My thoughts about books, writing, life and so many other things….Judy Leigh/ Elena Collins.
I've finished editing my second novel, for now. Of course it's impossible to finish editing, ever: there's always more to upgrade and revise and rethink, but I wrote this one, currently titled The Matter with Men, from August to November. It was an exercise to see if I could write within the CWF genre. I …
I've never had writer's block.Smashing out three thousand words in a morning isn't difficult. I started my second novel towards the end of the summer and I'm now on over 65 thousand words. Writing is like plastering a wall: slosh it out and then sand it down and paint it later. Or like making a cake: whack …
So the world is imploding. All sorts of worms are crawling out of the opened can.The negative feelings of the disenfranchised are manifesting themselves as widespread disagreement and arguments and dissatisfaction and we're seeing Facebook memes of Pooh Bear and Piglet healing rifts between polarised friends. Everyone has a strong opinion - thank goodness for Free Speech, …
Continue reading Words to stem the storm or at least hold the tide back for a moment.
I was excited to be travelling to the Winchester Writers' Festival with two talented writer friends. It was the first time I'd been to this festival and I was really looking forward to the workshops, the talks and meeting the agents. Given the horror stories I'd heard beforehand of writers rushing out of their sessions …
Continue reading Winchester Writers’ Weekend: more than just words.
I went to the Crediton Food Festival this weekend because one of my stories had been shortlisted in the Crediton Writers' competition. It was pouring with rain, I'd eaten nothing for breakfast and I had to get up at five o'clock to make it on time. But it was certainly worth it- what a great way …
Continue reading Crediton Food Fair: a festival with great taste.
Stephen King famously said 'Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.' He followed William Faulkner in this idea: in order to become the greatest writer you can be, you must get rid of all your self- indulgent passages and your precious, unfeasible characters for …
Continue reading On identifying the darlings and then killing them
This weekend, four of us bundled ourselves in an old Peugeot Estate with heated seats and we hurtled up to Loughborough for the Wordsmith Award Ceremony. It didn't take us too long to get there from the sunny South West, but there was an exciting whirl of a snowstorm in Tamworth and by the time we …
I am trying a few ideas out. Basically, I need to find a new protagonist to write, one who will fascinate and absorb me for 100,000 words. He or she then stands a reasonable chance of absorbing the reader. My first novel's protagonist, Evelyn, and her son Brendan were protagonists for whom I felt empathy: I …
I’ve never had Writer’s Block. Instead, a more sinister affliction has taken hold. I know many writers who claim to have had 'Writer's Block'. They sit at the computer and stare at the screen and mutter 'Oh, what can I write?' A day goes by and ideas don't arrive, and they go for a walk …
Continue reading Writer’s Block? No way! But is this even worse?
I am fascinated by etymology and I enjoy juggling with words but, as a writer, I try not to create blatant stereotypes in my characters. The word stereotype comes from the 1798 French adjective, stéréotype, which is a "method of printing from a plate." It has come to mean a set idea that people have about what someone or something …
Continue reading Three authors, three ‘Russians’ and my own novel
That quintessence of dust 