-
Author Interview: Lee Prosser
In the next of the author interview series, poet and musician Lee Prosser tells all about his writing journey, his inspirations and his the best writing advice he ever received. Tell me a little bit about your work – when did you get started and what are you working on currently? I started writing poetry…
-
Is Perfectionism Blocking Your Writing Process?
I’ve written a few posts now on overcoming creative blocks and editing your creative work to get it ready for submission. However, a key part of the writing process I haven’t written about – and perhaps we as writers often hide from the outside world – is the whole messiness of the creative process itself.…
-
Collaboration: Your Free, Powerful Writing Tool
We’re naturally drawn to gossip. Writing rivals? Intriguing. Feuds with publishers? Tell me more. Drama over book awards? Let me pull up my seat. But working together with other writers to create truly unexpected pieces of creative work? Yawn. No one wants any of that. Yet in times where social media trolling is rife, tensions…
-
Author Interview: Rachel Carney
In the first of the author interview series, poet and PhD candidate Rachel Carney tells all about her writing journey, a virtual writing residency and her well-known book blog Created to Read. Tell me a little bit about your work – when did you get started and what are you working on currently? I’ve been…
-
Writing as Therapy: Invisible Illness as a Character in Writing My Second Book
I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for quite a long time. I’ve recently delivered workshops on the subject and with Small due to be released in October, I feel now is the time to share with you how I wrote it in the hope it can help you too. On an early run…
-
You’re Never Too Old (Or Too Young) to Start Writing
Can we talk about the word “emerging” when describing writers at the beginning of their writing careers? When you hear “emerging writer”, what age are you imagining the writer to be? For too many of us, we’ve been led to believe that to be an emerging writer is to be young and usually fresh out…
-
How to Edit Your Writing Before You Submit
Writing is just one step in getting your work published. You might have spent weeks researching the context of the piece you’re writing and now, finally, you’ve written the final word. You lift the sheet of paper from the printer and hold it up against the light like you’re auditioning for a part in The…
-
Going Out With A Bang: My Top 10 Final Lines in Poetry
We talk a lot about our favourite opening lines in literature, but for me there’s something quite laudable about the delivery of a killer final line when it comes to poetry. As poets, we must seek to ensure that every word is necessary. Every word and punctuation mark must have earned its place. Unlike fiction,…
-
Finding Comfort in Old Books and Familiar Writing
During lockdown, many of us are filling up our bookshelves with new reads and good intentions. If you’re anything like me, your well-intentioned pile of to-be-read books could almost rival the grandiose heights of Mount Vesuvius. Every day, a parcel thumps against the doormat; book-shaped, bubble-wrapped, a promise. Hours of every evening are spent spiralling…
-
Kindness in Crisis: You Matter Too
As I write this, I am overwhelmed. Completely and utterly overwhelmed. And this feels like such a selfish thing to admit. Bizarre, isn’t it? I’m overwhelmed with wanting to help so many people, but feel selfish for admitting I feel bad. Help Harder As we head towards another week of lockdown, for many of us,…
Natalie Ann Holborow 