creative writing | creative life
Hey, sleepy head. Did you miss Part One? You can read it here. Okay, so I've eased up a bit. This next lot? Not so hard-arse. 5. Always begin with pen and paper. Go to the computer later but connect your hand to your brain first. It’s a physical thing. Our imagination is stimulated by …
Continue reading "Tough love tips for aspiring authors: Part Two"
Got on your thick skin? Here we go! 1 Don’t die with your book in you. Write. Learn. Commit to doing the grunt work. Stop thinking about writing and write. Don’t expect your first book to be a bestseller. Don’t even expect it to be published. Want to write a series? I went along to see …
Continue reading "Four tough love tips for aspiring authors. Part one."
Hey there, sunshine! Everyone wants their work to pop, right? Here's another bundle of goodness (and shiny tips) from the Q & Q Friday files—yours to enjoy in whatever form takes your fancy. You can watch the video here: Click below to listen to the audio: or visit the Girl and Duck Podcast on iTunes where you can subscribe and listen on …
Continue reading "The Q & Q Files: Shining on the Slush Pile"
Yes! (Dainty air punch.) This is the first of many transcripts I'll be sharing with you, dear reader, over the coming months. Q & Q Friday (questions and quacks), straight from Duckie TV to you!I got words. I got videos. I got sound files. I got the lot! It's a veritable picnic of advice, opinions and... …
Continue reading "The Q & Q Files. How do I know when my book is ‘finished’?"
IMPORTANT MISSIVE TO POTENTIAL DUCKETTES Or: A quick note from my studio. If you have this note you obviously follow the girl and duck blog. But are you also an Official Card Carrying Duckette? What I mean is, do you subscribe to girl and duck? I hope so because I don't want you to miss any …
I have the lurgy, dear reader, and I have spent the day in bed. Here's what I've been doing (in bed): Reading Flow magazine Reading The Element by Ken Robinson Answering emails to sweet people and nice girls Watching Ted Talks Thinking about YOU. That's why I've written this list. I hope you find it …
This morning I skipped up to the breakfast table and said to Himself, 'I love writing sooo much!' Himself looked suspicious. He rarely hears me say such a thing. Usually it's, 'I hate writing!' Or, 'I'm never doing this again!' Or, 'This book is PATHETIC. Someone else can write it.' But this morning was different. This morning …
Continue reading "Finding our voice with words or paint. It’s all the same."
Earlier this week I dreamed that I wrote a Little Golden Book— but somehow forgot to tell anyone. In the dream, I was flicking through the book (which was illustrated by Lucinda Gifford but in the style of Gabrielle Wang!) and I thought, ‘This is lovely. I must blog about it.’ I don’t know whether …
When I was an aspiring children's author back in the 1980s, the only career guidance I could find was Mem Fox's autobiography. Ahem. Aside from that there was one other book, a textbook, kicking around. But it was fairly lacklustre and I don't recall its title. Other than that, it was just me and me typewritin' machine (it …
Continue reading "In conversation with a wolf (who is also an illustrator)"
Nifty tips. Everyone wants them. Ten Tips for Honing Voice. Seven Steps to Quirky Characters. Three Ways to Ensure your Lipstick Never Moves while Public Speaking. (Actually, I should write that last one. I’ve got it covered). Tips about creative writing abound and for those of us in the trade they’re fairly easy to knock …
Continue reading "My Random Writing Routine. Or, How To Bumble Your Way to Success."