In 2021, I have three resolutions: write (and post) at least one blog post every week; buy no clothes for myself (my birthday present is being delivered today); spend no more than £30 a month on books.

Newspapers thrive on human interest stories about interesting or unusual people. The story of one person’s experience makes something real. People who have shared the same experience will feel close; people who don’t have the same experience will fe...

The omniscient narrator has long been out of fashion, but research by Jonathan Leavitt and Nicholas Christenfeld has shown that reader enjoyment can be increased with spoilers. Narrators are also not all equal. Narrators in Anthony Trollope’s Bars...

The more pregnant you get, the more maternity leggings require the structural support of the Burj Khalifa. I learnt the importance of construction the hard way after buying a pair of leggings online in Korea from a local brand during my last pregna...

Authors of fiction create their characters and have unlimited insight into their character’s emotions. Emotional involvement in a (fictional) character’s journey keeps readers immersed. Immersion is important because the more immersed a reader is, t...

Stories are usually told in the past tense; the reader reads the past in the present and transports herself into the present of the story world. Deviating from the past tense adds emphasis—something different is happening, something strange. Adults...