a lot of people (mostly but not exclusively younger readers) write to me for advice about writing. where do you get ideas from? how do i start? how do i improve? This is distillation of my replies so that i can direct people here in future instead of scribbling a small part of it on a postcard
1) read, read, read. good cooks love food. good actors love going to the theatre. if you don't love reading you're better off becoming a vet or a plumber.
i have a story (of sorts) in the exhibition 'after darwin: contemporary expressions' at the natural history museum in london. it's called '24 emotions'. the exhibition also contains work by gautier deblonde, jeremy deller, ruth padel, bill viola, matthew killip...
I re-stumbled on this the other day. it’s a little piece of lo-fi genius. daniel johnston & benjamin zephaniah are particularly fantastic (click on the title banner to access the whole list of sessions)
unsurprisingly, i'm often asked to talk about asperger’s and autism or to become involved with organisations who work on behalf of people with asperger’s and autism, many of whom do wonderful work. but i always decline, for two reasons:
a small but wonderful exhibition at the british museum. breathtaking colours you don't see in western art until... well, i'm having trouble thinking of anything before the sixties. turner, singer sargent, gaugin... even in their most acid-trip moments they all seem a bit muted next to these pinks and greens. plus, these are all folio pictures, which were stored in large volumes away from sunlight so they look as if they were painted yesterday.
out now from profile books. 4 volumes. fire, earth, air and water. a really good cause (oxfam) and some really good writing (if i'm allowed to say that)
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/content/books/books_oxtales.html
an envelope for the literacy trust's 'pushing the envelope' auction in november.
cardboard, paper, pva, acrylic...
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