Discover the Quill

Ah, so you’ve found the back room.
Mind the ink stains—I tend to get carried away.

I’m Chris Michaels, writer, story student, and beard enthusiast behind The BeardedQuill. I built this place for people who love words—not just writing them, but understanding how they work, why they matter, and what they reveal about us.

For me, writing has never just been about grammar and prose. It’s about story. Humanity. Emotion. Writing is how I untangle life and connect—with myself, with ideas, and with others. It’s the lens through which I understand people, poke at the absurdity of the world, and find flashes of meaning in the mundane.

My relationship with storytelling started—as these things often do—in childhood. I grew up devouring library books, scribbling strange little epics in dog-eared notebooks, and pretending to be characters far more interesting than my school uniform allowed. Somewhere along the way, I realised writing wasn’t just a pastime—it was how I made sense of everything.

Over the years, I’ve taught myself the craft of narrative through relentless reading, late-night drafting, spectacular failures, and frequent arguments with imaginary people. (They usually win.) I’ve learned that writing isn’t something you master once and for all—it’s something you live inside, wrestle with, and return to, again and again.

These days, I write fiction with a voice that blends dark humour, vivid imagination, and character-driven plots. Stories that flirt with the fantastical while keeping one foot firmly in reality. I’m a fan of stories in all their forms:

• Sci-fi that stretches the mind
• Fantasy that expands the heart
• Thrillers that quicken the pulse
• Poetry that distils everything
• And music that tells its own kind of truth

If it tells a good story, I’m in.

The BeardedQuill is my way of sharing what I’ve learned (and unlearned) through years of writing, studying, and scribbling in the margins. It’s also a quiet rebellion—a space that pushes back against content fluff, lazy storytelling shortcuts, and the myth of overnight genius.

Here, you’ll find reflections on craft, rants against clichés (lovingly delivered), storytelling insights, and occasional digressions into narrative theory—all seasoned with dry humour and served with a pot of tea. I don’t claim to have all the answers. What I do have is a persistent curiosity, a reverence for story, and a healthy suspicion of anything that sounds too easy.

You won’t find me preaching from the mountaintop. I prefer a well-worn armchair, a notebook full of scribbles, and a conversation with fellow writers who care—not just about being published, but about saying something worth reading.

So if you’re here for thoughtful writing insights, literary companionship, and a slower, deeper take on the creative life—pull up a chair. Let’s talk shop.

Warmly,
Chris Michaels
The BeardedQuill