Tag Archives: writing process
Master’s update and new novel – it’s been a while!
Hello and welcome to this strange and tumultuous world in 2021. It’s been quite a long time since I last blogged (seven months in fact!) and while I’m disappointed not to have kept up my blogging schedule , I think I can be forgiven because, you know, it was 2020 and all. So much has […]
Finding inspiration and challenging myself as a writer
Hello and welcome back to the part of my blog where I document my journey as a writer, and write about how much I both love and hate writing. It’s been a bumpy couple of months. There have been many reasons – global pandemic notwithstanding – why I haven’t really felt like blogging, and writing […]
Creative Writing MA: checking in and freaking out
It’s about four months until I finish my Creative Writing MA and hand in my final project and dissertation, and although that seems like a long amount of time, I am sure, with a certain degree of dread, that the time is going to fly past. I promised that I would document my degree on […]
Writing a novel: taking myself away for a week
A recent article in The Guardian caused some controversy by suggesting that writing is an elite activity because it requires two things: time and space. Of course, both those things will often require money, meaning that as Lynn Steger Strong suggests, you can only be a writer if you can afford it. I’m not saying […]
My tips for entering short story competitions
Look, I’m going to be honest here: I’m no short story competition expert. Of the 20+ competitions I have entered in the past year and a half, I’ve had exactly 0 successes – longlist, shortlist, somewhere-in-between-list. No luck. But I haven’t given up, and I continue to methodically and strategically apply to short story competitions, […]
How to stay motivated as a writer
Writing really is a strange and lonely occupation and, like many writers, my motivation ebbs and flows depending on how busy I am, what I’m writing, and my general mood. However, there are things I know that work to keep me organised and to keep me going. Here are my tips on how to stay […]
An ode to the first draft
Ok, I finished a rough first draft of a short story about ten minutes ago, and nothing felt more apt than writing a speedy blog post about just how much I love this feeling (and just how much I dread the next stage of the process). As most people know, the first draft of anything […]
Forever on a Lilo 