It has been exactly one year since I started writing my first novel. I am currently 50,000 words into my first draft (which is roughly 49.5k words more than any other story I’d ever started and abandoned) and have another 45 to 50k-ish to go. In 365 days there’s a lot to learn and discover […]
Read More What I’ve Learned About Writing A Novel In One YearWhen I first started writing I did it in perfect silence. Alone with my thoughts with only the sound of the keyboard click clacking, quiet worked for me. But then I started to experience prolonged periods of being stumped, the words stopped flowing and it became too silent. I’d read that listening to music can […]
Read More Music & WritingI’ve always had trouble believing in myself… Or more specifically; that I can really do this writing thing. It took many, many years for me to really have a go at it. The novel I started working on last September is the one that has finally stuck and I’ve finally hit the 50k mark on […]
Read More Believe in the Write Stuff“Nothing will work unless you do.” Maya Angelou To be clear, I don’t exactly believe in such a thing as ‘writer’s block’. There’s no invisible wall that surrounds our minds and creativity, or invisible handcuffs that prevent us from getting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard)… But even I am guilty of using ‘the […]
Read More Overcoming ‘The Block’“Beware of advice – even this.” ~ Carl Sandburg How many writers out there have read through (or at least skimmed) dozens of books about the art of writing; looking for guidelines, rules and loads of other bits of advice on how to write the best book in the whole entire world, before finally putting […]
Read More Writing a Novel: The Rules**SPOILER ALERT** … For anyone who hasn’t watched it… Seriously though, it’s been like 18 years… I had just finished my 100th marathon of Lord of the Rings, and as per usual, I was frustrated that Frodo caved in at the last second and decided not to throw the ring into the fire. So, I […]
Read More The Ultimate Hero: A Debate About ‘Lord of the Rings’A couple of months after joining Twitter and the #WritingCommunity, I came across #VSS365 (Very Short Story 365 days a year). Every day, a host provides a single word to act as a prompt for a tweet length story, a poem, a piece of dialogue etc. When I first started participating, I was anxious that […]
Read More Has A Daily Dose Of #VSS365 Improved My Writing?