Hello lovely creatives It’s hard to believe that it’s only 20 weeks to Christmas. As we're halfway through 2018 this is a good time to refresh your writing goals. I try to do this every quarter to stay on track. Here are 10 tips to kick off...
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...
I often wonder why so few people actually finish their writing projects. Or, why other people have great plans but don’t act on them. Any creative project has 3 distinct phases and each one requires you to harness a particular energy within yourself. Stage #1 –...
I had a terrific time at the The Hindu Lit for Life festival in Chennai. My workshop on world building (of the fictional variety) was a lot of fun with an engaged group of 20-plus people. I even got a mention in The Hindu paper about it. There was a typo...
Very excited to be presenting this workshop in Chennai, India for the The Hindu Lit For Life 2018. This is the first time I will be back in Chennai since I did all the research for my novel The Pagoda Tree and I am looking forward to sharing the...
I promised I’d write about all aspects of the creative process and these past weeks I’ve been dealing with a rush of insecurities about my writing. I think we’ve all been there. Those days when self-doubt and overwhelm take over. When you’re afraid about rejection or negative...
On 09 November, I'm doing a Book Discussion about Lost Artistry, Lost Humanity and a Collision of Cultures in 18th Century India with author and renowned journalist Mick Brown at the Nehru Centre in London from 6.30 - 7.30pm. The event is FREE admission so please RSVP by sending me an email at claire@wordstruck.com.au so I can get an idea of...
I'll be having a live Twitter Q&A on 01 November at 7 pm UK time (02 November 6am AEST) with The Reading Agency @readingagency & Unbound @unbounders. You can ask me @clairescobie anything about the book and I'll live tweet back! Go on… would love to hear from you....
Last week my mum gave her first talk at the Thame Arts and Literature Festival in the UK. People laughed at her jokes, asked interesting questions and she sold 10 copies of her memoir A Baboon in the Bedroom. At 79 years old she’s finding...
Today, as India celebrates 70 years of independence from the British, there is an alternative lens to view the history of the two nations. A history not solely defined by the Raj, but one that evolved during a window in the mid-eighteenth century before British rule...