If you’ve read Fireside Fairy Tales or excerpts of my writing on Instagram, you might have spotted some Gaelic words. And lots of Scots.
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Ironically, I felt stressed writing parts of this blog. As in, my teeth literally went numb.
I remember a time when writing didn’t come with a heap of expectations or mental resistance. Somewhere along the line what should be simple and joyful has become source of stress and judgement.
And that’s why I’m writing about how to find a calm writing routine.
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Hasn’t it been a while? Winter and lockdown wove a web of quiet days, book reading and nurturing creative seedlings. Now those seeds are nudging their way out of the snow, it’s time to come out of hibernation…
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On Monday I asked via Instagram Stories whether you’d like a post on searching for literary agents or how to keep a writer’s notebook - as you can see, the writer’s notebook won!
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I’ve been many different types of writer. Aspiring. Pantser. Plotter. Bad. Solitary. Slow. Multi-tasker. Recently my writing has shifted into a new phase. I’ve never felt more in tune with the way I write and what I want to write about. It made me realise I’ve changed a lot from my teenage, Tolkien-inspired scribbles…
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Today I want to show you what my writing process looks like - from first idea to finished story. I’ve avoided creating these types of post in the past because, being unpublished, I don’t feel like a ‘proper writer’. But you don’t spend the majority of your life writing without developing some kind of process. I like to think mine is pretty foolproof by now, so I thought I’d outline it here for anyone who might find it useful.
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I draw endless inspiration from my immediate surroundings, but every so often I like to escape. Usually, I do this by reading a book. I’m sure you do, too. But what if you don’t have a book? Or the worlds therein aren’t to your liking? What if you could escape to a world of your own invention with just a piece of paper, a pencil and your imagination?
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It’s Wednesday afternoon. I’m sat at my kitchen table with a coffee, having returned from my usual river walk and a wee daunder around town.
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Six drafts, 569 pages and 116,235 words later, I finished writing my book. It’s been a bumpy road, and a longer journey than anticipated. If this process has taught me anything it’s how to not write a novel! I thought I’d reflect on some of mistakes, and how I’ll approach book two differently.
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I’m currently editing the end of my first novel. It’s a goal that’s long eluded me. My writing failures outweigh my writing successes, yet somehow I’m putting the finishing touches to a story I’ve tried to tell for years, but never had the skills to do so until recently. I’m chalking this win up to one defining trait…
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I’m sitting down to type this on a peaceful, snowy day. The kind that inspires curling up with novel edits and getting lost in a world of my own invention. Editing my book used to feel daunting, but once I found a process and surrendered to diving deeper into my story, I couldn’t tear myself away.
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January: empty pockets, the sparkle of Christmas faded and old routines resumed under sunless skies. It’s the time of year we’re most in need of magic but hope and motivation prove elusive. I’ve not succumbed to January blues yet, but there’s still time for those “always winter, never Christmas” feelings to strike, so here’s a list of writerly things you can do for free to illuminate grey January days.
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Happy 2020 – I hope you all had a restful Christmas & New Year.
Mine was the perfect balance of sleeping in, hill walking and curling up with books and Christmas chocolate.
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Wandering through rain. Light-splashed pavements. Hot coffee in crowded cafes. Spiked silhouettes underneath the jagged skyline. A day that felt neither Saturday nor Sunday, just some unspecified date close to Christmas in gloomy, fog-bound Edinburgh.
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I wanted to share this post to let you in on a little secret: I don’t have an ideal writing set-up. However, that doesn’t stop me from taking my writing seriously every single day.
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