#writing

Blog

Read about my journey into becoming a creative freelancer, interviews and reviews with great authors, and advice on writing and creative living.

If there's something you'd like advice on or a book you'd like me to take a look at, do get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.

If you enjoy reading my thoughts on writing, people, books and the world, please consider supporting me, for the price of a coffee. All donations get a reward. You can also become a regular subscriber for exclusive content.

Dec 12, 2020
7 min

Flash Fiction and Motherhood with Laura Besley

The Almost Mothers by Laura Besley made me cry. Several times. In pitch-perfect vignettes she explores everything from early motherhood to self-doubt to infertility. Her light touch and poignant stories meant I have already read it twice and would quite happily sit down and read it again. Intrigued by how you fit such powerful emotion into very short stories, I talked to Laura about her writing process and how she arrived at this beautiful collection. It’s quite astonishing h

Nov 29, 2020
6 min

Siblings, Structure and Pandas with Gail Aldwin

I recently enjoyed ‘The String Games‘ by Gail Aldwin. Personally, I think it’s better to go into a book ‘blind,’ so I had no expectations. Right from the off I was drawn into this story of complex family relationships and tragedy. It’s all done with a very light touch, and I was taken back to childhood times with her sensitive framing of the narrative through the eyes of a young girl who grows throughout the book. Wanting to know more about how it was put together, I spoke to

Oct 25, 2020
4 min

Getting Started With Writing As A Business

It’s hard not to cut the year into academic slices. I’ve spent so many years being regimented by the bell, the term, the holidays of school, I’m still thinking in chunks of time. For that reason, this weekend marks the first half term of starting my own business as a writer and creative facilitator. I thought I’d share my thoughts on how it’s going and give you some tips on doing it yourself. The Writing Bullet journalling and other ideas to stay organised have definitely hel

Oct 14, 2020
4 min

What Being A Working-Class Writer Means To Me

It’s nothing about money and it’s everything about money. It’s eating arctic roll and thinking Vienetta is a fancy pudding and having your Christmas presents put into a large box to make them feel more special. It’s thinking fish only comes with chips or in a frozen rectangle with a packet of parsley sauce. It’s wanting all the things on the telly but knowing better than to ask for them. It’s never having Kickers or Fruit of the Loom or Nike and Mum joking about how she bough

Oct 14, 2020
1 min

Weekly Inspiration For Your Writing

I’m launching a new series of writing workshops: Wednesday Scribbles. Every week at 7:30pm we’ll start with some ideas on how to make space and time for writing. Using prompts, we’ll look at different ways of generating ideas and experimenting with style and voice. With the help of other great writers, we’ll use different themes or techniques each week to expand on our ideas and produce some writing. I believe writing is for everyone. You don’t need to have fancy qualificatio

Oct 7, 2020
4 min

Playing For Ideas

There’s something strange about expectations. I find that positive ones are far worse than negative. Let me explain. If I’m worried about teaching a tricky class, making an awkward phone call or running a difficult distance, negative expectations can be a good thing. Invariably I get so worked up about how terrible it’s going to be, the actual thing itself is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. But the reverse has proved itself annoyingly true. Returning home after li

Sep 26, 2020
4 min

Don’t Be a Slave to the Routine

Discipline. Stamina. Routine. I’ve lost count of the number of quotes and advice that tell you that in order to be a writer, you have to write every day. No exceptions, no excuses. I’ve tried every technique I can think of, but I just can’t do it. My writing is typified by bouts of extreme enthusiasm and lots of words, followed by huge chasms where I stare at the wall and wonder how I ever thought I was a writer. There’s a bit of a theme, here. My habits and enthusiasms are t

Sep 23, 2020
3 min

What Do Writers Wear?

As a lot of people are working from home, we’re in the strange position of being indoors, all the time. I’m also in the new situation of not going back to school in September. In light of these different circumstances, I have no idea what to wear. Like school uniform, the rules about what is considered ‘professional’ have stopped me from having to think too hard about what I put on my body when I go to work. Now it’s as if every day is mufti day (non-school uniform day, for t

Sep 3, 2020
1 min

Primadonna News!

Very excited to hear that I’ve been longlisted for this year’s Primadonna Prize. The prospect of making only 500 words in any way interesting was certainly a daunting one and it’s great to be in such great company on the longlist (especially Women Writer’s Network member Sandy Bennet-Haber!). Here’s hoping I get the opportunity to write some more words for the lovely people at Primadonna. Shortlist is announced in November. If you fancy checking out the likes of Sandy Toksvig

Jun 21, 2020
7 min

Celebrating Amazing People #5

With the recent Black Lives Matter protests I wanted to look to a different part of untold history. I found this article where Montaz March talked about her dissertation on the unexamined history of black people in the UK. I was particularly interested in her discussion of black women and how they often fail to turn up in the history books because of their desire to assimilate completely into society. It’s so easy to assume that skin colour has always been a way of judging ot

May 27, 2020
5 min

Celebrating Amazing People #4

This post is inspired by the German astronomer Caroline Herschel. A breathing gap in half term so this one is a little more timely than the others! Something about her story created a pompous voice in my head that narrated her experience, which felt more suitable than reimagining her thoughts. If you have any suggestions for people I could use to inspire my fiction please let me know in the comments! Minding The Heavens Just imagine, they said; someone of that stature looking

Apr 5, 2020
5 min

Celebrating Amazing People #2

Much more lighthearted and unusual this week. I was reading the introduction to Cathy Newman’s book Bloody Brilliant Women and I came across an nun from the 10th century who wore golden gowns and argued with the male clergy. I loved the idea of a celebrity culture existing back then around kings and bishops, and thought she was just too interesting not to delve into a little more. Hope you enjoy it. Pride Comes in Many Guises The two thralls slopped through the mud. After a h

Mar 27, 2020
6 min

Celebrating Amazing People #1

Like most people at the moment, I don’t know what to do. Scrolling through endless feeds and WhatsApp messages bring a strange feeling into my gut – helplessness. So many people working hard to help others, while I spend the day checking in online for my students or finding ways to amuse my toddler. Somehow, in the general scheme of things, it doesn’t seem like enough. In an effort to help out, I thought I’d turn my hand to providing some light relief. But what do people want

Feb 1, 2020
3 min

Thickening My Skin

You may have noticed a large gap since I last wrote a blog. I certainly have. I’m currently working my way (very slowly, baby/job/rest of life permitting) through The Artist’s Way. It’s a wonderful book that is forcing me to stop and look at when I really stopped writing, stopped believing I could do it. For me, creative things have always been a hobby. A nice little thing you do on the side to make your day a bit brighter but certainly not something that should substitute ‘r

Jun 2, 2019
4 min

A Week of Silence

“The world is only tolerable because of the empty places in it…when the world’s filled up, we’ll have to get hold of a star. Any star. Venus, or Mars. Get hold of it and leave it empty. Man needs an empty space somewhere for his spirit to rest in.” Doris Lessing I spent almost all of last week entirely alone. No work, no friends, no family, no baby. No distractions. My very own writing retreat. At first, it felt strange. I noticed the passing of every hour. Teaching is hardly

Oct 22, 2018
3 min

Finding My Voice

Over the past few weeks, something strange has happened. In the tiny bubbles of time I get between work and baby, I’ve started to write again. At first, it wasn’t much. A few scenes that barely reached 300 words. Some thoughts, a memory, nothing substantial. But it was something. I opened up ‘stickies’ on my laptop. Down the right side of the screen is one giant note with all the days of the week, with enough for two months’ worth. I get to the end of the day and log how many

Sep 23, 2018
3 min

My Boring Life

On Friday evening, I went to bed at 8:20pm. Before I went to bed, I browsed through Jamie’s Fifteen Minute Meals books and ordered enough ingredients for the rest of this week. I treated myself to some ice cream and some quiet pages of my book before slipping off to sleep. It’s fair to say that things have got a little quieter since we’ve been back. My days are either spent working or looking after the baby. In between, I try to cram in as many minutes of writing as I can, al

Aug 22, 2018
3 min

Relentless Summer

Sadly, this is the first time I’ve missed a weekly blog post since February. Fortunately, it was due to a huge gathering in the French countryside. A meeting of cultures, generations, family and friends to herald three momentous occasions in one family over the last year. As excuses go, I think it’s a pretty good one. I don’t even have that many photos. Caught up in all the new faces, the conversations to have, the food to savour, I forgot to step back and look at how much ev

Aug 5, 2018
4 min

Unexpected Dangers

One of the reasons people thought we were mental to travel around the world with a baby (and there were many) was because of the perceived danger. The world is a hazardous place if you are small and inquisitive. But abroad, those risks become much higher, or at least they can seem it because they are far from home. The flights, the germs, the foreign illnesses, the dangerous creatures (yes, Australia, I’m looking at you) the sea, the swimming pools, the cars, the trains, the

Jul 9, 2018
5 min

In the Thick of It

With one week to go, the nature of our trip has changed a lot. We’ve gone from itinerant dwellers and lone travellers to cohabiters with a group of four others in a flat in LA for an entire week. No more quiet meals and being in bed by 9pm. We’ve been chatting around the table over food and staying up far later than is sensible with a small one. It’s official, we’re here. After our arrival, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Once we realised that not having a car in LA was like

Sarah Scribbles