At the moment, I am struggling with finding balance in my life. I work in an office four days a week, and often have several social engagements throughout the week and at the weekend. So, it can be difficult to find time to write. It helps a lot that I have several writer friends […]
Category: Blog
Second Draft Done!
Yesterday, I experienced a profound sense of accomplishment. The four-month writing period of the Six Month Novel Programme is coming to an end, and I actually finished writing the last scene of my current draft about three weeks ago. That felt pretty great, not least because it happened on a writing date with a […]
Felixstowe Book Festival
Last weekend, a few friends and I went to Felixstowe Book Festival. This was my third event of this kind, and probably my favourite so far. NAWG Fest in September last year was an intensive two days of excellent workshops, with a couple of author talks thrown in. Tremendous fun, but very tiring. Chipping Norton […]
Same Lesson Every Time
I didn’t write anything all last week. Then, I had a tiring, somewhat stressful but ultimately enjoyable weekend away at a gaming event, getting home later last night than planned. And I’d completely forgotten about my dentist appointment this morning. All I wanted to do with the rest of today was sit on the sofa […]
Music for Writing
My relationship to aural input whilst writing has changed dramatically over time. I used to need complete peace and quiet in order to write, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to listen to music at the same time. Then, I started using instrumental music as a way to focus and block out distracting background noise. […]
Dreaded Revision Not So Dreadful
After two writing weeks on the Six Month Novel Programme, I am six chapters and over 30,000 words into the new draft, which is way more than I anticipated. The outline has changed multiple times, I’ve discovered major issues with the order of events, my favourite character has disappeared from the story altogether, and I’ve […]
The Wonders of Outlining
When I wrote the first draft of my novel, it took five years, a lot of teeth-pulling, and a gradual progression from the original 1,500 word story to the eventual 90,000 word novel. There was a lot of mystery and excitement along the way, coupled with periods of staring into the void, wondering what on […]
A Novel in Six Months? I Must Be Mad!
Whilst on the retreat in Devon last month, I got to talking to my lovely host, Charlie of Urban Writers’ Retreats, and she mentioned she was taking applications for her annual Six Month Novel Programme. Since I had just reached the conclusion that the next step for my novel was a blank page rewrite, I […]
Overcoming the Fear of Submission
This is an article I wrote this month for the Get Your Words Out online community: So, you’re fearful of putting your writing out there into the world… Well, you’re not alone. Every writer experiences anxiety about letting other people read their work. Every writer fears rejection and criticism of their work. The first […]
Really Getting Away
Last week, I took a lovely, four-day trip down to Devon, to attend a residential writing retreat at Stickwick Manor, organised by the ever-awesome Charlie from Urban Writers’ Retreat. It was great to get really away from London, escape the distractions of daily life, and forget all about the stresses and annoyances of the day […]