I’m a New Zealand writer with over thirty years hands-on professional experience as a published author and in publishing. My main interests are in the sciences – physics, particularly, though I’m deeply curious about a lot of stuff, especially the human condition. I have qualifications in writing, music and anthropology among other fields, and hold multiple post-graduate degrees in history. I’m also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London. However, I don’t define myself as a historian and prefer not to be labelled as one. History is but one of the things I do. What’s more important to me is understanding people, whose story is told by history and by science, sociology and philosophy – aspects of which I learned post-grad under a former student of both Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Did I mention I also like science fiction? And fantasy? I’m a huge Tolkien fan. I write a lot – fiction (mostly fantasy and science-fiction) and non-fiction (well, yes, it’s mostly history, but I’ve done science and engineering too). My published writing, sold on merit, includes over 550 articles, academic papers, reviews, novellas and short stories, and over 50 books on topics ranging from travel guides to biography, engineering, military and social history. I’ve been published principally by Penguin Random House.
Given that National Novel Writing Month is looming up I figured it was worth re-posting this from my archives – how to plot a story. Cue the evil laughter… How to get a credible story plot and avoid the dumb ones One of the challenges of NaNoWriMo – or, indeed, of writing any novel – … More Novel plotting 101 – how to get it right
It’s National Novel Writing Month in November – a US contest, but it draw authors from all around the world. Which means a lot of writers are going to be sitting down right now, all around the world, and figuring out what to do. I’ve been supporting the event with advice and tips for years … More Getting started for National Novel Writing Month 2017
I can’t help thinking that the western world (at least) is approaching a general social crisis. Perhaps even rolling to the end of one of its grand historical cycles. When I say ‘social crisis’, I don’t mean anything pre-destined or inevitable. Nor are grand historical cycles automatic. The way I see it is this. Societies … More The coming general social crisis of the twenty first century
This week’s obscure English word is anomie. It means lack of the usual ethical standards. I can think of at least one subculture in New Zealand’s intellectual world that deserves it. Your challenge? Write a sentence (or two) in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2017
There was a time when the apocalypse seemed close. The climate was changing. It was a time of unprecedented storms, when crops failed and the people went hungry. Governments fell before an unprecedented wave of popular change. A mercenary army roamed the lands in the name of religious zeal, destroying all before it and seizing … More When the apocalypse loomed
It’s a century since a transport company was founded in my home town of Napier with the epithet Aard. A word that founder R. R. Woodcock coined so he’d be at the very front of the phone book. He knew what was doing. It’s a lesson driven home to me whenever I walk into bookshops … More Being a writer with a name at the end of the alphabet
Zyzzyva has to be one of the most obscure English words ever. It’s the name of a kind of South American weevil (Curculionidae) discovered by Thomas Casey in 1922. However, according to the OED its etymology (not ‘entomology’, geddit, geddit?) is that it was actually coined as a way of being the last word in … More The obscure word of the week is zyzzyva
