Introducing Great On The Page

A publication about writing well

You’re here! Grab a coffee, take a breath. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. We need to slow down if we are going to write well. 

You know the kind of writing that makes you long to stay with the author, the book, the characters, the place? The stuff that gets you to turn off your phone, shut down your laptop, and resent even the smallest intrusion to your reading?

That’s what I’m going to be talking about here on Substack. 

I’ve been on bestseller lists, including the New York Times, had films and options and all the rest, but the thing that keeps me going isn’t that: it’s the work itself that pulls me in every time. 

In weekly articles, I’ll look closely at what gives good writing that uncanny ability to draw us toward it and make us want to read. I’ll talk about the practice of writing, both my own and of other writers I admire. 

I’ll be sharing my thoughts on writing, as well as excerpts that have been both inspirational and instructive to me. I’ll offer the same kinds of insights I’ve given hundreds of writers over decades of teaching creative writing at the University of Oxford and elsewhere. 

Many of the writers I’ve taught have gone on to publish their work, becoming bestsellers and winning international prizes in fiction and narrative non-fiction. 

So please subscribe (it’s free). Who knows, your reading life and your writing life just may just be transformed.