I’m an avid reader on the subject of self-help and success and I do glean a lot of useful information from it all. I also try quite a bit of the advice and some of it works and some of it doesn’t, but it’s not because it’s bad information, it’s just that it doesn’t work for me. Continue reading…

There’s always been a debate amongst writers as to whether it’s better to write by hand or type everything.
I used to always wonder the same thing and I’ve even written about this subject before because it’s such a popular topic. Continue reading…

A couple of years ago I attended a writing workshop all about writing from theme. I’d heard about it before but like many writers, I didn’t quite know EXACTLY what it meant or how to use it to write a better novel.
So I did the workshop and took notes and to help other writers, here is what I learned about writing from theme. Continue reading…

A few days ago a neighbour asked me for a favour. It wasn’t a huge favour but it was an imposition on my time.
I don't want to say what the favour was because the person will know I was talking about them.
It's a neighbour that I quite like because she has a really dry sense of humour that makes me laugh a lot. Continue reading…

I’ve been working off-line a lot recently because I’ve been plotting and planning what to do about my online writing. You see it occurred to me not too long ago that I need to cut back on the number of sites I have otherwise I spend too much time updating them instead of getting on with my writing. Continue reading…

Movies, like books, sometimes have humble beginnings.
Remember the movie The Elephant Man? It was a true story about a nineteenth century sideshow freak who was saved by a doctor portrayed in the movie by Anthony Hopkins.
THE ELEPHANT MAN, portrayed by the late John Hurt, continues to be a gold standard for artful cinematic creativity today. Continue reading…

If you’re anything like me you have multiple goals for your life. We all want to achieve things whether it’s getting more exercise, losing weight, quitting smoking, being a better parent, eating healthily, spending more time with our family, saving more, spending less.... the list goes on.
And do you know why so many people, in fact most of us, fail to reach our goals? Continue reading…

I’ve been reading online lately about many writers who’ve used this never-ending ‘lockdown’ period to hit-the-ground-running with their writing. It seems they’ve been super-productive, while the most productive thing I’ve done is read the latest book I bought called “How to Have a 48 Hour Day” (ironically). Continue reading…

I always knew I wanted to be a writer because even as a child, I used to write stories. My parents were always really mean with money and wouldn’t buy me any notebooks to write in, so I used to wait till the end of the school year, tear the used pages out of my school books, and use the rest of them for writing in. Continue reading…

I know that after reading the above heading, "Don't Get it Right, Get it Written", you're probably thinking "Huh?"
Well I don't blame you, because what's the point of doing something if you don't do it right? Surely that means you're going to do it wrong!
Right? Continue reading…

Being a writer requires focus. It takes complete focus and the ability to be able to shut other things out, including your thoughts.
I find that in order to be able to focus on my writing, I also need to be able to focus on everything I do.
There’s a saying that ‘how you do anything is how you do everything’ Continue reading…

At the moment, we’re a few weeks into the Corona Virus Panic and the fake news that surrounds it. It’s gotten so many people frantic in the big cities while in the smaller towns it currently seems to be less stressful, except the government has closed down public places like pubs, restaurants, public swimming pools, and (the worst in my opinion) the public libraries. I love being at the library and was devastated when they closed them this week. Continue reading…