Giving up on writing projects
I’ve only ever ‘officially’ given up on one writing project that I can remember over the last 10 years. Only one story where I’ve sat down and said, “You know, I’m just going to give up on that one. I...
View ArticleDocumenting writing progress
Writing as a hobby is both Zen and frustrating to participate in, both for the same reason. There’s always somewhere you could improve. There’s always something you didn’t quite get right in that last...
View ArticleKnowing how big a story idea is
I’m not a prolific story idea generator. I do ok, I might get a few a month, all of which get inconsistently recorded in a variety of mediums1Journals, spreadsheets, notes in my phone, the back of...
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Siblinghood of the World Blogger Award
I’ve been nominated by the lovely Madeleide D’este for the Siblinghood of the World Blogger Award. I answer 10 questions posed by Madeleine, and then I pose 10 more questions to 10 more bloggers. When...
View ArticleInaction in the face of greatness
A few months ago I went out to drinks with a bunch of writers I met on Twitter[1]. Everyone at the table was the next ‘level’ up from me in terms of writing progress. Between them they’d sold stories,...
View ArticleSlush reading: The other side of the fence
A few weeks ago I saw a tweet from a semi-pro speculative fiction magazine[1] asking for applications of interest for slush readers[2]. I was curious – I’d never seen calls for slush readers before. I...
View ArticleCharacter description: making my characters visible
I got some great feedback on a short story I wrote recently[1]. The best feedback, for me, is not just the stuff that points out flaws and general areas for improvement in a piece, but the stuff that...
View ArticleFinishing the novel
I finished my novel today. I’ve sent it off to Felicity and my boyfriend for initial feedback. In a few weeks, when I get my nerve up, I’ll send it out to other people as well[1]. It feels really...
View ArticleTransferable skills
I don’t talk a lot about my day job online. It’s a public, conservative environment and we have semi-regular seminars about how saying the wrong thing on social media could get us fired. But I can...
View ArticleSurviving burnout
I didn’t write for basically the whole of February. This is an unfortunate trend I’ve noticed over the past few years – I’ll go hard in January, all enthused with the change of the new year and my...
View Article2018 Writing Goals
Behold, my 2018 writing goals! I was really happy with my progress last year and I’m enthused to set myself new goals and challenges for 2018. Writing I’m planning to focus more on my long-form...
View ArticleReaching out: loneliness and the extroverted writer
I’m an extrovert. I really like people – I like meeting them, talking to them, being in their presence and not talking at all. I’ve found out (and I’m not proud of this) that my upper limit for going...
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