creative writing | creative life
My childhood memories of Christmas are pretty darn scratchy, dear reader. Not patchy. Scratchy. Like chook scratches in loose dirt. Hard to decipher. Vague. No hint of a plot. And yet. Some of my favourite glimpses (I won't call them memories) are from the Christmases we spent at my aunt and uncle's dairy farm on …
Years ago when I had my much loved, rather topsy turvy blog, Baxter Street, I would occasionally write about what I'd bought while out and about. The segment was called Shopping With Mother and was inspired by my Ladybird reader of the same name.Meantime, in a recent g&d Live Call we were chatting about the Artist Date. This is a …
How successful authors handle rejection.
Have you seen The Shining? Holy hotel in the snow. It’s feckin’ scary, right? When Shelley Duvall discovers what her husband has really been writing, over and over and over for the past however long, what he’s really been bashing out on that typewriter for WEEKS, we (the audience) know without a doubt that the …
Three common mistakes picture book authors make. How to write a picture book.
A writing coach recently asked me why I don't mentor people one-on-one. Okay. So in the past five years, thousands of authors and illustrators have come through girl&duck. Whether they've joined the Scribbles Academy, hung out in the Duck Pond, completed one of my online 'capsule courses', read my blog or simply watched my videos …
A few years back, I wrote a book about creative writing. It's still selling on Amazon. But I never promote it. I want to tweak it. And it needs a new cover... Because. Shit.I know more now! I've got more to say. More to share. Maybe I'll just write a whole new book.Want to …
WTF? Yes, dear reader, I do still blog! In fact, I've missed it (and YOU) desperately. Sometimes, I think blogging is my favourite form of writing. I love the immediacy, the intimacy, the ongoing relationship. And I LOVE all the pretties. So, Elsie's makeover. Of late it has ground to a halt. Because... WINTER. Holy …
News flash Some people think I'm arrogant. They think, where does she get off, dishin' out all this advice about creative writing? She doesn't know everything. Shocking, I know. But it's probably true.  There is a slim chance I don't know everything. Not every little thing But I can tell you when it comes to creative writing there's not much …
One of my favourite moofies from the 1980s was Heartburn with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. I’m not sure why I loved it so. I’ve always been gaga for Streep. Also, she wore some snazzy (1980s) outfits in that film. Good beads. Capacious shoulder-bags. New York boho actress/writer/intellectual look. That was a look, right? And …
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