After reading as much as I can about the literary journeys of different authors, I have come to the conclusion that writing success comes to those who have…mastered the art of finding their way back to their projects. We leave our stories behind for a variety of reasons: We need to distance ourselves from them […]
Read More
This is a tough one and can take some writers several years to come to terms with. You have an unfinished draft novel, sat in a drawer or lounging on top of your writing desk or loitering in your writing file on your computer and the thought of finishing it gives you an uncomfortable gut […]
Read More
I’m in the NaNoWriMo trenches and it’s been a tough weekend. At one point things got so challenging I started procrastinating about how the life of a writer feels very similar to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Here are the similarities with Lord of the Rings and being a writer: Your story is the ring […]
Read More
This weekend will be spent clearing out my dressing table and creating a temporary work desk. As I am working from home in my day job, the teenagers are off school due to half term, my husband is also working from home and we are in the middle of a strict lockdown, I cannot spend […]
Read More
It has taken me a long time to accept this. When you start out as a writer, your ego assures you that ALL your stories will, at some point, turn into bestselling novels. You happily fill up an array of notebooks with stories, quietly confident, they will all feature somewhere in your future writing career. […]
Read More
Inside the minds of most writers the same questions must rotate on a regular basis. These include: – Am I a good writer? – Am I good enough to write a book? – Do I have what it takes to write a decent book? – Do I have what it takes to sell books? – […]
Read More
I believe brand new story ideas should be handled with care and attention. Looking back I wish I had read a post like this when I was starting to take my writing seriously. I was so excited with my shiny new story ideas that I wanted to tell everyone I met about them. The trouble […]
Read More
Sorry if I am late to the party on this tip for getting oneself out of Writer’s Block. It has taken me a long time to stumble upon this technique and if I hadn’t of had a flashback to when I was in labour with my second child (who is now days away from turning […]
Read More
Following on from my tweet yesterday about asking for someone to start a notebook therapy group I have decided to do a notebook based post which I hope some of you might relate to. Here are 10 things NOT to say to someone with a notebook obsession. These things will irritate us. We know we […]
Read More
As a fortysomething writer with a full time (non-writing) day job, a husband, two teenage children (who are well into the socialising stage), a dog, three cats, a house that is never tidy (no matter how many times we clean it) and hormones which change daily (sometimes hourly), life can feel a little chaotic. My […]
Read More