The Creative Writer
A new programme (plus a freebie writing exercise from it) AND a new book title...
I spent a lot of years not writing. The reasons for that had absolutely nothing to do with writing.
They sounded like they did, though. "There's so much else that needs to be done." "I'm not sure enough about my ideas." "X said I was doing it all wrong anyway." "Maybe I'll feel more confident another time."
If I could have had a minute of time – or a sentence on the page – for every reason my brain came up with to stop me writing, I’d have been using my time a lot more happily than measuring the gap between the perfect thing in my head (or the amount of time already gone) and what I wanted to create.
It took a lot of things for that to change, but really only one thing: to stop waiting for the right level of confidence and the right amount of time.
Recognising the thinking that kept me away from the most important part of how I think and what I can offer is what changed; what got me to the point where, earlier this week, I announced my second short story collection…
…but more on that later.
First, I want to stay with recognising how truly creative and, however convincing, truly works of original fiction our reasons for not writing are.
To spend a bit of time with yours right now, write down the sentences that go through your head when you’re talking yourself out of writing, or seeing yourself as a writer. Then, add the phrase that changes everything:
"There's so much else that needs to be done." What if I write for five minutes first?
"I'm not sure enough about my ideas." What if I don’t need to be sure? What if I just leave myself notes to improve later?
"X said I was doing it all wrong anyway." What if X was never going to like it anyway, but someone else out there does? What if I write for that person, and for me?
"Maybe I'll feel more confident another time." What if I don’t have to feel confident? What if I just transcribe what’s in my head, as authentically as I can?
It’s amazing how much fresher you return to the ‘real’ to-do list’, having spent time with your creative self first; explored the work it’s doing all the time. That’s why Excuses Bingo (my name for the longer, deeper version of this writing coaching exercise) is such a good warm-up, before you move into “what if”s from a world entirely of your own making.
It’s also why I designed The Creative Writer, launching on 29 June for a four-week summer course. This course is exactly what I wish I'd had: information, technique, qualified coaching support in the mindset as well as the artistic ability that gets you thinking about your writing in the ways that will make you succeed. After all, the writing self and the everyday-life self are the relationship at the heart of everything we do. Spending time on that relationship – and with it the artistic, technical and mindset aspects of being the happiest we can – means writing and life both win. So do the families, friends and work-lives we come back to creatively refreshed.
Speaking of which… and with its cover subject to change…
Twisted Branches is a dark domestic noir on familial love, poisoned loyalty and how we knowingly and unknowingly mess up, and light up, each other's lives. It’ll be my second solo publication with Black Shuck Books, after Beyond Glass (part of the gorgeous Black Shuck Shadows collection of shorter debut and established authors of the unsettling and the uncanny) in 2021.
Unlike my first launch on Facebook during Lockdown, this one will be in-person so do watch this space (along with all the usual channels) as I’d love to see you there.