaffiliated to a party. They win every time.
#WriteCBC
Danny stopped crying. He stepped out and circled it, his toes shrinking from cold concrete as his fingers gripped ice crystals on the rusted railings outside the new flat. The box shook. He squealed as it burst open. "Merry Christmas!" beamed Santa. 'I always find you."
@Nataliealana87
The amount of times men have tried to ‘rescue’ me when happily reading the paper over my breakfast. Then they get offended because I don’t want to engage in their inane banter. 🤦♀️ People, being alone - and answering to nobody - is one of life’s greatest pleasures for a woman.
Yesterday I kayaked to a reserve and swam with Manatees in crystal clear water. It made up for every minute lost, queuing to go on rides with my children at Disney.
@mumof3amigos
I studied Hamlet at A level. I lived in a tiny village in Lincolnshire and we had barely enough money to heat the house. I watched the DVD of Laurence Olivier playing the role over and over and over. It gave me the chance to think about nuance. I got the top grade.
I’m interested in how men manage to juggle being a dad and a professional footballer. Could the
@BBCNews
please point to their articles on that?
@MorrisseyHelena
#sexism
@mattgraveling
Top tip. You need to cover a bird with a cloth so that it is dark. The bird will remain still until it can see. It's why falconers created hoodies.
@fallawanna
@Glinner
@neilhimself
Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. My friend has breast cancer and the drugs to block oestrogen have had a terrible impact. She now has osteoarthritis and can’t use her hands, ankles etc, she’s so angry because she wasn’t warned. She’s now stopped them as would rather die.
@doctor_oxford
@ShonaCook5
To be fair, the headline says halts, and the body says suspends. Neither is accurate. There has been a freeze on further investment by the company in UK since 2017. This is not a new decision, or breaking news. Even as a Remainer, I don't like reporting that muddies the truth.
@Jozinhagirl
@naomicfisher
I can’t imagine how ANYONE would want to return with that hanging over their heads. Imagine getting up and going into work with that hanging over you. It’s ludicrous.
@ChrisTuck_WWHF
Emily is a phenomenal woman, and asking the questions about why nobody 'noticed' is vital so that we are all given a chance to stop and question whether there are more things we could be doing.
@andrealeadsom
No, truancy is when you bunk off to play video games at home or meet your mate, who has nicked enough money to buy a bag of chips, and hang out at the shopping centre laughing at people. This is honest to God conviction, but then most politicians now don't know what that is.
I've just accepted that my life is mostly admin, preparing my children for tests, and clearing up. I've decided that chocolate needs to play a far bigger role.
@JDaviesPhD
Reading Bad Therapy cured me of ever filling in questionnaires like this. They’re a quick way of showing that the person handing them to you shouldn’t be trusted.
@hoovlet
@GorinMoti
@PhilipMertz1
@BrianLeiter
@SandisBertaitis
The silencing of people in academia is precisely why I started taking an interest in the gender debate. My daughters started telling me that they were scared to say anything at school. Once you are hearing that sort of trickle-down effect on free speech it's a massive problem.
I learnt 'How to Write a Novel in Three Hours' with
@Allie1Spencer
today. It was superb. It's more planned than written, but the exercise taught me exactly what I wanted and the outline is pretty much a synopsis so that's one of the worst bits done already!
@JerichoWriters
@AshSinclairOF
@MaloreeKeeker
@_celia_bedelia_
Yes, but it doesn’t. The shame these people experience makes them try again and again. It causes eating disorders, but ultimately fails because shame is corrosive. What ‘works’ is a feeling of self-worth and intuitive eating. Listening to their own bodies, not your comments.
@virtwriting
@juliarkelly2
Icicled bicycles; legs spinning, we sail through fairy-lit streets. Frosted grips and mulled whines about frozen fingers. You take my cold hand as we lean the bikes against the cinema wall; squeeze it back to life. 'Every snowflake is unique' you say. 'Like our love,' I beam.
Writers: I have just realised why the one line pitch is so important. It is the contract that tells the reader and yourself what your character wants. If you can't write one your character and story probably lack focus. It should drive them on every page so keep it to hand.
@virtwriting
@auradanks
Loving you was a piece of cake. I light a candle and honour you with chocolate; the rich, dark sweetness of our desire, a triangle of bitterness that poisoned our happiness. That cold, prickly bitch you let in; red berries my escape. I snuff out the candle and wash the knife.
We got our first Lockdown takeaway tonight from a local restaurant that’s just reopened. My eleven year old set the table to celebrate - using garden flowers - and I fell like I am on holiday somewhere exotic.
@cbcreative
@AliceLutyens
@cbcreative
@AliceLutyens
'A slice of morning light with your lemon tea?' I swat the air, dense with burnt dreams and face powder, then tug back the curtains. A deep thrumming of bees rises from a furrow in the fabric. I flinch. You scowl. 'See? I told you to leave well alone.'
#amediting
#amwriting
My cleaner has confessed that she's been furtively reading bits of my manuscript and has now begged for the rest because she can't bear waiting to know what happens. She was apologetic. I, of course, hugged her for making my day.
I've followed
@EllipsisZine
for a while but never really delved deeply into their content. Today I had the chance to read by
@auradanks
and suddenly realised how much I've been missing. The quality in this magazine is seriously good. Buy yours now.
@drrachelhewitt
Yes, we talked about this in our episode on the motherhood myth and mum guilt.
I have found that the most effective thing to do with an alpha male who was brought up this way is simply instruct him on what he will do. ‘I’ve cooked, you can stack the dishwasher’.
@sappholives83
This is fascinating. I researched underage sex for a parent who was worried about her teenager. There are a range of ways of assessing whether someone is sexually ready, and the age can vary, but every single thing I read drew a hard line at 13; below which consent isn’t possible
My best advice is to begin plotting the next novel as soon as you submit. There is no downside to this. It stops you being anxious about responses, a fresh chance to put all you have learnt back to work, and the ability to gain fresh perspective on your original MS.
My parting thought for Friday...
Authors don't talk much about being on submission & now I'm here I get why. But here's one thing I want to share from my first weeks venturing down this path for the first time:
REJECTIONS.
There. That's all I got. 🤷
#amwriting
#writerslife
@HalilMrT4Real
I love this. My friend has built up an entire group of people whom now talk, instead of using their devices, just by making that first effort to engage. We need human connection. 🙌🏻
Husband: Great jeans. Buy some more. Me: Easy. I’ll go straight after my writing class. Walks 5 minutes and realises British Museum is 1 min away. Emerges 4 hours later. No jeans, 8 books, empty wardrobe, full heart.
@britishmuseum
This is an excellent competition. I received my feedback last night and was stunned by how good it was. The level of detail and ecouragement was completely unexpected. I now have excellent guidance on what really works and what could be improved, and how.
Feedback will be out this evening. If you're curious in the meanwhile, the full winners, shortlists, and longlists are up on the website on our competitions page, along with the names of the writers who penned them!
#amwriting
#timetowork
@RogersHistory
I researched this for an episode of my podcast and there seems to be a multitude of issues. Lockdowns broke the habit of attendance, but also increased anxiety in kids with little support for parents in understanding how to tackle school refusal.
This book is like a salve for gentle spirits whose power is often misunderstood. I tell my kids 'Be polite and kind, and wrap yourself in moments of quiet. But don't ever mistake this for weakness. We have cores of steel and will fight. We just don't need to shout about it.'
@amanda_correl
@CynthiaFar75705
@TaylorAdvocate
My 15 year old daughter says TikTok is a horrible place for a teen girl. She says that even if she clicked ‘not interested’ in depressing content it still got pushed at her because the algorithm knows she’s a teen girl.
@virtwriting
@HooftLucy
Sue blinked her doe eyes and sniffed the crisp air.
"Pathetic, I mean does he really think we can't see him?"
Jen glanced behind her. "Perhaps he's a decoy, working with...
A shot cracked the air and dark spies shuddered as a clump of snow slid to the ground where she fell.
@LauraPAuthor
I once remarked on one such display. The mother sweetly turned to me and offered to show me how to do it. I think my face must have said it all because she never spoke to me again. Keeping my children alive is my primary focus, after that everything is noise.
@emilykmay
@SarahWS11790
And fewer issues to deal with. Parents used to let their kids go out and play ‘all day’ (I have asked a room full of adults about their experiences) yet now they’re vilified if they let them out of their sight.
@tinycharlotte72
My very first boyfriend took me to meet his mates. I thought it was a good sign until he told me, delightedly, they were all giving me marks out of ten and I'd passed. His mates later told me I should dump him because I was better than that. How did I not work it out myself?
@AshleyJBaptiste
I did my A levels living in a tent. I distinctly remember turning up in the mornings and kids talking about how they were so nervous they couldn’t eat the breakfast their mum made. I was 👀, but said nothing.
@JessRuston
@FMelroseWriter
We have mulled wine at our carols every year. We make a few vats of it, put it in a huge tea urn and, after the first glass, everyone helps themselves. Most prefer it to all the other alcohol on offer. You can drink champagne anytime; mulled wine says Christmas.
@emilykmay
100%! What I have learned from making my podcast is that your kids NEVER want to be your peers. They always want you to be their parent. We covered how to talk to your teens about this in one of our latest episodes, but it apples even when they’re adults.
@DudeAdhd
@eduleadership
So if a man with ADHD punches his girlfriend, because he’s dysregulated when she says no, we’re supposed to say he couldn’t help it? If a teen stabs another person because he’s angry blame his Limbic system, over which he has no control? Society requires we learn self-control.
I asked my daughter if she'd like to take trip somewhere inspiring, just the two of us, as a reward when she's finished her scholarship exams. I was sort of thinking camping in Lyme Regis to collect fossils. Her list:
@davidgmandel
Oh wow, this is fascinating. It makes so much sense. I did and Episode on bullying and it can have a big impact if other people are prepared to call out the bully.
So Jacinda Ahern, and the entire New Zealand government and civil service, take a 20% pay cut for 6 months whilst the British ‘government’ give themselves a nice little 10k extra ‘working from home’ allowance. It’s sickening!
@cbcreative
@felicityblunt
Light gasps of wind had shifted the morning mist, herding it into flocks that gathered around the trees. Evelyn stumbled on over snowdrops, the broken boundary fence her only focus. A sudden scattering of squirrels caught her eye as they bounced past a small shoe and bare ankle.
Think of how many wonderful books you've read that were never awarded a thing. I have also read plenty of award-winning books that left me completely 🤔
Writers I urge you not to get too discouraged by not getting into things, not being shortlisted, not winning the award, etc. Often really stellar work & really stellar writers fly under the radar. Don't make too much of any of it besides doing the work & making beautiful things.
Margaret Atwood on encountering a blockage in writing: 'There are two things you can do. 1 Go for a walk, this is a well-known, ancient remedy. 2 Go to sleep. Tell yourself the problem, go to sleep, when you wake up you may well have the solution.
And on the final toll of the bell, the sun flung shadows of yellow roses like confetti in her path, and white crowds gathered in the sky whispering softly, "she is coming."
@tinytwink
I was working the door of a disco and everyone had to have a stamp on their left hand when they paid. All went well until a guy came up and presented his right hand. I asked for the left. He demanded I stamp the right. We argued then he showed me his left stump. No hand.
I have just tried on my new pair of bargain climbing trousers. Not only are they bright pink with orange bottoms but they are the first trousers ever to fit my waist perfectly. As if all that weren't enough, they are stretchy with pockets. Should I buy 6 more and simply rotate?
My 10 year old made the most delicious chocolate mousse for Sunday lunch but I'm still struggling to get it through to her that she won't make it on Masterchef. (Picture of actual mousse as presented).
Thrilled to be listed here. Do read this blog and the excellent piece written by Alice Lutyens about selecting little details to give readers an acute sense of place, even in the most mundane of settings.