This page lists every article ever published on this site.
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Weekly Short Story: The Attaché
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
A split 34-key layout for iPadOS
Designing a split, ergonomic, ortholinear keyboard layout in 34 keys (5x3 plus 2 thumb keys per hand) optimised for iPadOS.
Weekly Short Story: Opting Out
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
The Corne Keyboard
Creating a layout for a 42-key ortholinear ergonomic split keyboard.
Weekly Short Story: The Way of Things
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Joy
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Gone
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Samaritan
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Lens
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Just What I Wanted
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Ornaments
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Neighbourhoods
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: To Me, You Are A Window
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Customs
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Letter E
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Me Time
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Stakeholders
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Infringement
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Poignancies
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Twitcher
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Retrogenesis
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Patrol
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: The Tradesman
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Compressing Your Keyboard
Moving to a smaller keyboard without losing functionality.
Weekly Short Story: Beautiful Walls
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Undeserving
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Like / Follow / Kill
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
40% Keyboard Layout for Writing
Some useful keyboard layout customisations for writers using a 40% keyboard, particularly with the QMK firmware.
The Planck Keyboard
Using a 40% ortholinear mechanical keyboard, and how I've customised my layout.
Weekly Short Story: Down Deep
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: The Tesseract
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Divergent
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Paper
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Biometrics
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Famous
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Enantiomorph
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Familiar
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Monsters
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: I Remember Everything
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Slow
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Look The Other Way
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Therapy
This year, I finally started therapy.
Weekly Short Story: Ignite
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: The Magician
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Next Stop
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Aliens
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: The Forest
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Your Heart's Desire
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Burrowers
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Piety
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: The Hotel
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Regarding My Work
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Justice System
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: DNR
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: The Puzzle
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: The Archminister
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Dice
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Reading Time
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Not Yet
On the birth of my son.
Weekly Short Story: Antisocial
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Weekly Short Story: Nine Mile Burn
A weekly story from my Once Upon A Time series.
Free weekly short stories via email
My new free weekly short story newsletter.
Once Upon A Time autographed copies
Just in time for Christmas, I'm offering autographed copies of my new print anthology of flash fiction, Once Upon A Time.
Publishing paperback novels with an iPad
Creating and publishing paperback (and ebook) novels using only an iPad from start to finish.
Beautiful paperback novels with Ulysses
My iPad-only workflow for creating paperback novels.
Once Upon A Time Volume 3
Once Upon A Time — An anthology of flash fiction in genres like science fiction, horror, and more.
Tools versus work
On reminding myself that the tools are less important than what you do with them.
Custom Prompts for Drafts
Two open source custom prompts/dialogs for Drafts on iPadOS, iOS, and macOS.
Using Drafts as a local Wiki
Keeping an offline knowledge repository in Drafts for iPad, iPhone, and Mac.
Keyboard-Driven Cross-Linking in Drafts
An action I wrote to make the Drafts app's cross-linking feature usable entirely from the keyboard.
Pointer Control
On the ability to use a traditional pointing device with the iPad.
In Theory
On having children.
Once Upon A Time Volume 2
Once Upon A Time — An anthology of flash fiction in genres like science fiction, horror, and more.
Once Upon A Time Volume 1
Once Upon A Time — An anthology of flash fiction in genres like science fiction, horror, and more.
One Silver Shilling
A brief epistolary tale written for my patrons, about Orkney and in a vaguely Lovecraftian style.
An incredible gift
The story of one of the most thoughtful and moving gifts I've ever received.
Cover reveal: KESTREL Book Three
The title, cover artwork, and some tantalising details about the third book in the KESTREL technothrillers series.
My new office
Creating a home office for myself in our new house.
Separately
On attending the latest Mark Knopfler gig, but for the first time not sitting with my brother.
40
I’ve been alive for forty years.
The Second Book
What I learned while writing my second novel.
TOLL reviews are in
TOLL has been well-received, and what I've learned from the reviews so far.
Mechanical Keyboards
On the joy and percussiveness of typing on a noisy mechanical keyboard.
TOLL is out now!
TOLL, the second novel in the KESTREL technothriller series, is now available!
Beautiful ebook novels with Ulysses
My iPad-only workflow for creating ebook novels.
Using the iPad for: autographed ebooks
My iPad-only workflow for making autographed ebooks, customised for each reader.
Autographed ebooks
With the help of iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, I can now offer autographed ebooks.
The Big iPad
I upgraded to the 2018 model 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Points of View in Ulysses
Using coloured keywords to track points of view in a novel in Ulysses.
Cli-Fi
On climate-change novels, and KESTREL book two.
A Big Phone
The iPad is a larger version of everyone's main computer.
Breath of the Wild
My thoughts on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Locations: The Cuypers Library
Behind-the-scenes notes on a location from CHANGER: The Cuypers Library within the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Project Structure for a Novel
The project structure I use to organise a novel, and its related materials.
Cover reveal: TOLL — KESTREL Book Two
The cover for TOLL — KESTREL Book Two.
Decaf
Why I drink decaf coffee.
Laptop Replacement
On the preoccupation with laptop-tablet equivalence.
One Year On
It's been a year since CHANGER was released. Here's a new edition, and a teaser…
KESTREL Book Two… and You
Be the first to know when Book Two in the KESTREL series is out… and maybe contribute a name to the story.
Using the iPad for: Taking notes and planning
My iPad-only workflow for taking notes, planning, and replacing a paper notebook.
Designing for iPad Power Users
Thoughts for iOS app developers who want to cater to iPad power users.
Thoughts on Ulysses and Scrivener
My reflections on the two premier writing studios on the Apple platforms.
Denning's Walk
A short piece of original fiction.
Using the iPad for: Writing Novels
My iPad-only workflow for writing long-form fiction.
Using the iPad for: Web Development
My iPad-only workflow for web development.
Lifting the Mouse
Reflections on the role of the iPad, and why it holds such an attraction for a jaded user of computers.
Using the iPad for: Blogging with Jekyll
My iPad-only workflow for blogging with the Jekyll static site generator.
Using the iPad for: email newsletters in Markdown and HTML
My iPad-only workflow for weekly membership newsletters.
Rediscovering the iPad
After several years without a tablet, I'm going iPad-only.
CHANGER bonus chapter: Saying Goodbye
A bonus chapter for my novel, CHANGER. Contains spoilers!
Regulars
On people-watching, and seeing someone else instead.
Jangled
A recollection from childhood.
Omen
On the cover of my first novel, twenty-five years ago.
CHANGER paperbacks are now available!
My novel CHANGER is now available as a paperback.
Reviews are in for CHANGER
My new action-adventure novel, CHANGER, is getting some great reviews.
Stranger than fiction
That feeling when you release a pro-Europe action novel two days before the UK votes to leave the EU.
CHANGER is out now!
My novel CHANGER is now available.
Announcing CHANGER
My novel CHANGER will be available this month.
Shelf 7
On the place I'm always drawn to in bookshops.
Writing in Markdown
My new mini-ebook, Writing in Markdown.
Conduit
On the power that names hold.
Superstition
On growing up surrounded by belief in the supernatural.
Elsewhere
On the one morning each year when our living room door led to another place.
Remember
Sometimes, I can almost remember how.
Emotional
There's nothing shameful about feeling.
Sharing your words
On the natural fear we feel when allowing others to read what we're written.
Waiting
A short piece of original fiction.
Autumn
On the season that heralds change, and reminds us of the work we've yet to do.
Obsession
On the spark of fresh inspiration, as both the ally and nemesis of creative output.
Eulogy
If you have praise to give, don't wait until it's too late.
Voice Two
The other voices inside us, and the one I turn to in times of trouble.
Sci-Fi
On science fiction, and how it embodies hope.
Points of View in Scrivener
Labelling scenes with points of view in Scrivener.
Bailing
My shifting relationship with money, during the major changes in my life.
Junctions
On the points in life when we make decisions that define our future.
Façades
We show versions of ourselves to others, to help us hide.
Whisky
There's no finer substance than single malt whisky.
On blogs
Thoughts on what blogs are, and how our words for them are trivialising.
Mask
On death, and its true face.
Smoke
The power that smoke has to evoke my memories.
Permalinks
Why you should get rid of the cruft from your site's URLs.
Darkwater
On the nature of depression, and suicidal thoughts.
Work
When you're doing what you're meant to do, it doesn't seem like work.
Patronage
If we don't support the artistic output we enjoy, it will inevitably vanish.
Heroes and Miracles
We need stories.
Haunted
On the interplay of imagination and fiction.
Aurora
Chasing the Northern Lights, and finding wonder in our world.
Craft
Some thoughts on incorporating themes, symbolism and motifs into writing.
Formerly
I wasn't always called Matt Gemmell.
In Winter
My dark dreams as the year draws to a close.
True
A writer's job is find the lie that's truer than real life.
Sultans
Sultans of Swing has accompanied me through my life.
Subscribe via email
You can now subscribe to the articles on mattgemmell.com via email.
Fan Fiction
On the importance of fan fiction as literary output.
Anthologies in Scrivener
Using Scrivener to create ebook anthologies of essays, short stories, poems, etc.
Raw Materials: Collected Essays
An anthology of my personal essays, on the Kindle Store.
Writing a novel: resolving plot issues e-book
The new e-book version of my technique for resolving plot issues in fiction, and tackling the second draft.
Writing a novel: resolving plot issues
My technique for resolving plot issues in fiction, and tackling the second draft.
Genre shame
Coming to terms with writing in a pulp genre.
Writing a novel: first draft
My experiences writing the first draft of a novel.
Relative
Lessons I've learned about pain.
Letting go
Finding focus by opting out of distractions and negative experiences.
Staying creative
Maintaining creativity over long periods.
Thinking slowly
Analogue tools apply a drag force that helps us think before creating.
Working from home
The challenges of working from home full-time, and some tips on how to do so effectively.
Taking credit
Taking credit can also mean taking responsibility.
Paths
I am one possible version of myself.
Profanity
In defence of the judicious use of profanity in writing.
Own your words
Publish your words on your own site, not someone else's.
Empathy
Everything is about other people's reactions.
Raw materials
Writing about what you know isn't always easy.
Making changes
I'm making a big change to my career.
Structuring Your Novel
A chart of the advice in K. M. Weiland's book on Structuring Your Novel.
Wishes
It's easy to disdain wishes until you have something to wish for.
Fear
My experience with anxiety and panic attacks.
Nets
Our nostalgia traps us.
Fiction Style Guide
A brief summary of my preferred style guide for formatting fiction.
Content as Medium
Whether digital or print, publications are most appealing when they respect the content and reader, not the medium.
Writing tips
Some tips on writing fiction.
Legacy
My compulsion to leave something behind, and be remembered.
How I Write
Notes on my own writing process, including planning, editing, and dealing with block.
Staying Afraid
Reading (and writing) horror fiction controls the fears we already have.
Stories
Rediscovering the short stories I wrote as a teenager.