I learned to write

My name is Simon Carne.

Writing and public speaking are both a pastime and a passion for me. By applying the techniques described in this website, I have written for newspapers and professional journals from the Financial Times to FourFourTwo.¹Other publications – from the 1980s to today – include: TOP Graduate Career Guide, The Times, The Accountant, The Lawyer, The Expert, The Actuary, Managing Intellectual Property and Inforrm (The International Forum for Responsible Media). Topics have ranged from David Beckham’s first sending off in an England shirt to an astonishing argument with my mortgage lender; and from social media harm to Prince Harry’s bottom.

I have taught writing skills courses as a visiting lecturer on MSc programs at Imperial College Business School and City, University of London. This was a far cry from when I was simply passing on my techniques to colleagues in the firm where I worked. But then a number of other businesses and financial services organisations asked me to deliver courses for them. I was also asked to help firms identify a “voice” in which to present material to their clients and prospective clients. At first, I saw it as no more than a side-line to my main consulting role, but I found I enjoyed it too much to turn down the opportunities that followed me around.

In my work and in my writing, I delight in exposing a lack of clarity in conventional thinking where I believe it exists. And I aspire to find just the right emotion to communicate my point. Examples can be found on my Substack page and sprinkled over this website.

Two of my favourite writers are Daniel Finkelstein and Aaron Sorkin ().

London
Summer 2020