048: Writing Tips I think I'll share

In my little attempt at procrastinating today, I decided to set down in stone (or a word.doc) the rule that I stand by with my writing. And when finished (and needing to waste a little more time) have decided to share it with you all.

1.       Write and write every day. This should be a no brainer: you can’t call yourself a writer is you are sitting around drinking coffee. Get into a routine and stick to it – make a star chart if that helps, but make sure you write something. I try to keep a journal, but it doesn’t always work – I have about three on the go at the moment – and use it to jot down anything that you think deserves to be formulated into words. Write out conversations you overhear, scenarios you think up, or even just a re-cap of what you did that day. Write it all out.   

2.       Read – Widely and Critically. Reading has got to be the best way to improve your own writing. You can see how others handle the craft, their word choice and how they handle the hard stuff. But then, when you have finished reading, take the time to think about how and why it worked (or didn’t) and then apply it to your own writing.

3.       Don’t let the Editor write and don’t let the Writer edit. I find that my editor and my writer live in different parts of my brain and although I need them both, I don’t need them all the time. Allow yourself to be both at different times. It will save yourself a lot of internal conflict.

4.       Finish What you Start – even if it’s a recount of your day or an elaborate shopping list. Learn the art of a complete story; don’t leave your readers hanging or get too comfortable with the incomplete.

5.       Create Writing Time and Space – Virginia Woolf famously said that a writer needs a room of one’s own. I’m going to expand on that and say you also need an hour or five.  Don’t let anything or anyone interrupt that time when you are in your writing zone, Barr the door and brew some tea (or wine, whatever it is you need) and just write.

6.       Learn When It Is Time To Do Something Else – When your hit a road block that starts to hurt your head, do something else. Getting up and shifting perspective makes for a more productive writing session next time and will hopefully stop you before you bash your head onto the desk.

7.       Don’t Be Afraid To Talk About Your Writing. If you can’t talk about your writing, how do you expect to write about it? Have someone you trust read over it, (or a complete stranger, whatever you are more comfortable with) make yourselves a pot of tea and talk about it. Getting the perspective from a reader is invaluable for a writer and two brains are almost always better than one when you are trying to get over a tricky road block.

8.       A Book Is Not A Baby – Learn To Take Criticism Well! If you feel the need to defend everything you have ever written, you will never be able to let your writing grow and evolve into something much better. I struggle with this a lot and still very far from mastering it, but it one of the memos I have posted in the hope it sinks in soon.

9.       Read What You Write Aloud – If it doesn’t sound right, it might not be. Or better yet, get someone else to read it aloud – if they aren’t reading it with the same tone or expression you intended, you might need to re-write.

10.    Enjoy The Art Of Rewriting – and re-rewriting and re-re-rewriting. You writing can always get better, and if not, you did save your previous draft – right?  

So, what do you think? Which ones do you struggle with the most – which ones are the easiest and how to you manage to overcome it all?

I would love to hear, x Katie 

047: Simply Blooming

I love Spring - it's my favourite season and for me (and everyone else in the Southern hemisphere) today marks the first day of this glorious season. The suddenly blue sky pulled me out of the house and into my garden; I garden I haven't yet had the chance to explore. And there I discovered that I have a flowering garden.

I think that gardens that come with rental properties are often like a gift with purchase, because we take then, because, well, presents, but then you realise that you don't actually need another hand cream or a ridiculously small shampoo. At the last few rental properties, the 'garden' has consisted of a slab of concrete around a wonky clothes line. My last place actually had some mint growing, but it was almost consumed by weeds and bugs.

When we moved in - during a very bleak winter - we didn't venture out into the garden all that much. But today, with the first reminder of what summer is like, the garden called me out.

The touch of colour is already creeping across the greenery and much to my surprise, downy white flowers are beginning to bloom on the tree outside my room. 

 

Blossoms have always held a special place in my heart - from the blooming, but unproductive apple tree in mum's veggie patch to the trees that lined an otherwise very ugly street. But the most memorable were the blossoms outside my room while I was living in England. Two magnificent blossom trees that sat on the lawn between five university houses, that so clearly told us what time of year it was.   

To me, blossoms have become a part of my home - the airy sent that consumes everything, the soft and felling beauty of nature. So bring on Spring I say, bring back summer dresses and flowers and picnics and berries. Someone, send me the sun.