Sunday 27 February 2011

Have more than one idea....

Have more than one idea on the go at any one time. If it's a choice between writing a book and doing nothing I will always choose the latter. It's only if I have an idea for two books that I choose one rather than the other.


Geoff Dyer - Quoted in Writers' News March 2011 www.writersnews.co.uk/

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Fatigue...

Fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment. We rarely get tired when we are doing something interesting and exciting.

Dale Carnegie; writer of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1937).

Sunday 20 February 2011

If you don't enjoy it, then Stop!

Had a really good afternoon yesterday at the Poison Pens and came away feeling glad I made the effort. I read out 2 poems; a recent one written for a competition and an older poem I wrote a few years ago but have not done anything with. The comments from those present made the trip worthwhile but also I had a really great time. It's always good to meet up with people who share the same interests; not only writing, but also reading, and we also had a good laugh. We have recently lost one of our members due to illness and Keith made the comment that if you don't enjoy writing then stop. Life has taught me that time is precious and I couldn't agree more, but at the moment I do enjoy my writing and I do feel I benefit from it and attending the group.

There were 8 of us there yesterday and 6 of us shared something. It's great to see what other people are writing and I do feel that listening / reading, and then discussing others writing actually helps with my personal writing. It also spurs me on in a perverse way as well. Congrats to Barbara who has just about completed her non fiction book Forgotten People (see:www.barbaracoopercareby.co.uk/) and will be having a launch party in July which we are all looking forward to.

We also discussed the Lincoln Book Festival taking place in about 12weeks time (see:www.visitlincolnshire.com/site/site/events/festivals/lincoln-book-festival)
Another launch party to attend....

Thursday 10 February 2011

When you say Yes, you are saying No...

Loved this from Jurgen Wolff's February Brainstorm and Focus e-bulletin (see: www.timetowrite.blogs.com)

If you're a people pleaser, you find it hard to say no. Most of us hate to disappoint others. The result is that we say 'yes' to too many things. But when you say yes, you're also saying no. Whatever time you devote to the new "yes" activity will mean "no" to anything else you could have done in that time. And there will always be more to do than there is time to do it.

ACTION: Look back over how you've used your time the last few months. Did you make time for the things most important to you? If not, what did you say 'yes' to that took time that could have been better-spent? Would it make sense to say 'no' to that from now on--at least sometimes? If someone else is involved, share your reason: "I've enjoyed spending time working on the committee, and now I'm going to take some time to work on my novel."

Sunday 6 February 2011

Literature....

"Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none."

Jules Renard

quoted in Writers News www.writersnews.co.uk

November 2010