Blog

This page lists all the articles on the blog. You can view a per-category index too.

You might also want to read the collection of free mini-stories, or the secret tech blog.

Show tech articles

Art as Study You learn to make art by making art.	May 19th, 2022
Naming Characters A few considerations to keep in mind when naming your characters.	May 12th, 2022
Faces and Places A quick and easy tip for getting the details right when writing long-form fiction.	May 5th, 2022
Gaslighting To instil doubt in a person's perception of their own mental faculties is an abusive act.	May 4th, 2022
Getting Ideas for Stories We tend to treat creative inspiration as a nebulous, spiritual thing, but it's just a skill that can be acquired and developed like any other.	Apr 28th, 2022
Non-Zero Every Day Use Focus modes and Shortcut Automations on iOS to get started with your work.	Apr 21st, 2022
Use the Right Tools You should use as many tools as necessary when generating and refining your ideas, because different modes of thinking require a different type of organisation.	Apr 14th, 2022
Content Creation As a creator, you should call yourself what you are. Content is a trivialising and demeaning term for your work.	Apr 7th, 2022
Once More Upon A Time is out now! The second compendium volume of 60 Once Upon A Time mini-stories is out now in ebook and paperback.	Apr 3rd, 2022
Mentioning the War It's your own choice whether to deal with real-world events in your writing, or build a different world instead.	Mar 31st, 2022
Writing Dedications Seeing your words in print is wonderful, but for me the best part of writing novels is the dedication.	Mar 24th, 2022
Levelling up as a writer On the phenomenon of feeling that your writing improves only between books, rather than during them.	Mar 17th, 2022
Writing Techno-thrillers Some tips and techniques for writing techno-thrillers and getting the details right.	Mar 10th, 2022
New ebook version of Once Upon A Time compendium There's a new ebook version of the previously paperback-only first compendium of 60 Once Upon A Time mini-stories.	Mar 8th, 2022
Scenes Now, Chapters Later A simple technique to create page-turners by deferring the decision about where the chapter breaks go.	Mar 3rd, 2022
Once Upon A Time Volume 6 is out The sixth ebook volume of Once Upon A Time mini-stories is now available.	Mar 1st, 2022
Any Similarity On the fluctuating line between creativity and catharsis in fiction.	Feb 24th, 2022
On Proofreading I was interviewed for Reproof about how I proofread and edit my writing.	Feb 22nd, 2022
Welcome to the new mattgemmell.com Introducing a fresh new design for this site, with a focus on books.	Feb 20th, 2022
MIDDLESHADE ROAD is out now! MIDDLESHADE ROAD, the new horror / supernatural mystery novel by Matt Gemmell, is out now in paperback, on Kindle, and on Apple Books!	Feb 16th, 2022
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.	Jan 16th, 2022
The Corne Keyboard Creating a layout for a 42-key ortholinear ergonomic split keyboard.	Jan 3rd, 2022
Compressing Your Keyboard Moving to a smaller keyboard without losing functionality.	Aug 23rd, 2021
40% Keyboard Layout for Writing Some useful keyboard layout customisations for writers using a 40% keyboard, particularly with the QMK firmware.	Aug 6th, 2021
The Planck Keyboard Using a 40% ortholinear mechanical keyboard, and how I've customised my layout.	Aug 2nd, 2021
Not Yet On the birth of my son.	Jan 21st, 2021
Free weekly short stories via email My new free weekly short story newsletter.	Jan 7th, 2021
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.	Nov 17th, 2020
Publishing paperback novels with an iPad Creating and publishing paperback (and ebook) novels using only an iPad from start to finish.	Oct 11th, 2020
Beautiful paperback novels with Ulysses My iPad-only workflow for creating paperback novels.	Sep 24th, 2020
Once Upon A Time Volume 3 Once Upon A Time — An anthology of flash fiction in genres like science fiction, horror, and more.	Sep 22nd, 2020
Tools versus work On reminding myself that the tools are less important than what you do with them.	Jul 16th, 2020
Custom Prompts for Drafts Two open source custom prompts/dialogs for Drafts on iPadOS, iOS, and macOS.	Jun 17th, 2020
Using Drafts as a local Wiki Keeping an offline knowledge repository in Drafts for iPad, iPhone, and Mac.	Jun 9th, 2020
Keyboard-Driven Cross-Linking in Drafts An action I wrote to make the Drafts app's cross-linking feature usable entirely from the keyboard.	May 27th, 2020
Pointer Control On the ability to use a traditional pointing device with the iPad.	May 11th, 2020
In Theory On having children.	May 5th, 2020
Once Upon A Time Volume 2 Once Upon A Time — An anthology of flash fiction in genres like science fiction, horror, and more.	Apr 1st, 2020
Once Upon A Time Volume 1 Once Upon A Time — An anthology of flash fiction in genres like science fiction, horror, and more.	Mar 26th, 2020
An incredible gift The story of one of the most thoughtful and moving gifts I've ever received.	Sep 8th, 2019
Cover reveal: KESTREL Book Three The title, cover artwork, and some tantalising details about the third book in the KESTREL technothrillers series.	Sep 7th, 2019
My new office Creating a home office for myself in our new house.	Sep 6th, 2019
40 I’ve been alive for forty years.	Jun 4th, 2019
The Second Book What I learned while writing my second novel.	Feb 4th, 2019
TOLL reviews are in TOLL has been well-received, and what I've learned from the reviews so far.	Jan 18th, 2019
Mechanical Keyboards On the joy and percussiveness of typing on a noisy mechanical keyboard.	Dec 6th, 2018
TOLL is out now! TOLL, the second novel in the KESTREL technothriller series, is now available!	Dec 5th, 2018
Beautiful ebook novels with Ulysses My iPad-only workflow for creating ebook novels.	Nov 30th, 2018
Using the iPad for: autographed ebooks My iPad-only workflow for making autographed ebooks, customised for each reader.	Nov 23rd, 2018
Autographed ebooks With the help of iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, I can now offer autographed ebooks.	Nov 21st, 2018
The Big iPad I upgraded to the 2018 model 12.9-inch iPad Pro.	Nov 13th, 2018
Points of View in Ulysses Using coloured keywords to track points of view in a novel in Ulysses.	May 28th, 2018
Cli-Fi On climate-change novels, and KESTREL book two.	Apr 22nd, 2018
A Big Phone The iPad is a larger version of everyone's main computer.	Apr 17th, 2018
Breath of the Wild My thoughts on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.	Dec 21st, 2017
Locations: The Cuypers Library Behind-the-scenes notes on a location from CHANGER: The Cuypers Library within the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.	Aug 21st, 2017
Project Structure for a Novel The project structure I use to organise a novel, and its related materials.	Aug 16th, 2017
Cover reveal: TOLL — KESTREL Book Two The cover for TOLL — KESTREL Book Two.	Jul 24th, 2017
Decaf Why I drink decaf coffee.	Jul 6th, 2017
Laptop Replacement On the preoccupation with laptop-tablet equivalence.	Jun 27th, 2017
One Year On It's been a year since CHANGER was released. Here's a new edition, and a teaser…	Jun 22nd, 2017
Using the iPad for: Taking notes and planning My iPad-only workflow for taking notes, planning, and replacing a paper notebook.	Feb 23rd, 2017
Designing for iPad Power Users Thoughts for iOS app developers who want to cater to iPad power users.	Jan 27th, 2017
Thoughts on Ulysses and Scrivener My reflections on the two premier writing studios on the Apple platforms.	Dec 8th, 2016
Using the iPad for: Writing Novels My iPad-only workflow for writing long-form fiction.	Nov 12th, 2016
Using the iPad for: Web Development My iPad-only workflow for web development.	Nov 9th, 2016
Lifting the Mouse Reflections on the role of the iPad, and why it holds such an attraction for a jaded user of computers.	Nov 8th, 2016
Using the iPad for: Blogging with Jekyll My iPad-only workflow for blogging with the Jekyll static site generator.	Nov 7th, 2016
Rediscovering the iPad After several years without a tablet, I'm going iPad-only.	Nov 1st, 2016
CHANGER bonus chapter: Saying Goodbye A bonus chapter for my novel, CHANGER. Contains spoilers!	Oct 13th, 2016
Regulars On people-watching, and seeing someone else instead.	Sep 5th, 2016
Jangled A recollection from childhood.	Aug 26th, 2016
Omen On the cover of my first novel, twenty-five years ago.	Jul 13th, 2016
CHANGER paperbacks are now available! My novel CHANGER is now available as a paperback.	Jul 11th, 2016
Reviews are in for CHANGER My new action-adventure novel, CHANGER, is getting some great reviews.	Jun 30th, 2016
Stranger than fiction That feeling when you release a pro-Europe action novel two days before the UK votes to leave the EU.	Jun 28th, 2016
CHANGER is out now! My novel CHANGER is now available.	Jun 21st, 2016
Announcing CHANGER My novel CHANGER will be available this month.	Jun 5th, 2016
Shelf 7 On the place I'm always drawn to in bookshops.	Apr 28th, 2016
Writing in Markdown My new mini-ebook, Writing in Markdown.	Apr 5th, 2016
Conduit On the power that names hold.	Mar 29th, 2016
Superstition On growing up surrounded by belief in the supernatural.	Jan 2nd, 2016
Elsewhere On the one morning each year when our living room door led to another place.	Dec 21st, 2015
Remember Sometimes, I can almost remember how.	Oct 28th, 2015
Emotional There's nothing shameful about feeling.	Oct 21st, 2015
Sharing your words On the natural fear we feel when allowing others to read what we're written.	Oct 18th, 2015
Autumn On the season that heralds change, and reminds us of the work we've yet to do.	Sep 20th, 2015
Obsession On the spark of fresh inspiration, as both the ally and nemesis of creative output.	Aug 7th, 2015
Eulogy If you have praise to give, don't wait until it's too late.	Jul 21st, 2015
Voice Two The other voices inside us, and the one I turn to in times of trouble.	Jun 21st, 2015
Sci-Fi On science fiction, and how it embodies hope.	Jun 2nd, 2015
Points of View in Scrivener Labelling scenes with points of view in Scrivener.	May 29th, 2015
Bailing My shifting relationship with money, during the major changes in my life.	May 20th, 2015
Junctions On the points in life when we make decisions that define our future.	Apr 27th, 2015
Façades We show versions of ourselves to others, to help us hide.	Apr 24th, 2015
Whisky There's no finer substance than single malt whisky.	Apr 17th, 2015
On blogs Thoughts on what blogs are, and how our words for them are trivialising.	Mar 18th, 2015
Mask On death, and its true face.	Mar 14th, 2015
Smoke The power that smoke has to evoke my memories.	Mar 3rd, 2015
Permalinks Why you should get rid of the cruft from your site's URLs.	Feb 24th, 2015
Darkwater On the nature of depression, and suicidal thoughts.	Feb 4th, 2015
Work When you're doing what you're meant to do, it doesn't seem like work.	Jan 22nd, 2015
Patronage If we don't support the artistic output we enjoy, it will inevitably vanish.	Jan 19th, 2015
Heroes and Miracles We need stories.	Jan 5th, 2015
Haunted On the interplay of imagination and fiction.	Dec 11th, 2014
Aurora Chasing the Northern Lights, and finding wonder in our world.	Dec 7th, 2014
Craft Some thoughts on incorporating themes, symbolism and motifs into writing.	Nov 25th, 2014
Formerly I wasn't always called Matt Gemmell.	Nov 20th, 2014
In Winter My dark dreams as the year draws to a close.	Nov 6th, 2014
True A writer's job is find the lie that's truer than real life.	Sep 23rd, 2014
Sultans Sultans of Swing has accompanied me through my life.	Sep 17th, 2014
Fan Fiction On the importance of fan fiction as literary output.	Sep 16th, 2014
Anthologies in Scrivener Using Scrivener to create ebook anthologies of essays, short stories, poems, etc.	Sep 2nd, 2014
Raw Materials: Collected Essays An anthology of my personal essays, on the Kindle Store.	Aug 21st, 2014
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.	Aug 17th, 2014
Writing a novel: resolving plot issues My technique for resolving plot issues in fiction, and tackling the second draft.	Aug 13th, 2014
Genre shame Coming to terms with writing in a pulp genre.	Aug 7th, 2014
Writing a novel: first draft My experiences writing the first draft of a novel.	Jul 31st, 2014
Relative Lessons I've learned about pain.	Jun 17th, 2014
Letting go Finding focus by opting out of distractions and negative experiences.	Jun 3rd, 2014
Staying creative Maintaining creativity over long periods.	May 29th, 2014
Thinking slowly Analogue tools apply a drag force that helps us think before creating.	May 13th, 2014
Working from home The challenges of working from home full-time, and some tips on how to do so effectively.	May 6th, 2014
Taking credit Taking credit can also mean taking responsibility.	Apr 24th, 2014
Paths I am one possible version of myself.	Apr 4th, 2014
Profanity In defence of the judicious use of profanity in writing.	Mar 26th, 2014
Own your words Publish your words on your own site, not someone else's.	Mar 24th, 2014
Empathy Everything is about other people's reactions.	Mar 20th, 2014
Raw materials Writing about what you know isn't always easy.	Feb 16th, 2014
Making changes I'm making a big change to my career.	Jan 20th, 2014
Structuring Your Novel A chart of the advice in K. M. Weiland's book on Structuring Your Novel.	Dec 6th, 2013
Wishes It's easy to disdain wishes until you have something to wish for.	Nov 9th, 2013
Fear My experience with anxiety and panic attacks.	Oct 27th, 2013
Nets Our nostalgia traps us.	Sep 20th, 2013
Fiction Style Guide A brief summary of my preferred style guide for formatting fiction.	Sep 1st, 2013
Content as Medium Whether digital or print, publications are most appealing when they respect the content and reader, not the medium.	Aug 29th, 2013
Writing tips Some tips on writing fiction.	Aug 27th, 2013
Legacy My compulsion to leave something behind, and be remembered.	Jun 6th, 2013
How I Write Notes on my own writing process, including planning, editing, and dealing with block.	May 31st, 2013
Staying Afraid Reading (and writing) horror fiction controls the fears we already have.	Jan 22nd, 2013
My Stories Rediscovering the short stories I wrote as a teenager.	Dec 31st, 2012
Writing Fiction Online Tips for formatting your fiction.	Feb 16th, 2010
The Unconsoled Thoughts on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, The Unconsoled.	Jan 19th, 2009