Emma Darwin

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Michele
29,842 books | 5,118 friends

Charlot...
118 books | 52 friends

Jackie
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Melanie...
746 books | 1,520 friends

S.P. Moss
273 books | 84 friends

Samanth...
387 books | 533 friends

Alex Li...
3,269 books | 264 friends

Jan Jones
141 books | 313 friends

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Emma Darwin

Goodreads Author


Born
London, The United Kingdom
Website

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Member Since
September 2012


Emma Darwin was born and brought up in London, but has also spent time in both Manhattan and Brussels, and later studied Drama at university. Her debut novel The Mathematics of Love  (Headline Review) is probably the only novel ever to have been simultaneously listed for both the Commonwealth Writers Best First Book, and the RNA Novel of the Year prizes. Her bestselling second novel, A Secret Alchemy (Headline Review), was part of a PhD at Goldsmiths, which explored the writing of historical fiction. Her first non-fiction book, Getting Started in Writing Historical Fiction (John Murray Learning/Teach Yourself), was published in March 2016. She has been helping writers for over a decade, and has particular interests in historical fiction and ...more

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Emma Darwin I remind myself that this doesn't have to be perfect - it doesn't even have to be good, yet; I'm only writing words which will be placeholders until I…moreI remind myself that this doesn't have to be perfect - it doesn't even have to be good, yet; I'm only writing words which will be placeholders until I know what the real words should be.

If that doesn't work, then I step back and try to see if there's something built into the project which means I'm inevitably getting stuck. Then when I've worked out what that is, I can change it, or work out how to avoid it.(less)
Emma Darwin Being able to centre my working life on practicing the art and craft of writing.
Average rating: 3.19 · 1,432 ratings · 273 reviews · 17 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Mathematics of Love

3.12 avg rating — 673 ratings — published 2006 — 33 editions
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A Secret Alchemy

2.91 avg rating — 415 ratings — published 2008 — 21 editions
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Get Started in Writing Hist...

4.15 avg rating — 102 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions
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This is Not a Book About Ch...

4.12 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions
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The Bruegel Boy

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
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This is Not a Book About Ch...

liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Askin Matematigi

did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Chess Score Sheet and Notat...

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The Mathematics of Love: A ...

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The Mathematics Of Love [ L...

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More books by Emma Darwin…

Itchy Bitesized 24: Five Thoughts About Thinking in Acts

I was wary of books about story-structure for a long time, because they all seemed to be written by script-writers, not novelists - and novelists are not in the business of writing a skeleton to help a group of actors flesh out their characters-in-action well enough to keep the audience sitting down in the dark for a couple of hours. We are in the business of story-telling. I only understood why t

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Published on May 04, 2023 11:44
Quotes by Emma Darwin  (?)
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“all photographs are about death, really, and time: about preserving a moment in silver and chemicals, when life itself is never preserved, when every cell of everything is already decaying, and being replaced, and decaying again. The subject and the image coexist for the moment that the shutter opens and closes. And then the subject decays but the image lives on unchanged.”
Emma Darwin, The Mathematics of Love: A Breathtaking Novel of Two Lives Bound by War, Passion, and Time

“Ann Lamott is a novelist and non-fiction writer. ‘…shitty first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts … I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident.”
Emma Darwin, Get Started in Writing Historical Fiction

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