Posted on 03 December 2018 10:33
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about fandom. There’s a musical playing at The Playground Theatre at the moment, called Fanatical: The Sci-Fi Convention Musical, which I have already seen twice and will be seeing twice more before it closes on Saturday. It’s about a fan convention for a fictional sci-fi TV show, and it celebrates all aspects of being a fan, not least the creation of fan art and fanfiction.
Read morePosted on 02 December 2018 10:34
Summary:
I’m keeping up my writing days, so I’m on track to double my GYWO pledge level for the year, but none of my sessions this week were particularly long or massively productive. It’s all about finding a balance between quality and quantity, productivity and relaxation.
Read morePosted on 25 November 2018 21:08
Summary:
One really good, productive session, and lot of little bits throughout the week.
Read morePosted on 18 November 2018 22:03
Summary:
A good amount of stuff achieved, and finally some fiction!
Read morePosted on 12 November 2018 23:33
Summary:
Still no actual fiction writing again this week - the fiction crew are definitely on shore leave at the moment, leaving the nonfiction crew to stoke the boilers on their own.
Read morePosted on 05 November 2018 14:47
One of the most important pieces of advice for writers submitting their work for publication is - read the guidelines really carefully and follow them to the letter. It may seem petty and unfair to be penalised for using the wrong font or being a few words outside the word limit. But the quickest way to get rejected is to fail to follow the guidelines, as this gives the editor a very easy way to whittle down what might be an impractically large submission pile.
Read morePosted on 04 November 2018 22:02
Summary:
The fiction crew are still on shore leave, it seems, but the non-fiction crew are picking up the slack.
Read morePosted on 28 October 2018 12:31
Summary:
After nothing at all last week, I worked on writing projects to at least some degree every day this week. Not much progress on the fiction front, but lots of nonfiction stuff, some cogitation on fiction stuff, and plenty of sending my darlings out into the world to be judged.
Read morePosted on 25 October 2018 10:34
I recently read Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward, which is designed to help writers approach and navigate the potential pitfalls of writing characters who are very different from themselves. I would highly recommend reading this book to all writers, but below is a distillation of the most important lessons I learned from it.
Read morePosted on 21 October 2018 20:13
Summary:
Very little going on this week.
Read morePosted on 07 October 2018 19:29
Summary:
Some good progress and a couple of decent sessions, with lots of planning. So, everything still ticking over.
Read morePosted on 30 September 2018 18:12
Summary:
All I needed were a couple of decent stretches of scheduled writing time and look at all the things I achieved!
Read morePosted on 23 September 2018 15:53
Summary:
Trips away usually result in a lack of writing productivity, unless they are writing retreats, so very little work done this week. Big plans for the next couple of weeks, though!
Read morePosted on 16 September 2018 20:36
Summary:
One decent writing session planned and executed, but I still don’t feel like I’ve got back into the swing of things properly yet.
Read morePosted on 12 September 2018 16:30
This month, I’ve had a very good reminder of the value of submitting work for publication.
There was an anthology I was very interested in subitting for, and I came up with what I thought was a good idea for a short story, which might fit what they were looking for. I brainstormed the story early in July, then wrote the whole thing while on retreat at the start of August.
Then I posted it for critiques and received my requisite three responses. As usual when I request critiques, the reaction to my story was varied.
Read morePosted on 09 September 2018 08:46
Summary:
Little bits here and there build up to multiple days of writing activity across the week, though no major writing sessions undertaken. It’s good to keep my hand in, but I’d like to get back to a more rigorous schedule.
Read morePosted on 03 September 2018 08:27
Summary:
NAWG-Fest was over in a flash but well worth attending. Great workshops, opportunities to catch up with good friends, and generally a good time all round.
Read morePosted on 27 August 2018 08:10
Summary:
Good use of planned time with other people to find extra time to work on writing projects.
Read morePosted on 19 August 2018 14:36
Summary:
So many commas deleted, plus more improvements made to the novel. Lots of good sessions this week. It feels like I’m making progress.
Read morePosted on 18 August 2018 14:47
Diversity and representation in fiction and the media is something I think about a lot. I want to include diverse characters in my writing, and I want to see more diversity and better representation in the things I consume. I also want to see creators from minority groups get more opportunities to get their creations out into the world and for those creations to be seen by as many people as possible.
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