We’ve seen them all, haven’t we? I’d need as many hands as a centipede has legs to count how many writing tips I’ve encountered and pondered over. Some were helpful; others weren’t. Most of what I know about writing I learnt from reading obsessively and spending an insane amount of time writing absolute garbage. Practice is vital: nothing makes for a better writer than writing itself—but still, even at the risk of adding to the mighty sea of advice, here are five of my own writing tips that I wish I’d known (and kept to) from day one: Treat
Tag: writing
Have you heard of Scrivener? If you haven’t heard about it on the writerly grapevine, first: what’s your secret for brain organisation? And second, if you’re struggling with exactly that, and if you’re a writer, this post might land. Maybe you have heard of it and are wondering: is Scrivener any good? Is Scrivener worth it? Doesn’t Microsoft Word or Google docs do the same thing? Well, in short: Yes, it’s good, it’s worth it, and no, other software doesn’t offer what it does; while other software has many of the same features, none of them have quite the same package
The debate on the existence of writer’s block is as long as it is tedious. There are those who would argue that it’s nothing more than an excuse for laziness but if you’re a writer, you’ll know these people and that statement are wrong. Yes, we all make excuses from time to time and some of them are valid. When I sit down to write, I am often overcome with the urge to organise my entire music collection or—horror of all horrors— do the housework. This is called procrastination, a term I’m sure you’re overly familiar with. Writer’s block, on
There is pressure from people: some who want me to prove myself for its own sake and some who want me to prove something to them. Overall, my feelings and thoughts about it are quite level: it’s simple enough—I know my capabilities and I know my limits and I’m aware how they fluctuate. Trying to articulate that has been my focus for a long while and fiction writing has taken a backseat because of that. There isn’t any method or rig-up involved only that I feel more creative when I’m either relaxed or focused. Both together is great but that
There is a truth at the centre of a fictional work waiting to be found, interpreted, and applied where possible. Human emotion and experience, and everything that makes a story relatable provides us with a connection far beyond the reach of our ever-shrinking social circles.
Far smarter people than I have probably explored this topic far more eloquently and in broader ways than I ever could, so I shouldn’t really belabour myself with the task of defending creativity, and yet, I’ll say this: creativity shouldn’t be squashed for the sake of sanity because it lends itself to sanity. Fear might deter some. That fear has deterred people in my life, and those people went on to deter me from being creative. Fear says creativity encourages madness. Fear says creativity causes chaos, disrupts structure. I think creativity gives chaos form. Creativity examines chaos, gives it
I began using ChatGPT about two weeks ago. One of my first questions for AI was about AI. I have mostly favoured directness and I wanted to see for myself how transparent the technology actually is… that said, it’s not like I have very much basis for comparison or reference. After my initial query, along the lines of ‘tell me more about AI’, it enquired about my stance. I’ll include images at the bottom of this post for transparency, but here’s my take on AI: Thoughts on AI I accept that it is in motion. I have fears about
In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine. Maya Angelou I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul. Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound If all else perished and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger. Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights No
Despite the warning not to ‘judge a book by its cover’, I’d bet we’ve all been guilty of it more than a few times. A cover is a window of sorts into the book. It’s a test as to whether or not the book is worth our precious bookworm hours. Having passed that test though, there’s another favourite way to measure a potential new book: the opening lines. You know you’ve discovered a gem of a book when you open it and find yourself hooked in a single sentence. You want to continue reading. Immediately… but… mostly, it joins the
Write. Be specific, stay real, let it be as raw as it is; that’s the point. That’s the point of writing about it. Where I cannot write about it, I ask why? If I cannot express it in art, what am I hiding from myself? Is there anything I’m hiding? Or is it only a constraint on time and headspace holding me back? The latter, for sure… And these days, when I say headspace, I mean that there are those who are insistent that writing about most things will self-incriminate. I disagree. It is liberating, not just for the self.