Tag: . women writers
Is Your Perception Of Creativity Hurting Your Writing?
I was talking to a friend of mine—who happens to be a psychotherapist and has experience working with creative professionals—about creativity. The two of us go for weekly walks amidst nature where we talk about life, challenges, and wins. Both the friendship and our weekly self-care ritual is cathartic. I confessed to her that on […]
Woman, Man, or Both?
Garbo portrayed you in Queen Christina, beautiful, when you, in fact, were not. These days you’re celebrated as an early feminist, although you, of course, would have sneered. And to be fair, some still call you a traitor, even to yourself. Once, at a dinner party in Sweden, my host showed me a fragment of […]
COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT PRIZE
I knew I had to pursue a comedy fiction prize when I was met with 100% enthusiasm, not one doubter – well, only one literary agent, who said she didn’t think there was ‘enough funny female fiction out there to justify a prize’ so I said “exactly! – that’s why we need this prize!” – […]
The First Rule Of Write Club…
There was a bit of a to-do on twitter recently about big-name author Johnathan Franzen’s rather idiosyncratic writing rules, which he had been kind enough to share (some thought a lot less kindly of them). My takeaway from that was: The first rule of write club is…well, you know the rest. So when I was […]
When One Door Closes…
I’ve always been a fan of possibility. I’m with Emily Dickinson on this (no relation!): ‘I dwell in possibility’ is one of my favourite quotes. In my own life I’ve found that it often arrives when you least expect it, when your attention is summoned elsewhere. In fact, I owe my career as a bestselling […]
How Negative Things Influence Your Writing…
Nobody likes negativity. It may seem like some thrive on causing misery to everyone, including themselves, but it’s just not true, take it from me. I don’t like being unhappy. I don’t like it when people I love die, when people hurt me, when people bitch behind my back and I get to hear about […]
Talent Is Nice; Desire Is Everything
The only reason I’m a writer is because when I ask myself, “What else would I do?” I have no answer. I mean, I literally have no answer. Yes, I might have distant, romantic dreams of becoming an architect, but I do not possess the necessary skills – not even close. For me, adding three […]
Why Would a Woman Write a Male Protagonist?
A few weeks ago, I found my carefully honed work/childcare balance compromised when some emergency editing came up and I had to take a (generally preserved for mothering) Friday to do it. A woman I had not met before stepped in as babysitter and at some point asked about my novel. ‘Is it about […]
A Literary Novelist’s Blog: Six Tips
Eimear McBride doesn’t have one. Nor do Deborah Levy, Rachel Cusk and Sarah Ladipo Manyika. Anakana Schofield does, but it has only been updated three times this year. What don’t these women have? A blog. Hell, Cusk doesn’t even have a website. Conventional wisdom says these women can’t possibly have got published. But they have. […]
Deciding What To Write
The feeling a writer has when deciding what to write about is extremely exhilarating, but also very nerve-bending. At least it was for me. I knew I wanted to write something that would be especially appealing to women in midlife – my own age group. But what story? I love to brainstorm, sometimes throwing the […]
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