Tag: women writers
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]































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