Posted on November 15, 2021 by rosbarber
A few years ago I wrote a funeral poem for general use. Grief and death are important topics for me, largely because of losing my brother many years ago. My brother was not religious. In fact my whole family were atheists. It was hard to find something suitable to read at his funeral. So many […]
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Posted on April 22, 2016 by rosbarber
The creative process is left out of most creative writing teaching. I’ve been teaching “process” for 20+ years, and I thought it would be helpful to share what I have learned here (and what I teach), in a handy, easy-to-link-to format. Some of this only applies to writing. But some of it applies to all […]
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Posted on March 24, 2016 by rosbarber
One morning you wake up and you think, Okay, enough is enough. I am going to do the thing that scares me. I am going to ask for help. You hate asking for anything. But especially help. You have spent years being strong and capable. The times you asked for help and were refused (way back in […]
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Posted on March 8, 2016 by rosbarber
The Rich Writer Myth One of the biggest myths about becoming a successful novelist is that it means you must be rolling in it. ‘Six-figure-advance’ trips off the tongue very easily, as if it were normal. ‘Royalties’ sounds juicy. Money: still something that people who want to write a novel want to write a novel for. […]
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Posted on February 12, 2016 by rosbarber
This week, I had the huge privilege to be present at the filming of a trailer for our stage adaptation of The Marlowe Papers. A high quality affair thanks to professional film company Drop Dead Films, who have all the right gear (HD cameras, jibs etc.) and who offered their services after seeing the play during its […]
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Posted on February 9, 2016 by rosbarber
Fear of failure is the block that comes up more often than any other when I am working with writers. It is the holding category for about the half the content of ‘Write the Damn Book!‘ It is the bucket into which writers can throw a great deal of their negative self-talk: what if it’s rubbish? what […]
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Posted on January 21, 2016 by rosbarber
The first run of the Marlowe Papers opens in Brighton on Tuesday 26th January 2016. It’s on for just five days, with the final night on Saturday 30th. The director is my friend Nicola Haydn, who helped me adapt this one-man version from the book. The adaptation was no mean feat: the audio book version […]
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Posted on December 31, 2015 by rosbarber
The Year In Brief If you have limited time to spend with me, or a short attention span, here is my year in terms of firsts. Because firsts always mean you are moving forward (unless they are shit ones… no, even if they are shit ones). First… appearance on Woman’s Hour review in the Times […]
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Posted on May 22, 2015 by rosbarber
Thursday 28th May 7pm – 8.30pm Blackwells, Oxford To coincide with the Bodleian’s Marks of Genius exhibition (which displays, among other things, Edmund Malone’s quarto of Marlowe’s The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus I’ll be reading from The Marlowe Papers and talking about Marlowe. If you’re in the area, do come along – it’s free! Includes […]
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Posted on April 1, 2015 by rosbarber
I wonder how many books have never seen the light of day, because the potential author of that book kept thinking “What’s the point?” Whether you secretly think it (perhaps so secretly that you keep it from yourself) or whether you find yourself sighing out loud when you sit down to write, “What’s the point?” […]
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Posted on March 30, 2015 by rosbarber
He wrote with all the inventive precision of a young Vladimir Nabokov. Every piece he submitted was thrilling to read. As his tutors, we discussed our most promising student over after-work drinks; wondered if we might be named in his acknowledgements, looked forward to being invited to his book launch. Shift to the present tense. […]
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Posted on March 2, 2015 by rosbarber
On April 14th I’m talking about writing style at Senate House in London, as part of the Open University’s Contemporary Cultures of Writing series. I’m hoping to attend at least one of the other events in the series, too. I’ll be talking about the difference between academic and creative writing styles. I switch between the two […]
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