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Writing

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Generative AI will not make you a better writer – it will destroy creative writing as a way of expressing the human experience

'People, not machines, made the Renaissance.'

Generative AI will not make you a better writer – it will destroy creative writing as a way of expressing the human experience
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An idea has come out of nowhere

Yes, I am now working on *two* novels.

An idea has come out of nowhere
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The stories that must be written

When did writing stop being about pure joy?

The stories that must be written
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Twenty years as a writer: a first look at The Farthest Shore

A few thoughts about the long and winding road to the publication of my new book.

Twenty years as a writer: a first look at The Farthest Shore
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Writing (two) books during the pandemic

It’s a hell of a time to be an outdoor writer, isn’t it? Since the COVID-19 pandemic kicked off early this year, I have written not one but two books. Here’s a little about how it’s been. At the best of times, I’m a slow

Writing (two) books during the pandemic
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OWPG Award for Excellence for my TGO magazine feature ‘Summits and Skylarks’

This weekend, my wife Hannah and I headed to the Norfolk Broads for the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild AGM and awards dinner. Updated 2019-10-11 with corrected information on David Lintern’s award. This is my first year as a member of the OWPG. I joined due to recommendations from

Contemplating ground already covered
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New Sidetracked digital feature: No Borders

My latest digital feature for Sidetracked magazine is special – an essay on life and death, mountains and war, lightning and ethereal beauty. I believe it’s some of the best writing I’ve created in 2018, and you can read it now at sidetracked.com/mercantour-traverse/. All mountains have something

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Why I don’t use blue ink any more

In 2007, I made the first of several visits to the Alpine Club archives in London. I was conducting research for the novel that would eventually become The Only Genuine Jones, and those early archive trips were vital in establishing a baseline of knowledge for future research. I had started

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A new Commonplace Book

For many years I have kept quotes and snippets from everything I’ve read, adopting the ancient technique of the ‘commonplace book’ to facilitate later analysis and interpretation. Until now, I used a haphazard system of text files and index cards, but as my collection has grown I’ve felt

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Forty years of The Great Outdoors

An important milestone for the most authoritative voice in British hillwalking and backpacking Today, the 40th anniversary issue of The Great Outdoors went on sale. Here’s what TGO means to me, and why I think it’s a vital force in outdoors media, as strong and relevant now as

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