Writing

Freelance writingWriting is my craft. Whether it’s turning a phrase or twisting a plot, I have the skill to shape words and stories so that they thrill and delight.

Fiction

I have had several short stories published, including for Doctor Who Short Trips. I’ve also been part of numerous writing groups in different cities where I’ve lived. See my author page on Goodreads.

Articles

I also write articles for various websites and publications. These have included Threads and Hodderscape, The Glass journal of the Christian Literary Studies Group, the Western Mail newspaper, in addition to my own blog.

Copywriting and content strategy

I’ve also worked as an SEO Marketing Consultant, working on content strategy and creation. I have extensive experience copywriting for book blurbs, publishing metadata, websites and social media. I’ve also delivered training in SEO for editors and content creators.

Subscribe to my newsletter, ‘Bigger on the Inside’

By Caleb | November 28, 2021

I’ve recently started a new Substack-powered newsletter, Bigger on the Inside. Much of my output will now be on there rather than this blog, but I will post links to my new articles on there from this site too. In it, I’ll be exploring the intersection of stories, imagination, faith and philosophy. No story is […]

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Why I want to blog more again as digital resistance

By Caleb | May 2, 2019

Okay, blogging might not be quite jumping in an X-Wing, but having your own digital presence is one small way of joining the rebel alliance against the domination of Facebook, Google and the like.. It’s strange to think almost 15 years since I started blogging, back when I was beginning my studies as a student […]

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Do characters have to be likeable?

By Caleb | October 6, 2016

A much-debated question among writers and readers is whether characters in a story have to be “likeable”. Some people can’t enjoy stories where they don’t like the characters. Others enjoy the complexities of flawed, unpleasant characters. But I don’t think likeability is the real issue.

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The secret ingredient of Pixar’s storytelling success

By Caleb | August 21, 2015

I love Pixar’s films. Their most recent movie Inside Out was another story that combined fun characters, a clever concept, and emotional resonance. While some of their films are relatively forgettable (sorry Cars), their batting average is incredible with the likes of the Toy Story trilogy, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up among my all-time […]

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How Imagination Engages the Heart – Morphe Monday

By Caleb | June 8, 2014

Over the last few months, I’ve started getting involved in Morphe Arts group, especially the writers’ group that meets in the Southbank Centre twice a month. They recently produced the first issue of their literary magazine Margins and I’ve contributed a short story, The Wordless to the website. Morphe also has monthly meetings covering a […]

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5 reasons why I find Nanowrimo helpful…

By Caleb | November 8, 2013

…plus one book recommendation on how to write. It’s that time of year again, and I’ve embarked on the 50,000 words in a month novel writing challenge, Nanowrimo. I’m returning to The Sword in the Spaceship, an idea I’ve had for a while of doing a King Arthur and time travel story (props to Mark […]

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How the Doctor Changed My Life, Five Years On

By Caleb | June 21, 2012

It’s five years since I heard that my short story, The Shopping Trolleys of Doom, had been shortlisted in Big Finish’s Doctor Who writing competition. It was published a year later in Short Trips: How the Doctor Changed My Life. Editor Simon Guerrier has compiled a “where are they now?” blog post about the crop […]

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My short story shortlisted!

By Caleb | October 10, 2010

Yesterday I received an email telling me that my short story, Mr Crickfarthing’s Emotion Emporium, has been shortlisted for the Wicked Young Writers’ Award 2010 in the 17-25 year old category. Hip hip, and indeed, hooray. That’s “Wicked” in reference to the musical Wicked, by the way, based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, a prequel/”re-imagining” to […]

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Understanding is not excusing

By Caleb | December 15, 2009

In October, I was on a weekend writing course. In one of the sessions, we looked at a script for a short film, and how it changed in redrafting. Racist bullies kill a young boy in it. In earlier drafts the bullies were just a generic mob, but in rewriting, the character of the leader […]

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