As I've told you all before, I'm re-writing my 1950s novel for the 3rd time. I wanted a fresh perspective, new ideas and masses of encouragment. I'd heard writer Emma Darwin (http://www.emmadarwin.com) speak more then once and met her for a chat at an event at Bell House, Dulwich. http://www.bellhouse.co.uk. The decision to work with … Continue reading Outlines and Timelines
I have been charged by my writing mentor to produce an outline of my novel – not a synopsis – for our next meeting scheduled for the last week of May. Let’s ignore the aggravating possibility that this discussion might have to take place courtesy of Skype or might be cancelled altogether. There are two … Continue reading Lock-In = Write Outline
You’d think that this lock-down would be the writer’s best friend. Hours and empty hours of time to think, perchance to dream and then to write. This isn’t happening in my life and I get the feeling that it’s not happening in other’s writing life either. When I’m not cooking with whatever we have, ie … Continue reading Writer’s Block in Lock-down
I wrote a memoir. I’m not a celeb. Why would any commercial publisher be interested? I self-published. It used to be the fact that the face of self-publishing had mud all over it. The more realistic description of the method of publishing your own book was Vanity Publishing, a term which is now extinct. … Continue reading The Respectable Face of Self-Publishing
I have been invited to design and give a 2-morning workshop on writing memoir. Brilliant. I've been wanted to workshop writing memoir for a while now. Easy, I thought. After all I've written my own memoir. Then I read someone else's memoir and then another and then a book which was really bio-fiction, which took … Continue reading Memoir – What Exactly Is It? (1)
I've had several emails telling me that new readers are following this blog. Which is fantastic but makes me guilty. For I'm aware that I haven't been faithful to my promise to post a new blog page each Saturday. OK, I've been away picking olives and when you're on a treadmill to get those olives … Continue reading A Writer’s Jigsaw Puzzle
You know the difference between a memoir and a novel but what about the difference between memoir and autobiography? Would you like to write your own story? Have you begun and are stuck? How about joining a workshop on London's South Bank? You will be part of a group of five writers who will receive … Continue reading Memoir or Novel?
