What’s holding you back in your writing? Do you ever feel frustrated that you’re not making the progress you want with your writing, but you can’t figure out why? Today, I’m introducing a brand new segment for my blog that delves into my Writers’ Arc tool. You may remember that the Writers’ Arc is a…
Today I’m answering a question from a concerned writer. Am I being lazy?… Frank, from my mailing list and Meetup group, got in touch to tell me about his current writing goal. He’s finished his novella but wants to expand it into a full-length novel. Here’s what he says: “My problem is that I’m lazy. I…
Our First Commission Followed by a Pandemic The last of a 5-part series where I take you behind the scenes of the most fulfilling experience of my writing life: developing a kids’ animation series for TV. In this installment, I’ll talk about how we nabbed our first TV commission for an animated Christmas Special. I’ll also…
Getting a Book Deal The fourth of a 5-part series where I take you behind the scenes of the most fulfilling experience of my writing life: developing a kids’ animation series for TV. In this instalment, I’ll tell you about writing a picture book, based on our series, meeting publishers at the London Book Fair, getting…
Pitching at Cartoon Forum The third of a 5-part series where I take you behind the scenes of the most fulfilling experience of my writing life: developing a kids’ animated TV series. In this instalment, I’ll tell you all about preparing for and pitching at Cartoon Forum – one of the biggest cartoon networking events in…
How has your summer been? Focused and productive? Or full-on holiday mode? I had a month off work – not for a holiday as such, but to look after my little boy – which was both fun and exhausting. But I’m delighted to be back at my desk! Woo hoo! I love the potential of September September is…
Applying for Funding The second of a 5-part series where I take you behind the scenes of the most fulfilling experience of my writing life: developing a kids’ animated TV series. As I said in Part One this 6-year rollercoaster was filled with both success and failure. I hope my journey will be both interesting and…
A Writer’s Journey This is the first of a 5-part series where I’ll share the ins and outs of one of the most fulfilling experiences of my writing life: developing a pre-school kids’ animation series for TV. This 6-year rollercoaster ultimately ended in failure, but there were some amazing successes along the way. So, after grappling…
I’ve recently spent far more time procrastinating than I’m comfortable with. So I was fascinated to hear Oliver Burkeman discuss why we procrastinate on Rangan Chatterjee’s wonderful ‘Feel Better Live More‘ podcast. I can’t resist sharing these tips as I’m sure you’ll find them helpful too. In episode 260, in a conversation about Burkeman’s new…
Last month I was feeling really frustrated about my levels of productivity. Everything took longer than expected; I was so distracted. I’d spend ages ruminating on my frustration rather than being constructive. So I was thrilled to discover a simple trick to help me focus better. You might find it helpful too. At the end…
