Tim Dowling

London

Columnist at The Guardian

Guardian columnist, sad sack. Host of podcast Insult My Intelligence. Police Dog Hogan's banjo player.

Articles

The one change that worked: I conquered my fear of public speaking – with just one night of pure panic

1 week ago | msn.com | Tim Dowling

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The one change that worked: I conquered my fear of public speaking - with just one night of pure panic

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Tim Dowling

I never understood quite how much public speaking came with being a writer, because after I wrote my first book no one asked me to do any. They didn’t ask after my second book either. That was fine with me: I had never done any public speaking and, like all normal people, I was terrified of the prospect. Then in 2014, with the publication of my fourth book still a couple of weeks away, I was invited to a literary festival.
I had this amazing dream. But I can’t divulge the details

1 week ago | msn.com | Tim Dowling

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Tim Dowling: I had this amazing dream. But I can’t divulge the details

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Tim Dowling

I wake up suddenly and early, the dog lying so heavy across my legs that my feet have gone numb. I extract myself and hobble across the bedroom until circulation is restored. Then I throw open the curtains to introduce my wife to the new day. “Ugh,” she says. “I was just having this dream,” I say. “What?” she says. “Everything was normal,” I say, “except there was a horse where the sofa used to be.”“What time is it?” she says. “Seven something,” I say.
Tim Dowling: our garden is identical to next door’s – only with added weeds

2 weeks ago | msn.com | Tim Dowling

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Tim Dowling: our garden is identical to next door’s - only with added weeds

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Tim Dowling

A tall hedge – a privet – marked the boundary between our front garden and our neighbour Marianne’s. The hedge afforded both a measure of privacy and an illustrative contrast in maintenance regimes: Marianne’s side is always neat and straight; ours shaggy and bulging into the walkway. A couple of years ago the hedge started to die. At first it was easy to ignore, to hope that the remaining greenery would spread into the bare spots. But it got worse, not better.
on my band’s nationwide tour, it’s vital to be in the right car

3 weeks ago | msn.com | Tim Dowling

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Tim Dowling: on my band’s nationwide tour, it’s vital to be in the right car

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Tim Dowling

For the second leg of our band’s nationwide tour we’ve hired a van for all our stuff, but it only has three seats, so the rest of us are following in two cars. We have agreed that no changes will be made to the show, but halfway to Bristol a revised set list appears on the band WhatsApp. “The other car have swapped two songs out of the first half into the second,” I say to the guitar player, who is driving. “Why have they done that?” he says. “Dunno,” I say.
Tim Dowling: I’m on tour with my band - and my wife is ignoring my calls

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Tim Dowling

The band I’m in is heading out for a spring tour from Edinburgh to Exeter, a dozen dates across four weekends. Two nights before we set off I leave a rehearsal room at 10pm, exhausted after a seven-hour practice. It occurs to me, not for the first time, that I am too old for this shit. On the morning of the first gig, my wife and I have a row: she appears to be unaware that I am taking the car for the weekend. “You said you were getting a lift,” she says. “That’s next weekend,” I say.
I find gardening therapeutic until the roses rip me to shreds

1 month ago | msn.com | Tim Dowling

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.