More than Writers

Mixed Media Nativity (images - author's own) Advent is known as a season of waiting and anticipation. Is the child in you is bursting with excitement and expectation for the forthcoming spree of bright lights and packages under the tree? Are you one of those waiting for all the retail hype to be over to celebrate a traditional unfussy Christmas Day with family or at church? For many this can be a difficult time facing the pain of empty places round the table or hopes that have been crushed, leaving crumpled hearts rather than wrapping paper. For writers, Advent should be a gift. Especially those who were prepared with books, blogs or poetry collections to promote. Even those less organised, like me, can always search for Advent word prompts to write ‘in the moment’ instead, such as the one on the ACW Trellis Poetry Facebook group. Drafts or ideas created this year can be used for next year. Therefore, changing the narrative of crumpled dreams caused by our ever-present lack of fo...

  Having three teenagers and an eleven year old, it’s a question I find myself asking a lot. Does it matter? My kids ask it a lot too, but in different wordings. It can be a hard question to ask, as there is culture and what is seen as appropriate. It seemed to matter a lot more when we were younger too. There were certain colours that should never be worn together as they clashed. Does anybody still cringe when pink and red is worn at the same time? I don’t think my children are even aware how out of line that is… Writing can be like that. I know someone complained that I had a coracle, a manned lighthouse and an army bergen rucksack in the same chapter. But I made up Elabi, so I got to add all the things I enjoy. Who wants an automated lighthouse, when you can have a lighthouse keeper? And a coracle is a wonderful craft, and I was thrilled to read a lot more detail about those little boats in Joy Margetts’ book The Stranger. When writing historical fiction, accuracy matters, ...

  Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. There are many contrasts in writing. There’s the joy of creating your stories or articles. Then there’s the editing. I find it helpful to approach editing with a smile.  When I realised good editing was helping me to become published, my attitude towards it changed. I now see it as a creative task, separate from the initial writing, which will make those drafts so much better. I know many see editing as something which has to be done while gritting your teeth! (If you are gritting someone else’s teeth, you have a problem beyond the scope of this post!). There are many contrasts in writing themes. Light and darkness are the obvious ones and are classic themes. When more appropriate to think about these than now as we go into Advent? Advent - preparing for the ultimate Light to come into this world and break our darkness. As writers, we can bring light into readers’ lives. I have a soft spot for humorous wr...