More than Writers

     I awoke early this morning, it still felt like night. The early dawn rays were just beginning to penetrate the curtains, I lay there for a while hoping sleep would return. I didn’t want to look at the time and be brought into the reality of just how early I had woken. As I lay there in the stillness, I heard the first bird offer it’s clear sweet song to the world as the dawn chorus began. Like the sound of a solo instrument at the beginning of an orchestral piece, this bird burst forth in the silence. It was as if it was announcing the new day. Even if I would rather not be conscious at this point, here was a new day, a day to be filled with life, as yet uncharted and full of possibilities, a new song for a new day. The bible speaks of new songs in a number of places – Psalm 144 v 9 says – ‘I will sing you a new song.’ The psalmist speaking of his intent of singing a fresh expression of worship to God. There is something very hopeful about the dawn of a new day, ...

You may know by now that the affiliated ACW group, Green Pastures Christian Writers, occupies this spot in the month. Rather than hear from one of our members this time, I thought I’d share some thoughts about running the group – and perhaps inspire some of you to consider doing so yourself.  I originally started the group in March 2020. Yes, it proved to be terrible timing! We held our first meeting in the community space of my local Christian bookshop, Green Pastures, in Dereham, Norfolk. It seemed to me the perfect setting. Where better to promote the art and craft of writing than in a bookshop? During lockdown, we held a few meetings online, even welcoming new members in that season, before returning gratefully to the shop. Fast forward, and we came to realise that the distances members were travelling were starting to make the group unviable. We therefore made the sensible decision to meet online permanently – which had the wonderful effect of everyone being able to join in,...

On a dull, dank day last winter, I went for a walk to get both my brain and my blood circulating, or at least semi-awakened, when I noticed this commemorative plaque of thanksgiving on a church wall in Bath.   As we've commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII this year, it got me thinking about the modern 'common peril’. That specific peril became increasingly obvious as Hitler transgressed national borders and all of Europe saw the danger as they were sucked into the 1939-45 conflict.   Doubtless, you will remember as I did, learning and studying this in school history lessons, back in the day.   Since then, countless books and films have used that dark period of our collective history as a backdrop to their narratives.   It still provides a rich seam of value for creative minds to mine. Now I’m wondering what our equivalent eighty years on might be.   What would we currently assign to the category of ‘common peril’. I’m not sure I have an answer, a...

I am not very organised in the mornings, but I do try to start my day by praying using Pete Greig’s Lectio 365 app to guide me. Friday’s was all about awe and wonder, focusing on the greatness of God from Psalm 65:6-8.  You establish the mountains by Your power, robed with strength. You silence the roar of the seas, the roar of their waves, and the tumult of the nations. Those who live far away are awed by Your signs; You make east and west shout for joy. After my prayers I had a very busy day with a leadership meeting in the morning and lunch out followed by preparing for yesterday’s ‘meet the author’ at the local craft fair. So I hardly had a moment to ponder those verses until early evening when my dog needed to go out. Feeling pressured by all I had to do, I took her for the shortest ever excursion down our drive and out onto our country road for her to sniff around. I grabbed my phone as I left the house, wanting to make the best of this little break from busyness and tak...

There are two crucial parts to every book you write. The first is the writing and completion of your manuscript and preparing it for acquisition and publication, and the second is everything that goes along with the production, marketing, sale, and distribution of your book. When you have completed your story, y ou want to edit your own work to produce a final draft that is as polished as you can make it prior to submission. Understand, however, that as much work as you do on the manuscript at this stage, it will only be the start of the editing process. If you are fortunate enough to be accepted by an agent or publisher, they will have their own views about how the book can be further improved. A good literary agent will often edit or critique a manuscript they are looking to take on and offer valuable suggestions to increase its marketability. They do not offer line-by-line edits or make rewrites. It is up to the author to incorporate the agent's suggested changes. You may not a...

Since writing about Bob Hartman’s online event on Children’s Books https://morethanwriters. blogspot.com/2025/05/parked-paul-by-nicky-wilkinson.html , I took his advice and released my mum from being bound to my narrative.  Now, she is having so much fun drawing and painting the illustrations, and the book is moving forward in leaps and bounds (the central character is a puppy!) This is great news for me, because I had been bogged down with the text. The challenge has shifted to reworking the text in the light of the illustrations; the drawings have become the story tellers. What joy! I love this companionship in writing; the shared responsibility, the contribution halved, the pace doubled.   Writing has the power to shape people’s thinking. I am currently reading Tom Holland’s Dominion. His premise is an interesting one; the way Christianity has shaped much of the western mindset persists long after the majority have been observant. Specifically, that human beings deserve d...

  Today marks a truly special milestone. It’s been ten years since Apriori Beauty established National Making Life Beautiful Day, dedicating this date to acts of kindness, self-care, and spreading beauty in all its forms. But what does "making life beautiful" really mean, and why is it so important to pause and celebrate it? Apriori Beauty envisioned a day that encouraged everyone, not just their community, but people everywhere—to bring more beauty into the world. This could be through a heartfelt compliment, a small gesture for a friend, or investing in your own well-being. The ripple effect of even tiny actions can make the world a kinder, brighter place. Beauty goes far beyond appearance. It’s in the way we support each other, the spaces we create in our homes and communities, and the daily moments we choose gratitude over frustration. National Making Life Beautiful Day is a powerful annual reminder to look for, create, and appreciate beauty all around us. Whether y...

Image by Alexa from Pixabay   Two amazing things happened to me ten years ago. The first had its anniversary last month, when out of the blue I was approached by an agent with an offer that, if it worked, would let me chuck in the job I had come to loathe and become a full-time freelancer. It did work out, but it took a few months to kick in; I didn’t get to leave my job until September. Meanwhile, I had taken up another offer: would I like to write a monthly piece for More Than Writers? It sounded fun. My first piece, about the use of (ahem) Language in writing, appeared in July: Sweary sweary bleep bleep . And I’ve had something appear at 00.30 on the tenth of the month ever since. But everything has a season, and a season that lasts ten years seems quite long enough. Which is why this is my last piece for More Than Writers. It has been a wonderful, and valuable, and humbling experience. Very often I start with a few vague ideas of what I think I know, and the act of put...

  Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash   It is perfectly okay to write garbage — as long as you edit brilliantly.  C. J. Cherryh  So I've finally got round to editing my novel - Hoorah - thougth it's not finished yet. It's 3/4 of the way there, and I thought it would help if I printed out what I've written so far, read it, makes notes, changes and that will hopefully help me to to decide how to end it.  Or will it? After reading some well known quotes on editing I'm not so sure.  For those of you who don't know me or any of my writing. Here's an elevator pitch for my novel so far:  'What if the sweetest resident in a care home turned out to be a serial killer? In A Goode Woman , Gloria Goode—a charming elderly woman with a knack for baking and bingo—hides a chilling secret: she’s systematically murdering those around her. Told through police investigations, the confessions of a guilt-ridden care home manager, and Gloria’s own unsettling diaries, the sto...

I wonder if our mental attitudes for getting from A to B alter as we progress from infants to teens and on to adulthood…and then to older-adulthood? In the pre-SatNav, pre-smart-phone era of my teens, I was the navigator for my mother behind the wheel, traversing the width of England and Wales from Kent and back home on various family holidays. In my hand, I usually had an American WWII Gazetteer – my dad having been a Colonel in the US Army. It was a superb road map with all the A & B roads and white tracks accurately drawn. The M2 was avoidable, the M4 hadn’t been opened fully, and the M25 was but a dream (nightmare?) so all but a few roads had remained unchanged. I became adept at finding the shortest route, even if that meant the exhaust dragging dangerously on the ridge of grass occupying the middle of a minor road. Shortcutting had become a life skill. Except that, in life, there are no shortcuts. From the Jews traipsing around the desert until a generation of faith a...

Image by Martine from Pixabay I’ve just borrowed some Jane Austen novels from the library. It’s a long time since I read any Austen, but several screen adaptations of her work are my gold standard for book-to-film adaptations: the gorgeous 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice , Ang Lee’s wonderful 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility (screenplay by Emma Thompson), and – perhaps the best of all – the sensitive and moving BBC 1995 Persuasio n, starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. Amy Heckerling’s 1995 comedy Clueles s also deserves recognition: set in a Californian high school, it’s a delightfully witty riff on Emma , with Alicia Silverstone as the ditzy but lovable Cher. I haven’t cared for any Austen adaptations since. Reading Northanger Abbey – it must be 30 years since I last read it – I am struck by how realistic a portrayal of a teenage girl Catherine Morland is. Catherine is naïve, easily impressed and somewhat gullible. She’s also sweet-tempered, genuine, honest, and has...

         Photo credit: Author's own – the well-known Sandeman port ad. In March, I mentioned I was in ‘travel planning mode’ for a trip to Portugal. After sorting the basics of travel and accommodation, we turned our thoughts to the fun things. We researched walking tours, places to visit, and things we might do. A rattly ride on the famous tram 28 through the narrow streets of Lisbon made the short list, along with a boat trip on the River Douro in Porto. An evening of traditional fado music was pencilled in and, of course, pastel de nata and port. Lots of port, because, ahem, it’s important to embrace the culture and support the local economy. When a train strike threatened to derail our Lisbon-Porto connection (pun intended), we put contingencies in place. With the planning nailed, we set off, but it’s always worth remembering the wisdom of Sun Tzu , the Chinese military strategist. In his book ‘The Art of War’, he explains how ‘no plan survives first c...

  I often think about how long it takes some writers to get their inspiration and how, suddenly, they get the lightbulb moment to write about it and complete their works. At school, we were given a topic or a photograph to look at and asked to write about it, what it meant to us. It always seemed so easy to do then, as I loved English and writing, and had a young, creative mind. Today there is so much going on in our world around us, you would think it would be easy to get the inspiration to write.    Yet when it comes to it, I find it quite hard to think up something off the cuff, rather than be asked to write about a particular object or situation, which I have always found it easier, as the idea has already been presented to you. When I woke up the other morning at around 5.30, the sun was shining through the gaps in the Venetian blinds, so I got up to look at it, as it was my desire to go and see the beauty God had created for us to enjoy, and also something that...