Lesson Eight: The Writer’s Mind

The Invisible College by BBC

May 22, 20179:55Arts

The subconscious mind can be the writer’s greatest helper – or nastiest foe. This lesson considers ways to access its mysterious depths, with archive clips of novelists Doris Lessing and Aldous Huxley and a mesmerising r...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from The Invisible College.

Lesson Eighteen: Writer’s Block

Jun 4, 2017 - 9:13

“You’re in the middle of writing something and your mind goes blank… ok, you’re being warned, aren’t you?...

Lesson Seventeen: What I Learned from James Baldwin

Jun 4, 2017 - 9:19

Contemporary novelist Caryl Phillips close reads a dramatic passage from ‘Another Country’ by James Baldw...

Lesson Sixteen: Dealing with Critics

Jun 4, 2017 - 10:09

If you’re going to put your work out in the world, then sooner or later, someone’s going to take a pop at...

Lesson Fifteen: Write and Repeat

May 28, 2017 - 10:19

“Easy reading is damned hard writing,” says Maya Angelou. Hear the many pains she takes to ‘sharpen her l...

Lesson Fourteen: In Search of a Character with Graham Greene

May 28, 2017 - 8:23

Hear how Graham Greene gradually evolves a character – and a novel - on a research trip to a leper colony...

Lesson Thirteen: Place

May 28, 2017 - 10:20

Sometimes the world gives writers a location so atmospheric it’s just waiting for a back story. But how d...

Lesson Twelve: A Workshop with Allen Ginsberg

May 22, 2017 - 9:44

How often do you get the chance to attend a lecture by one of the Beats? An extraordinary opportunity to...

Lesson Eleven: Listen Up!

May 22, 2017 - 8:30

If you want to write good dialogue, you need good ears. Listen to all the little idiosyncrasies of an ind...