Posted in creativity, How to write, Inspiration, Stories, Teen Fiction, Writing, writing inspiration, writing life, tagged fiction writing, NaNoWriMo, novel writing, Writing inspiration on November 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »
At school this week one of my students told me she was up to 35,000 words of her NaNoWriMo project…do the rest of us have any excuse if a fourteen year old can achieve such a result on top of school work, assessment and end of year co-curricula activities?
My student is aiming for 50,000 words and beyond. This is her first novel. And my excuse for not writing? I’m too busy…
What’s your excuse?
Posted in writing life, tagged Therapy for writers on November 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Posted in books and creativity, Fiction, How to write, Teen Fiction, tagged Reading like a writer, Thinking like a writer on November 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Sedgwick has written a story in four parts that can be read in any order, so the author says…one section written in verse, one about witch hunts, another set in a mental asylum in the nineteen hundreds and one set in the future. How does it pull together as a cohesive whole, is the question. And the answer?
Posted in Choosing the writing life, creativity, imagination, Inspiration, Reading, Stories, teens and creativity, teens and writing, voice, Writing, writing inspiration, writing life, tagged Growing up writing, The writing life on November 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »
When I grow up I want to be a writer…
When my brother grows up he wants to be a rock star…
When my children grow up they will look at their mother and their uncle and see a pair of old crazies doing what they wanna do and being what they wanna be, yeah…
When you grow you grow up, what do you want to be?
Posted in books and creativity, Choosing the writing life, location free living, Simple living, writing and money, Writing and research, writing budget, writing life, tagged indie authors, simple living, The writing life on November 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Simple living has a lot to recommend it…freedom for a start!!!
Being an Indie author comes with a price. In order to take back one’s soul one must define what really matters. My freedom is what matters to me…but I’ll miss my pool, dishwasher and tropical palm fringed beach. Well, I can still camp on the beach:))
And my vege patch…
Posted in Choosing the writing life, Intuition, starting over, Writing, writing budget, writing life, tagged a writer's life, the writer within, writing and living on November 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Sometimes, in order to step into the future we need to let go of the past….
But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to hurt…
Sometimes, as writers, we make choices, and sometimes those choices aren’t easy…but in order to be in touch with our souls we have to let go of our practical selves.
And run with our intuition…
Posted in Fiction, How to write, Teen Fiction, teens and creativity, teens and writing, Writing, tagged how to write books, Writing books, writing fiction, writing instructions on November 3, 2014| 2 Comments »
Okay, I admit I don’t write fantasy…but I defy you not to love this book!!!
And the reason I set this challenge??? Well, I’m trying to write a how-to-write book. I even have a title, ‘a (non) writing instruction book for young writers’….
Stay tuned for my first chapter…but how I compete with ‘Wonderbook’ I’ve no idea…
Posted in Fiction, imagination, Inspiration, Stories, Writing, writing life, tagged camping, fiction writing, Stories, travel on November 2, 2014| 1 Comment »
The smell of smoke from a real campfire is different from the smell of smog or cigarette smoke. In the city, those are the only types of smoke I get – but today I’m sitting before my campfire, which my sister built from gathered wood and newspaper, peeling a stick so I can toast marshmallows with it. Above me, I can see a thousand stars and bats fly overhead in swarms. As I look up at the night sky I imagine I’m a pioneer.
Shops like BCF and Anaconda encourage a belief that to venture into the bush, one needs the latest top-notch equipment. Super-strength chairs, microfiber jumpers, expensive and oh-so-fancy sports shoes. Yet here I am, sitting in the dirt, in old jiggers and the same woolen jumper I’ve been wearing all week. We toast marshmallows – which, according to my sister, means burning them to a crisp. ‘It’s burnt and tasteless,’ she says. ‘I like that in a marshmallow.’
To me, the bush isn’t about high tech and fancy. To me, the bush is what we are doing right now – sitting with family and friends, rejoicing in the simplicity, while smoke from a real campfire fills my nostrils.
Sam
growing up writing 