Things I've Read

Writing Process

On how short a short story can possibly get

Jan 27, 2026

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4 min read

On how short a short story can possibly get

“I saw! I know!” "He knows! Don't go home!"

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

Jan 13, 2026

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6 min read

On my tsundoku pile for this year

Whatever you’re reading at the start of 2026, I wish you joy in discovering some new friends and in reconnecting with some old ones.

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

On waving goodbye to 2025 and saying hello to 2026

Dec 31, 2025

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7 min read

On waving goodbye to 2025 and saying hello to 2026

Here's to a 2026 filled with daily bread — the kind we bake for ourselves, with craft and sweat and discipline and love.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

Dec 23, 2025

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7 min read

On the present and the future

Ballard's trick, or technique, is deceptively simple — observation, which gives the impression (especially with hindsight) of being extrapolation.

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

Dec 9, 2025

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6 min read

On the 88 Club

The thing I will always love about Tom Stoppard is his spectral hand in the script for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

On being more ant or being more dinosaur

Nov 25, 2025

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5 min read

On being more ant or being more dinosaur

Is dickishness, I wonder, a price worth paying for access to the joys and freedoms of curiosity and imagination?

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

Oct 14, 2025

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7 min read

On story, narrative and plot

I'm twitching nervously because I've realised we’re venturing into the territory of reader-response criticism here...

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

Sep 2, 2025

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6 min read

On gutsy approaches to planning

"Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood."

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

On saying what you mean and meaning what you say

Aug 26, 2025

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6 min read

On saying what you mean and meaning what you say

"If you're making a statement, artistically, then when you're making that statement, as far as you're concerned, it's an absolute."

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

Aug 12, 2025

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6 min read

On (five kinds of) boredom

Are humans the only creatures who engineer the circumstances which bring about their own boredom?

Philip Holyman

Things I've Read

On whether accents matter, or just get in the way

Jun 17, 2025

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9 min read

On whether accents matter, or just get in the way

Does it really matter what accent an actor uses to play a character, or does it not?

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

On the em dash, one of the great loves of my literary life

Jun 10, 2025

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8 min read

On the em dash, one of the great loves of my literary life

I use it so often that I’ve got a shortcut set up on my keyboard so I can reach for one whenever I want — Shift + Option + -, pressed all at the same time, in case you were wondering.

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

On boats, tigers, zebras, and why story-telling gets done dirty by religion

Jun 3, 2025

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11 min read

On boats, tigers, zebras, and why story-telling gets done dirty by religion

The whole thing was not, in fact, about a young man on a boat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger and a zebra and a few other animals at all.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

May 27, 2025

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5 min read

On compost, soil and mulch

[FROM THE ARCHIVE] How much research to do, and then what to do with it, has always been something I’ve struggled with.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

On the grown-up equivalent of circling products in an Argos catalogue

May 20, 2025

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8 min read

On the grown-up equivalent of circling products in an Argos catalogue

How do we make our work space more of a play space? What toys does it need to be filled with?

Philip Holyman

Novels

May 13, 2025

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7 min read

On models, liberators and guides

[FROM THE ARCHIVE] On the basis that you’re supposed to write the books you want to read, that’s precisely what I’m setting about doing.

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

On caterpillars, emergence and ambiguous stomachache

Apr 8, 2025

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6 min read

On caterpillars, emergence and ambiguous stomachache

The only thing that should ever be described as “emerging” is The Very Hungry Caterpillar out of his chrysalis.

Philip Holyman

Novels

Apr 1, 2025

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5 min read

On Miss Marple, class and human nature

[FROM THE ARCHIVE] I don’t fall asleep easily, so for years, I’ve listened to audiobooks and radio plays in bed — now I’ve got an elasticated headphone band to make it a more comfortable experience.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

Mar 4, 2025

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5 min read

On the reasons for new projects

[FROM THE ARCHIVE] On a recent trip to London, we finally made it to the Design Museum so we could catch the exhibition of work by the Italian design legend Enzo Mari.

Philip Holyman

Things I've Read

On understanding what someone is trying to do

Feb 18, 2025

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4 min read

On understanding what someone is trying to do

I often catch myself quite unnecessarily jumping in to say what I’ve seen that I didn’t like. When I get started on that, I often find it difficult to shut myself up again.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

Feb 11, 2025

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7 min read

On my Golden Apples Theory

I’ve been saying for years, usually to drama students in training, that audiences are always locked in a race with whatever they encounter.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

On being a proud precocious schoolboy and refusing to fuck the plot

Jan 28, 2025

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5 min read

On being a proud precocious schoolboy and refusing to fuck the plot

You’re not accountable to them. Only to yourself. So, really, you might just as well uphold your own truth in the first place — in writing, and in all other things.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

On writing every day and not writing every day

Jan 14, 2025

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8 min read

On writing every day and not writing every day

While I’ve never, ever gone in for writing every day myself, it is something I have encouraged some other people to do, under certain circumstances.

Philip Holyman

Sharing Some Dots

On waving goodbye to 2024 and saying hello to 2025

Dec 31, 2024

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3 min read

On waving goodbye to 2024 and saying hello to 2025

In the space of thirty-six words, they have consolidated everything I'm going to keep reminding myself to do in 2025.

Philip Holyman

Writing Process

On writing better ghost stories than ChatGPT, and stealing like an artist

Nov 14, 2024

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9 min read

On writing better ghost stories than ChatGPT, and stealing like an artist

I took part in a workshop led by Liam Brown, exploring AI’s capacity to write good ghost stories — and by extension, our own. Who would do better — us, or it?

Philip Holyman

Things I've Read

On how short a short story can possibly get

On my tsundoku pile for this year

On waving goodbye to 2025 and saying hello to 2026

On the present and the future

On the 88 Club

On being more ant or being more dinosaur

On story, narrative and plot

On gutsy approaches to planning

On saying what you mean and meaning what you say

On (five kinds of) boredom

On whether accents matter, or just get in the way

On the em dash, one of the great loves of my literary life

On boats, tigers, zebras, and why story-telling gets done dirty by religion

On compost, soil and mulch

On the grown-up equivalent of circling products in an Argos catalogue

On models, liberators and guides

On caterpillars, emergence and ambiguous stomachache

On Miss Marple, class and human nature

On the reasons for new projects

On understanding what someone is trying to do

On my Golden Apples Theory

On being a proud precocious schoolboy and refusing to fuck the plot

On writing every day and not writing every day

On waving goodbye to 2024 and saying hello to 2025

On writing better ghost stories than ChatGPT, and stealing like an artist

But anyway, I digress...