I’ve never had a special place to write. I’ve often envied other writers who post pictures of their little corner, with a chair and desk, notebooks and pens at the ready; often an inspiring view nearby. Sadly, I’ve never lived in a house that had space for a space.
I’m kinda cheating this month. I won’t be sharing much advice, although I hope it may give you some food for thought… 🙂 I suppose what I’m doing, is thinking out loud about a little writing conundrum I’m pondering; hoping you might chip in with your thoughts.
I found a way to encourage myself when confidence is low; and it came from the most unlikely place.
I wonder have you ever thought of gifting your writing. One thing that many writers have in common is that they are short of time and short of money. Maybe this year, your writing could be the gift you give.
I took the decision not to do NaNoWriMo this year. I’m so far behind with other writing projects; I could not contemplate starting something new. However I did enjoy the last couple of years and learned a lot from it. Hopefully for next November I’ll be ready to try it again.
I had the privilege of leading a workshop for a group of writers last weekend. My theme was ‘The Writer’s Voice’. Not so much finding your voice, important as that is, more so having the confidence to let your voice be heard.
Have you ever felt it? The burning shame of knowing that you haven’t blogged in ages. When you look in your bag and your notebook is staring at you, all wounded and bereft because you haven’t opened it in a while. You WIP’s protagonist, who you once knew better than you know yourself, is now a distant stranger. You watch wistfully, and with more than a smidgeon of envy, the Facebook posts of writers who are blogging, editing and publishing like the wind. If you have felt such things, then you know what it is to feel it. The shame of the writer, who is not writing.
Coming from Ireland as I do, even the slightest bit of sunshine brings excitement. We have a lot of rain – It’s why we have our ‘40 shades of green.’ I remember as a kid, when on vacation at the beach, it didn’t matter what the weather was like. Sun, rain, wind, arctic temperatures – we didn’t care. We were in the sea, building sandcastles, chasing beach balls as they blew away.
I heard a great phrase a couple of years ago that has stayed with me. The speaker said, “We live in a pierce & ding age. You pierce the top of a frozen meal, a few minutes in the microwave; and DING; it’s ready.” The point she was making was about how fast things happen now, and how we’ve gotten used to it. People look for instant responses to emails, we don’t like to wait for webpages to load, and we pay to see the preview episode of our favourite box set; because we just can’t wait.
Spring has sprung! Well is has in my part of the world. J The daffodils are out, the days are a bit longer and summer’s coming. Traditionally this is a time when a lot of people do a clear out. It’s off to the Garden Centre or the DIY shop to spruce things up. For some it’s emptying out the cupboards and a splash of paint on a wall or two.
On top of holiday madness, we relocated from Ireland to the UK. So for a while, the only writing I was doing was putting numbers on labels and sticking them to boxes. Not very creative, but I’ll be glad I did it when I’m finally reunited with my belongings. 🙂
It’s a busy season for us all, and so easy to get caught up in everything that has to be done at this time of year. I know I struggle to write when I am distracted and flustered with a to-do list that is longer than the page I’m writing it on.
Becoming a writer… that is not, or certainly should not be a solitary thing.
I mentioned last month that I would share a bit of news with you. Well the news is that I am leaving Ireland to return to the UK, where my husband is from and where we spent the first few years of married life. It was a big decision but we know it is the right one for us. We’re quite excited about the potential of a new start and are eager to get going now the decision has been made.
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