Is it your heart – are you afraid of what you might find? Or your head? Does it think you don’t have time? 10 tips on how to stop the block If you feel overwhelmed, think small. Isolate one thing and write about that for 10...
I’m always looking for ways to boost my creativity. This week I’ve been dipping into The Creative Habit by the American choreographer Twyla Tharp who offers plenty of inspiration on how to make creativity a habit. For a start she believes in rituals. Rituals help train...
A friend recently sent me an email asking when I had time to ‘dream and write?’ She’s been trying to connect up and I’ve been busy running workshops or busy mentoring or busy working on my new website. Busy. It’s the catchword for our age. ‘I...
Happy 1st October! It’s hard to believe that we’re already in the last quarter of the year. Be honest, now. How many of you made some writing resolutions back in January that you still haven’t completed? You’re not the only one. I have a few outstanding… With...
So many writers don’t succeed because they don’t finish stories. Don’t be one of them. As a journalist I’m used to deadlines. If I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t always finish stories. Or even start them. When you’re working on a book or a bigger writing project...
When I was writing and re-writing my travel memoir Last Seen in Lhasa, the author Patrick French gave me some advice. 'Go into a bookshop and visualise your book on the shelves. Which section would it be in? Which books would it be between? Imagine it...
I’m a great one for New Year’s resolutions. Starting or re-starting a writing project in the first quarter is sensible. You have the rest of the year to get it done. And if you have the right systems in place, you can complete a non-fiction book...
How often do you stop and write for yourself? Not because you must or you’ve got a deadline to make – just for the pleasure of putting pen to paper and seeing what comes out. For me, despite what I wrote in my last post, I...
Ask anyone who writes regularly in a private journal why they do it and they usually say, ‘because it makes me feel better.’ I started writing a diary aged nine. When I was growing up I did it every night. These days it’s more haphazard,...
We’ve all been there. Those days when nothing seems to flow, when your words are wooden and your syntax is lifeless. Those days when you’re bored with writing. Sick of it. Even hate it. I’ve been there too. It’s like you’ve reached a dead end – or...