Tag: women writers
Creative-Hyphenate?
‘What do you do?’ I used to say ‘I’m an author’. Now I’m not sure. The challenge for many free lancers in the creative arts is to describe their occupation. Usually they have several skills in their portfolio for artistic challenge, variety AND in order to pay the bills. Last week, a 4 year old […]
How to Avoid Writing Burnout
Writing is hard work. We all know that, right? We take an idea, move it along, push it this way, that way, leave it alone, return to it, and sometimes scratch altogether. Once we’ve got something substantial, we tear it all apart and put it back together again. We offer our pages to the world, […]
Writing About Infertility: Breaking Down Social Norms
Infertility affects approximately 1 in 10 couples, and 1 in 4 pregnancies result in miscarriage. Fertility rates decline by around 10% per month for women over the age of thirty-five. Recurrent miscarriage (over three losses in a row) affects 1% of the female population. Nowadays, everywhere I go, it feels as though these infertility statistics […]
Making Time for Writing
My life is full. I like it like that, mostly. So how do I find time to write? The fact is that the busier I am, the more I am inspired. These days the job that pays the bills is a job-share. I’m “half-time” GP / family doctor in Cambridge. I try hard to squeeze […]
How Newspapers Inspire Fiction Writers
Historical documents can be treasure troves for fiction writers. We’ve all read stories based upon real historic events, or people, and no doubt some authors were inspired by historical manuscripts, either accessed in an archive, online, or in biographies. Letters, diaries, wills, government records – these are rich seams for writers to interrogate and use […]
Romance Writers, You’ve Got to Own it!
“Hi, my name is Densie and I write romance.” I could be a member of Romance Writers Anonymous, if such a thing existed. Okay, so maybe being a writer of novels with strong romantic themes doesn’t exactly carry the stigma of addiction, but it sometimes feels that way, especially when hanging with writers who have […]
To Be or Not to Be Agented, That is the Question
I never asked this question. Instead I asked how quickly I could get myself an agent. Unagented authors aren’t taken seriously, I reasoned. You can’t approach big houses without one and I wanted readers and a big contract. Getting an agent was the only way to achieve this goal. So I sent out queries, alphabetically, […]
How to Tackle the Writing Wall
My first encounter with the running menace known as “the wall” happened at 1:00am on a humid July night in Wakefield, Massachusetts. My sneakers were slapping sandy pavement littered with discarded paper cups. The taste of the twilight summer gnats thronging Lake Quannapowitt was still fresh between my teeth. In the sixth hour of the […]
Procrastination? Just an Unwelcome Visitor
Every day, around 4:00 p.m., I get this craving to write, like others yearn for a cup of tea or a chocolate biscuit. Sometimes I manage all three. Though usually just tea and choc. Some folks say it’s writers block – I call it procrastination. It walks in, shuts down my laptop, follows my every […]
A Day in the Life of a Writer
I would love to be able to say that I’m a full time writer, with an agent, PR officer and secretary to manage my career, organise promotion for me and type up stories I’ve dictated onto a voice recorder whilst sipping cocktail on a balcony (or reclining on a chaise longue Barbara Cartland style). However, […]
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