I'll always remember one writing course when I talked about how much writing is rewriting. How hard it can be. How rare it is that your first draft is flawless. There were some surprised murmurs, some nodding heads. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘Just give yourself permission...
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...
Staying motivated on a long project requires a particular sort of grit. There are strategies that help you hang in there for the long game. When I had my mini writing retreat at Bundanon, I was looking back over my ‘writing journal’. These are the notes...
When I started off as a journalist I was fortunate enough to work alongside Mick Brown, a brilliant writer and long-time journalist at London’s Daily Telegraph. He’d read my stories and say, ‘Claire, Cut to the chase here.’ What he meant was, get rid of the...
There are lots of things that stop us writing. A common one is fear. How much do we hold ourselves back as writers? What are we most afraid of? Here are some common responses: Rejection Condemnation from others Being judged Putting yourself out there Not getting the story right. Last weekend I...
When I teach writing, I always ask my workshop students how they create a routine for themselves. Here’s what some say: I write for 40 minutes during my lunch break twice a week. I write on the train to work. I stay in and write one evening every...