A Week of Silence
“The world is only tolerable because of the empty places in it…when the world’s filled up, we’ll have to get hold of a star. Any star. Venus, or Mars. Get … Continue reading A Week of Silence
Tag: productivity
Finding My Voice
Over the past few weeks, something strange has happened. In the tiny bubbles of time I get between work and baby, I’ve started to write again. At first, it wasn’t … Continue reading Finding My Voice
Non-Fiction (like pie) is your Friend
My shelf is in danger of falling down. We put it up to replace the bedside tables, so it hovers above our heads, laden with all the stuff I used … Continue reading Non-Fiction (like pie) is your Friend
All Change (Shift Your Focus to Re-Energise Writing)
The leaves on the tree outside my window are dying. But they are so beautiful in their death. Near the top, they still have green hearts, tinged with an acid-bright … Continue reading All Change (Shift Your Focus to Re-Energise Writing)
Is Borrowing from Mythology Cheating?
When I was a student at University, I took a composition course. Bashing away at the keys of a piano in a quiet practice room (it was 11pm, I had … Continue reading Is Borrowing from Mythology Cheating?
Windows – The View from my Writing Desk
Each time I’ve moved in the last five years, my writing desk has always gone next to a window. In four different houses, in four different boroughs of London, I’ve … Continue reading Windows – The View from my Writing Desk
Unplug – How to Step Back from the World
On a dog walk with my sister recently, she vented an uncomfortable but pertinent truth. Why is it, she asked me, as we trudged through a bracken-crusted wood, that people … Continue reading Unplug – How to Step Back from the World
Uncertain Times – How Can We Embrace Uncertainty?
The only thing that’s sure at the moment in UK politics, despite claims to the contrary, is that it’s an incredibly uncertain time. Managing that feeling, embracing it even, is … Continue reading Uncertain Times – How Can We Embrace Uncertainty?
Lazy Writing
Here it is at last. A stretch of weather we can revel in. Sunny afternoons, barbecue smoke drifting over fences, parks littered with bodies half-dressed. And all that time in … Continue reading Lazy Writing
Making Creativity – How to Boost Your Creative Output
You can’t make creativity, but you can make cake. I have two days a week to write. Two glorious, empty, indulgent, frustrating days. Sometimes, the word count is high. My … Continue reading Making Creativity – How to Boost Your Creative Output
Taking Time Out – Retreat in Any Way You Can
December is upon us. While apparently the idea that time goes quicker as you get older is a myth (it’s just because you’ve seen more actual time, apparently) it still … Continue reading Taking Time Out – Retreat in Any Way You Can
On Finishing a First Draft
It is done. I have typed the last word, finished the last scene, put my (relatively) new characters to bed. In celebration of this, I wanted to share some piece that … Continue reading On Finishing a First Draft
