But anyway, I digress...

But anyway, I digress… from UK-based writer Philip Holyman —— my blog and newsletter that includes things I’ve read, heard or seen that have started living rent-free in my mind (for better or for worse) — with sources fully credited and with external links so you can read, hear or see these things for yourself.

Writing Process

+1

On being too busy writing to write

Jul 21, 2026

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3 min read

On being too busy writing to write

Out of courageousness, folly or perversity — and I’ll let you decide which — I’m cracking on with my writing.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

+4

On a craft book that’s actually worth reading

Jun 16, 2026

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2 min read

On a craft book that’s actually worth reading

"Then somebody takes it out of my hands and describes it to me. An astonishing feeling. Now it exists."

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

+2

On solitude, phones, and the garden of the mind

Jun 2, 2026

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3 min read

On solitude, phones, and the garden of the mind

How awful it is when people talk about spending so much time on their phones and using AI so much, as if these were things to be proud of.

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

+2

On a trip to the zoo

May 19, 2026

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8 min read

On a trip to the zoo

I'd be fascinated, in this new era of extreme prudishness and extreme permissiveness, to watch visitors react to animals having sex.

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

+5

On the unimprovable

May 5, 2026

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5 min read

On the unimprovable

A word which has never, I expect, been said to us, or used to describe anything we did, anything we made, anything we laboured over.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

+2

On the value of multiple touch points

Apr 21, 2026

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6 min read

On the value of multiple touch points

I'm noticing more and more that devotees of AI, or AI apologists, as I prefer to think of them, are much more focused on product than process.

Philip Holyman