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the fictions newsletter

I send an issue once or twice a month to subscribers. Here are some past issues.

The Behaviour Formula: Neuroscience & The Creation of Myth

Thelonious Monk said all musicians are subconsciously mathematicians. It’s fair to say all writers are unconsciously psychologists. Here is how cutting-edge neuroscience proves it—and how to engineer a narrative pressure cooker that forces your characters to act.

Writing through Grief

This post talks about the subjects of bereavement, grief and mourning. If these things have touched your life, please take care when reading.

Digging up Stories

There's a YouTuber I like called Van Neistat. He's one brother of the Neistat Brothers. The other brother is Casey. Casey Neistat. Here's a link to Van Neistat's YouTube Channel - The Spirited Man. In it he explores his "analog, self-reliant

The Vertigo of Translation

The act of translating a play or a drama induces a sort of vertigo-like feeling, where the number of choices one is presented with seems to create a kind of hall of mirrors effect.

On sitting in cafes thinking of writers.

The book 'Oases' by the late Scottish writer Alastair Reid is probably the book I have given most to people. I met Alastair when I spent three days in New York with himself and my uncle, the late Dr Finlay Macleod, to film a documentary about him and his work.

On Meeting Alastair Reid.

The story of when my uncle, the late Dr Finlay Macleod and I spent three days in New York with the Scottish writer Alastair Reid.