Matt Gemmell

The best of my writing

This is an occasionally-updated list of what I think are the best articles I’ve written for this blog. The list isn’t based on popularity (though there’s a reasonable correlation), and instead reflects my own view of when I think I managed to make a point well, or express myself effectively.

If you’d like to get in touch regarding any of these pieces, you can find my contact information here. I’d love to hear from you.

You can also browse a full archive of all articles.

Personal essays

  • Nets - Our nostalgia traps us.

  • Wishes - It’s easy to disdain wishes until you have something to wish for.

  • Paths - I am one possible version of myself.

  • Staying Afraid - Horror fiction helps us deal with the fears we already have.

  • In Winter - My dark dreams as the year draws to a close.

  • Raw Materials - Writing about what you know isn’t always easy.

  • Relative - Lessons I’ve learned about pain.

  • Legacy - I’m tormented by thoughts of what I’ll leave behind.

  • Misogyny - A condemnation of our continuing discrimination against women.

  • The Reconstructed Man - On the importance of strong female role models for men, and my own journey towards understanding that.

  • Morality and Persecution - A response to Pope Benedict XVI’s appalling condemnation of homosexuality.

For writers

  • Writing Tips - My tips for writing fiction.

  • Fiction Style Guide - My fiction style guide.

  • Haunted - The interplay of imagination and fiction, and how ideas arrive.

  • Craft - Thoughts on incorporating themes, symbolism and motifs into writing.

  • True - A writer’s job is find the lie that’s truer than real life.

  • How I Write - My approach to writing articles and blog posts.

  • Thinking slowly - Analogue tools apply a drag force that helps us think before creating.

  • Writing a novel: first draft - My experiences writing the first draft of a novel.

  • Genre shame - Coming to terms with writing in a pulp genre.

  • Structuring Your Novel - A chart I made to show the advice in K.M. Weiland’s book, Structuring Your Novel.

On productivity

On interface design

  • Tail Wagging - Condemnation of skeuomorphism is missing the point.

  • Content as Medium - When you respect your readers, the content itself should be your focus.

  • iOS 7 - My article on the aesthetic changes in Apple’s iOS 7.

  • Augmented Paper - A discussion of an increasingly-prevalent UX aesthetic that appeals to me on touch-screen devices.

For developers