Tag: women writers

Finding the Hero

Finding the Hero

Which was your favourite fairytale? I was asked this question by a Transactional Analyst when I was a training to be a relationship counsellor. His message was that these tales – made familiar to us as children – help to make us into the people we are. I’ve since realised that they also shape the […]

January 8, 2015 | By | 1 Reply More
We Can Not Be Defeated

We Can Not Be Defeated

There are writers who are joyful when they write. I have moments like that, sure, but in general I am terrified. I am more plotter than pantser, but there are things, usually the most integral, that are beyond preparation. I believe that you have to prove yourself, you have to earn it, before the story […]

January 5, 2015 | By | 15 Replies More
Q&A with Sara Eckel

Q&A with Sara Eckel

Sara Eckel is a personal hero for those of us here at WWWB. All you have to do is read the title of her book, which stemmed from her “Modern Love” column in The New York Times, and you’ll understand why: IT’S NOT YOU: 27 (WRONG) REASONS YOU’RE SINGLE (Perigree Books). In it, she uses […]

January 2, 2015 | By | Reply More
Diving Into the Silence: Writing Inspired by Real Life

Diving Into the Silence: Writing Inspired by Real Life

My novel, The Herbalist, is set within living memory (1939) – and is based on a real-life court case I came across when I was nineteen. I was archiving yellowed local broadsheets crammed with small print when I noticed a tiny article. It referred to an Indian Herbalist who was arrested for an ‘offence against a […]

January 2, 2015 | By | 11 Replies More
Secrets of Screenwriting

Secrets of Screenwriting

My writing partner says I exist in a world of a sky of rainbows. I’m known for having a great attitude. I’m also a person who was abused for the majority of my life (and later treated for PTSD). I’m perfect for Hollywood. I believe the combination of a huge ego, a little delusional and […]

December 28, 2014 | By | 4 Replies More
The Third Stage of Writing: The Promotional Stuff

The Third Stage of Writing: The Promotional Stuff

Sometimes as writers we need to push ourselves to do things we don’t necessarily feel comfortable with. I’m not talking about the content or the writing process here, but the stuff that comes after publication. The promotional side of things. Like a lot of writers, I am fairly introverted and a fairly private person. So […]

December 24, 2014 | By | Reply More
The Allophone Writer

The Allophone Writer

I was in my third year at high school when my Galician Literature teacher gave us a lecture on allophone poets – that is, those non-native speakers who had written poetry in Galician, including a couple of internationally known names such as Federico García Lorca. I remember thinking at the time that writing literature in […]

December 21, 2014 | By | 3 Replies More
How to be More Productive

How to be More Productive

I’ve been thinking a lot about my writing productivity and questioning my daily routine. I picked up Daily Rituals: How Artists Work from the library because like the author, Mason Currey, I want to know how great artists organize their days in order to be creative and productive. Currey does not pretend to offer certainties […]

December 18, 2014 | By | 8 Replies More
Mistakes to avoid in Short Story Writing

Mistakes to avoid in Short Story Writing

As the fiction editor for Eclectica Magazine, it’s been both a privilege and pleasure to read story submissions. Finding the handful of pieces that take my breath away is what it’s all about. The good ones shine through, those that are brilliant positively sparkle. That said, it’s too bad that so many stories that come […]

December 15, 2014 | By | 24 Replies More
The Settling Earth: Emigration to New Zealand in the Nineteenth Century

The Settling Earth: Emigration to New Zealand in the Nineteenth Century

Imagine packing a trunk, probably a box no higher than your knees. In it you place clothes to see you through your journey and beyond. You squeeze in sewing equipment, a few books, photographs or miniatures – all mementos of a home that you are about to leave, possibly forever. Perhaps you are able to […]

December 10, 2014 | By | 2 Replies More