Posts

Turn up and Write

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Lewis Capaldi live in Glasgow. | Heute.at Are you someone who writes at a set time, whatever your mood? Or do you have to be in the right frame of mind to write? Do you need to feel inspired? The singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi gained rapid success after the release of his first album. He’d found writing those songs relatively easy, he could take his time, he was writing for himself. But the second album was very different. He felt under pressure to produce songs of a similar quality to the earlier ones, songs that would appeal to his vast numbers of fans. Songs that wouldn’t disappoint. He suffered from second book syndrome. He feared he could never replicate the success of his first album. He couldn’t remember how he’d written before and he felt like an imposter. His mental health deteriorated and he developed Tourette’s that stopped him from performing live. So he took time out, worked on his mental health and eventually he was able to write and perform again. * Some people wi...
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  For The Joy of Reading.    This blog is a long one and one that you may not agree with, which is your right but here it is. Have you been watching Murder Before Evening Song the min TV-series based up Rev Richard Coles cosy mystery novel? It seems stories which involve Christians, churches and crime are popular. Before this there was the Grantchester, Father Brown , Cadfael and the recent film Concave . It is not just vicar-sleuths’ people are reading regardless of their beliefs and practices. Susan Howatch, C S Lewis, and Catherine Fox,  are some Christian authors who have become well known. Their books sell well, have earned credible success and readers for the authors and publishers far beyond the small pond of Christian publishing in the UK. Here is the rub – I have read some stonking books by Christian writers that barely mentions the ‘G’ or ‘C’ word, are not set in a church and not everyone is paid-up Christian but rarely do they adorn the shelves o...

Unexpected, Um, Celebration

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  Twelve days ago, my book -  You Say - was released.  I didn’t plan a launch.  I was speaking at a church in Kent the next day, and couldn’t have sensibly managed both anyway.    A couple of days before going to Kent, I messaged my host and asked if it would be ok to have a book-cake, to mark the release of You Say. She said it would, so I - thanks to people in ACW for the idea of photo cakes - went to Asda on the Saturday afternoon.    Note: Sainsbury’s do not sell photo cakes.  Asdas that only sell electronics and clothes do not sell photo cakes.  I’ll leave you to work out how I know this.    Photo correctly downloaded at the machine, receipt printed, I carried a blank cake and my receipt to the Bakery section.  The lady took them with a smile, “your cake will be ready in 10 minutes.” Less than one minute later, she was back: “Sorry, but we can’t print this cake.”   Me, very...

Soul searching

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Hello, doesn't this monthly thing come around quickly? Just me? I had the shock of my life when I saw that it was nearly the 21st. (Actually, not the shock of my life, let's be honest. I am trying to curb my constant leanings towards hyperbole without much success so far.)  Can I be personal with you? Do you mind? I am usually quite an organised person. I lead a small but busy charity, and we are all working very hard to keep the show on the road. If I didn't have some sort of planning-ahead gene, I would be crying a lot. My date on here comes around at the same time every month, yet I seem to be like those people who are surprised when Christmas arrives on the 25th of December and haven't saved for it.  I write a blog regularly, which may not be the most zeitgeisty thing to do, but it scratches my writing itch; I produce that as regularly as clockwork, and numbers seem to be going up. So why do I put this off?  I did a little bit of soul searching and came up with some...

Audacious Prayer for our Writing by Natasha Woodcraft

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Finding Courage in Kingdom Writing I regularly plug into the Kingdom Writers network in the USA, finding their online conferences and podcasts a helpful resource and regular encouragement. One of the concepts I've encountered through their teaching about faith-based writing is the idea of praying for 1000 true fans. This builds on Kevin Kelly's influential theory that with 1000 true fans (people who will buy everything you produce and rave about it) you should be able to support creative work full-time. Of course, there are lots of qualifications to that, but it's a generalised principle that many creators, including Christian writers, have embraced. When I first heard this, it felt incredibly audacious, and certainly not very British. Praying for 1000 true fans? Fans. Really? But I've come around to the idea and I now actually do this. Over the past year, I've seen great growth in my readership base as God begins to answer this prayer. Which has, quite frankly,...

Reading as a writer - Helen Hewitt

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Photo by  Shreyas Sagade  on  Unsplash I’ve been thinking a lot about reading recently. This is partly because of my new role as   school librarian , but also because I’m nursing a   football   injury that has put my right hand out of action for several weeks. For the moment, gardening, baking, knitting and driving are off the table. With time unexpectedly freed up, I’ve enjoyed a number of   autumnal walks   and have been on a steep learning curve, adjusting to typing with my non-dominant hand. It’s also been a chance to catch up on some of the reading I seldom get round to.   My reading habits have changed significantly over the past few years. Historically, I commuted into central London every day, which provided precious time to tackle a novel on the train there and back. I also used to read before bed but, since having children (and perhaps the impact of advancing age too!) I tend to fall asleep under the book now before I’ve got very fa...

So Many Fallen Leaves - by Meryl McKean

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  Last month I started to think about this next blog post. I wanted to get ahead as the18 th comes around so quickly. Inspiration came and I had an idea to develop. Great, I could relax! The problem was, I relaxed a little too much making the mistake of forgetting to write it down. Now, try as I might to dig deep in the recesses of my mind, I can’t remember the idea. I’m sure I’m not the only one this has happened to! How do you all manage those flashes of inspiration, that often come at   inconvenient times when it comes to noting them down? Do you carry a note book, or maybe make voice notes on your phone? Reflecting on this led me to think of all those autumn leaves that I’m surround by at the moment. I love their vibrant colours proudly displayed, and the way the light catches and plays amongst them as they cling tenuously to the branches, dancing on the breeze before laying as a carpet on the ground. A fitting swan song for leaves which have finished their season....