So much of our writing energy is devoted to good beginnings, but let’s not ignore a great ending.

This week’s writing experiment comes from John Simmons. His second novel, Spanish Crossings is back in print; thoroughly deserved too as it’s a great book.

Where do ideas come from? Whatever writing we are engaged on, we need the spark of an idea to get properly started.

Tomorrow is Tom Stoppard’s birthday. He once posed, “What are a friend’s books for if not to be borrowed?”

“In my view, books should be brought to the doorstep like electricity, or like milk in England: they should be considered utilities, and their cost should be appropriately minimal.”

I can remember my father bringing home spruce gum. He worked in the woods and filled his pockets with golden chunks of pitch. For his children he provided this special sacrament and we’d gather at this feet, around his legs…

Think of something that moves across water, sky or land. You might choose something from nature (like a cloud, a shark or sound waves) or something manufactured (like a drone, a submarine or a satellite).

Welcome back to our writerly thoughts to distract, inspire and reassure you. Be well, keep reading, keep writing and know that we’re always here.

My first novel Leaves was published in 2015, but I had written the original draft of it in 1970, straight out of university.

From the Wife of Bath to Jay Gatsby, literature is full of fibbers. Nothing beats a good lie to add suspense and intrigue.

The prospect of a visit to a museum, theatre or art gallery is tantalisingly close. Create a gallery of your heart.

Some of you noticed last week that we’ve now racked up a year’s worth of Dark Angels Notes. The passage of time is inevitable, but don’t those beating wings still catch you by surprise?