My Five Rules of Writing
Recording The Five Rules of Writing Podcast (with host Ed Needham)
I’m often asked about what I write, but very rarely asked about how I write. So, I was delighted to be asked to be a guest on ‘The Five Rules of Writing’ podcast.
I got to talk about why I feel more at home in mud cabins than I do in castles, about how difficult I found it to put myself in the story and why Twitter has stunted our ability to debate issues in a nuanced and balanced way.
If you want to hear what it’s like to write a book this may be the podcast for you! As a sneak preview here are my Five Rules:
Take the topic, but not yourself, seriously
Have a sense of place
Follow the brown signs
Balance synthesis with originality
Embrace contradictions
The podcast can be listened to here: The Five Rules of Writing
For anyone who is thinking about buying The Darkness Echoing John Gibney gave the book a glowing review in History Ireland. He wrote that the book
“is provocative without being polemical. O’Brien is unafraid to offer both laconic asides and trenchant critiques, but as she writes as both a practitioner of public history and an academic her book has a refreshingly open-minded tone that offers historical complexity without hectoring. She has tried to do something different and has succeeded admirably; in doing so she has written as significant a commentary on Irish history as any that has appeared in recent years. The Darkness Echoing is a hugely enjoyable, thought-provoking and informative work; for anyone involved in Irish history or heritage it is an essential read.”
