Let’s talk about rejection. Really?! And failure. And near misses. Eek! It’s kind of embarrassing, isn’t it? Talking about the things that didn’t work out. But writing is incredibly competitive if you want to be published or produced. Of course, we don’t want to believe this when we’re just starting out. The truth is, even when we…
4 writing rituals to boost your confidence and focus Recently, when talking to one of my clients, I was asked if I knew anything about creating writing rituals. I love talking about writing habits, but I’d never really thought about writing rituals before. The question intrigued me and I decided to look into it. When we…
14 Tips to Help You Break into the Industry Prompted by a comment from a fellow writer, today I want to share 14 tips to help you break into the industry. Some of these apply to all writers, some more to screenwriters and others more to novelists. Pick and choose the ones that feel most…
This week, I had a conversation with a client about making the most of the holidays to write, so I thought I’d share some strategies with you too… How to mentally prepare to write over the holidays Let’s say you have a chunk of time off work and you want to get plenty of writing done. But…
Monthly Inspiration Today I am trialling a new format… An anecdote from me A quote from another writer A useful resource and A call to action Asking for Help / Fear of Failure An anecdote from me I listened to a recent episode of the Happiness Lab podcast and it seemed very relevant to us writers, so…
Question: I’ve written a story and I’d like to know, is it a one-off or could it be a series? I want to share a recent question that came up in a call with one of my clients. It relates to writing a series or a one-off. Children’s animation and picture books will be the focus…
Today, I want to hone in on one of the 8 categories of my Writers’ Arc tool: the Writing Routine – but with a special focus: Using technology to get more writing done My Backstory I’ve just emerged from a very distracted period of my life. My little boy – nearly 5 – just started…
Let’s talk about getting into the right frame of mind when you sit down to write. On days or weeks when I have a lot going on, I don’t always manage to do this as quickly as I’d like. Some days my brain feels distracted and jumps around my mental to-do list. I feel the urge…
Reader Question Colin got in touch to ask “I have ideas around a children’s cartoon TV series. My question is: how do you work out the target age? I.e. 2-3 years or 4-5 years etc or can you write a generic script sample that covers 2-6 years?” Thanks for getting in touch, that’s a…
Thanks from my former client, Jay, for this fantastic summary of a brilliant talk entitled: ‘How To Get A Badass Deal’. Novelists, take note! How to Get a Badass Deal A great opening and a great hook are incredibly important if you want to sell to a traditional publisher. Your book and you are the product, it’s…
