More than Writers

It’s that time again. Every fourth year I get to write a More than Writers post for February!   Given it is a leap year, I thought I’d look at leaping into writing. What do I mean? Well, is it a case you are keen to return to your desk to write? Or do you almost have to be dragged to your chair…? Is procrastination your friend? It isn’t but it is something most writers face. When I’m not keen to get to my desk, I check why. If I’m tired, I take a break. Then I find I am keen to return to my desk and leap right into my writing again. If it’s a question of feeling swamped, I focus on one thing and use deadlines to help me with that focus, as I mentioned last month. Leaping into writing is a joyous thing. When all is going well it probably isn’t a problem. When you are in the middle of major edits or any writing task which is not as “glamorous” as that initial writing, it is hard to leap into your work with enthusiasm. It helps to have your end goal in sight. We press on to the end to...

  THE WRITER’S CALENDAR OF MONTHS   I was overjoyed as the biblical shepherd who found his lost sheep when I found my notes on Paul Karensa’s    ‘Calendar pattern’. It’s designed to plan a story plot by fitting in characters, locations, conflict, climax and resolution around the 12 months. It gave me the idea to imagine what each month offered Christian writers like us.   A kind of best fit. So here we go!! January:   The month of New Year/ new beginning. You see yourself in a new light;   You mentally make new resolutions with God;     Life happens but,   ‘The One who calls you is faithful’   gives you resilience; Time to declutter stuff ; You begin to think of your new/existing writing projects; Put in sight your writing paraphernalia… February: The month of Valentine. You share love and prayers to loved ones; You do your writer duties   around social media, ACW, work, family, etc; You give off time to be you but  ...

W. Somerset Maugham said, “The crown of literature is poetry.” As writers, what then do we think when we hear the word poetry? What is poetry? Do you agree with Maugham? Ask 100 different people what they think poetry is and you will hear 100 different answers. Some will say that it is rubbish because they don’t understand it or relate to it. That is the same as saying, “All music is rubbish.” I say, “ Poetry is communication art. The power in words transforms a heart.” Michael Rosen, in his book, ‘What is Poetry?’ says that poetry is something that someone writes and calls it a poem. In other words, if the author of a recipe for a fruit cake decided to call their recipe a poem, Michael would say that it is. Do you agree with Michael? Consider these other quotes…   ·        “Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. ” – Plato ·        “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its orig...

 Things have changed since my last More Than Writers blog. Last month I wrote about how sometimes we need change, and rest, and to reset ourselves. I think as creatives that is especially important, to make time for ourselves. This is what I wrote, I actually haven’t been able to write ‘proper’ for weeks now. That is, work on my fiction writing. I have written stuff, but because of the demands on my time and energy I just haven’t felt like I have had the headspace for creativity. I don’t think I’m the only one feeling like that at present. I have realised that I miss my fiction writing and I need it. I need to exercise my creative side. I need to be able to lose myself in my imaginary medieval world. It is an escape and it is life giving! A change that gives me a rest from the things I have to face in real life. So what has changed since last month? Well I am actually writing again! In fact in the last three weeks I have added over 20,000 words to my new novel - another imagina...

  I remember, about 10 years ago, reading a book called Baby Aliens Got my Teacher by Pamela Butchart. My 6 year old son had chosen it. The title didn’t appeal to me, but at least it offered some respite from books preoccupied with flatulence! We started to read it and were gripped. W h e n we finished it, and my son immediately read it to himself (his first chapter book) and suggested we bought it for his friends. Later, w hen my daughter left year 2, I gave that book and a couple of the sequels to the class library. What i s so good about the book ? Not the story, which is a little mad, but engaging; not the illustrations, although they complement the story well . What makes it so good is the voice. As with most modern children’s books, it’s a first person narrative and Butchart has made her 9-year-old narrator sound so realistic you expect to meet her in school the next day. The cadences, the choice of words, the mad non-sequiturs, they are all completely convi...

  All the Small Things by Rebecca Seaton   The Bible says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) A reminder to value the small things. This has spoken to me recently, having hit a dry spell. Maybe my ‘small things’ will encourage you in your own writing and in looking for the opportunities to encourage others.   You’re reading it? I’ve sold some books but sales have definitely slowed. I felt like I’ve probably sold as many as I’m going to in my local area. Then I walked through the school hall at dinner time and one of the play leaders cheerily announced, ‘I’ve just started reading your book!’ Stupidly, I asked her who’d she’d borrowed it from – staff have been very supportive and a number of people have bought one – but she’d bought it herself on Kindle. I forget it’s also on Kindle so that was a nice surprise. A couple of weeks later, a friend in my department asked for a paperback copy. She...

“Please, God, be her Marketer.” I was in a meeting, which closed by sharing prayer points and praying for each other. My prayer point was marketing.  I’m rubbish at it. Earlier this week, I was in a school, talking to a group of Year Six children about being an author.  I mentioned marketing, and asked if any of them knew what marketing is? The first suggestion was ‘putting the author's name on the front of a book – their first name and their second name’. Good start, but oh that marketing was summed up by that. Another task that befell me at the school, was to shatter the illusion that all authors are millionaires. The children were pretty shocked by this revelation, but I reassured them that, every so often, I get enough in royalties to buy myself a cup of tea (if I provide my own tea bag). Next month includes World Book Day. The day coincides with one of the children's birthday. It also coincides with a book I have coming out. I showed the children a copy. One girl asked h...

Creativity is marvellous, isn’t it? When I sit to write my mind wanders in many directions, frequently to the absurd. I don’t like to remain there though; I like to connect original ideas with the realm of the familiar. Diverge, then converge. Find points of connection, but not always where people expect them. Take, for example, the idea of eating a banquet in Heaven. There you are, seated at a long table, all kinds of amazing people nearby, and you realise that today you are at the writers’ table. What fun! As a special treat, you are not only with amazing writers of every kind from all of history and across the globe; you’ve been sat next to a biblical writer. An author of one of the actual Books of the Bible. Gasping in astonishment, you turn to the chap at your side and grin. Nothing. You cannot place him. Of course, language is no longer a barrier, so you ask him to give you a clue. ‘Tell me something you’ve written,’ you say, hoping his white beard and twinkly eyes might betr...