creative writing | creative life
When you run an online biz you have to get comfy with REJECTION. You say, I've created this amazing, creative writing community. People say, Maybe later. You say, I wrote this really cool book. People say, Whatevs. You say, I recorded a podcast. People say, I'd rather listen to Frank Sinatra. You say, I bought a new teapot. People say, Oo, pretty! …
Last week I had the sudden realisation that 'the writing is going well'. Ermahgerd! How much do writers LURVE that? The Writing is Going Well. Can we put that on a t-shirt, please? Cups quietly multiplying while I'm lost in a world of make believe. Last year when I started writing this novel, I was …
Continue reading "How to Write a Novel. (Using One Sheet of Paper.)"
This week in the Duck Pond, on my first live call for 2022, we will be chatting about our word of the year. Choosing a word of the year is like selecting your own little guiding star, a bright point to guide you through the travails of the coming year. Choosing a word makes me …
Oh dear reader. I'm tired. So I'm blogging. Why do I always want to blog when I'm tired? It's perverse, right? (Global comment. Expect more typos and grammatical faux pas than usual.) It's raining. Steady, soaking, let's-pretend-it's-winter rain. Somewhere it's a Cup Day. Melbourne? Bendigo? Kyneton? Moscow? Dunno. There are so many cups and so …
Last month in a Scribbles live call, we were discussing structure in storytelling. People often trip when it comes to structure (ahem). We tend to overthink it. We make it way more complex, more intimidating, than it needs to be. Sure, looking at story pyramids and narrative arcs and structural triangles and, erm, Jen Storer …
Cottage Diaries September 2, dear reader, and here in Australia it is day two of spring! Sprrrrrrriiiiiing! Peachy peach. A baby last year. Now look at her! Tangelos in a pot on the front verandah. Not only that, it's also warm, sunny and windy in Rrrregional Victoria and what's more it's a good drying day. …
Continue reading "Fairies, Flowers, Cottage Diaries and Character Creation"
Never forget how important freedom is to children. As a kidlit author you must consider this every time you write.
Slow living, how it worked for me. Planning my days, running my biz, writing books.
Creating great characters in fiction, flourishing in menopause, dealing with imposter syndrome.
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 …