Resistance I wanted to help those who want to write but have difficulty getting down to it. So, I watched myself as I proceeded… Title: Resistance. It’s something that every creative person struggles with. So far, so good. Read more

Right from the Heart From the heart Beauty rises … At the 2019 Dublin Writers’ Conference, some speakers said it was important, from the point of view of sales, to write in a particular genre; others said it was vital to not follow a trend or write in a genre alien to you, that what mattered most was the ‘heart’ in what you had to say. Read more

Achieving the Art of Flow Ever notice, when you put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard – a little voice in your head wags its finger and says things like: ‘you should be doing something more useful, more lucrative’ or, if that doesn’t work, it carries on with: ‘you’re useless at characterisation’, ‘your dialogue doesn’t ring true’, ‘you’ve clearly got trouble with plot’, ‘grammar’, etcetera, etcetera.  I bet you can recall dozens of similar whisperings that plague you endlessly, as you try to get words on the page. Read more

Editing and the Art of Sheep Shearing: Three necessary things Gosh! you say, there’s so much wool here – how can I tell where the flesh begins and the wool ends?  And the novel you thought was terrific – well … not bad – is back from the editor with masses of comments and suggestions.  Mind overload - where to begin?  How much do I cut, shape and seamlessly mould into a good story? Read more

Reviews and how to deal with them Part I - I once organised a creative writing weekend and asked the – alas with us no more – famous writer and journalist, Maeve Binchy if she would come and tell aspiring writers how to become a bestselling author.  She very generously agreed and she gave us a wonderful, entertaining workshop. Read more

Doesn’t have to be perfect, just good to look at Door Decoration / Table Centrepiece Whenever I can, I try to source plant material in the fields and garden and for this door decoration, the only cost was the ring itself.  These can be bought at a floristry supplier and are usually called ‘wreath rings’.  They’re made from a circle of plastic containing oasis. Read more

Joys of Journaling I never travel without my Journal.  My preference is for wire bound. It sits nicely and allows you to write without having to press on the spine every few minutes. Journaling is a must, to keep the writing muscle flexed, stop the cogs from getting rusty. Read more

Pray for Me Whoever is praying for me, please - don’t stop.  Last week, when my ECDL Certificate in Photoshop arrived in the post, I felt a great sense of achievement.  The following day, Books Go Social – who organise the Dublin Writers’ Conference – told me I had won their ‘Unlocking Potential’ prize!  More of that anon. Read more

Words, words, words It’s all words, words, words.  My brain needed a holiday, so I took myself off to see the Picasso exhibition in London.  It consists of his collected works from 1932 when he had a burst of creativity.  I gather he was fed up hearing that at the age of 49, he had passed his peak.  For anyone to hear that must be galling and I expect it either goads or floors.  In the manner of the bulls he liked to paint, he contemptuously scraped the dust from the ground, snorted – and charged.  And what a charge.  He found himself a new Muse, new surroundings and didn’t stop. Read more

Birds Even the birds are re-cycling! This nest has been created from  pieces of plant material, interwoven with a strand of plastic from a white polypropylene sack, plus part of a compost bag – which, in turn, is making its own re-cycling journey.  Inside, the ‘floor’ is made from  mud whose smooth finish would be the envy of many a plasterer. Needless to say, the nest was empty when I found it – the stone ‘egg’ is just to show the depth of the interior. Read more

Long live launches and readings! It was very nice to be invited to the launch of Clair O’Connor and Mairide Woods latest publications of poems, beautifully produced by Astrolabe Press.  Being of the usual introverted, writer-type, I have been shy about attending ‘come all ye’ launches but this time, I was amongst friends from the writing group. Read more

Ace I’m in love, still in that fuzzy, dewy-eyed state where he can do no wrong, where he’s perfect, everything you could wish for: well-formed, sturdy legs, good teeth.  His temperament – that virtue once highly valued but alas seen as weakness today – is one of joyful bonhomie.  He is always pleased to see me, never pouts or complains.  Our new ram, Ace, is delightful. Read more

Trust and let go Summer - time to relieve the ewes of their woolly coats.  Wool prices are at their lowest I can remember – 60 cents a kilo.  A lovely raw material – in our own case, coloured wool - which has sadly gone out of fashion.  It is also horse-fly season – Shakespeare’s gadfly of King Lear among other plays - the female needing the protein from blood to produce her offspring.  I have been bitten already, my arm is bright red and swollen.  Hopefully it was an organic fly, carrying no lasting infection! Read more

De-cluttering I am de-cluttering.  The advice is to do one room at a time, one specific thing at a time – for example, books, clothes or documents.  In my case, it is manuscripts, short stories and short, what I like to think of as humorous, pieces from my time in Toastmasters.  Some of these are not publishable; others need some editing.  Although I don’t think I am a hoarder, I am loathe to put any writing on the bonfire.  Even the worst story took time and effort and, like the bits and pieces a neighbour buys in pound shops, it may come in useful one day. Read more

An endless Litany of Mistakes I was very surprised by Helen Mirren.  ‘There’s been an endless litany of mistakes and mis-steps,’ she said.   Firstly, because she has had and continues to have, as an ‘older’ woman,  a very successful career and appears not to have put a foot wrong. Read more

Find someone you addmire In February’s blog, I talked about the ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ most frequently asked question of writers.  Well, if you had been with me last night, you would find so many ideas, you’d imagine your head would burst. Read more

Where do you get your ideas from? This is the most frequently asked questions of writers. Allied to that is, ‘I would like to write but I don’t know what to write about.’ ‘Ideas are all around you,’ I say. ‘Go, sit in Starbucks. Listen (discretely) to the sounds (i.e. conversations) around you. Last time I was there, a group sat at the next table, behind me . A man’s voice said, ‘I have reached the pinnacle of my professional qualifications. I can’t go any further.’ I found myself responding to this in my journal.   Read more

Getting it written The good news is that there is no magic formula.  Unfortunately, that’s the bad news too. Read more

Resistance I wanted to help those who want to write but have difficulty getting down to it. So, I watched myself as I proceeded… Title: Resistance. It’s something that every creative person struggles with. So far, so good. Read more

Right from the Heart From the heart Beauty rises … At the 2019 Dublin Writers’ Conference, some speakers said it was important, from the point of view of sales, to write in a particular genre; others said it was vital to not follow a trend or write in a genre alien to you, that what mattered most was the ‘heart’ in what you had to say. Read more

Achieving the Art of Flow Ever notice, when you put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard – a little voice in your head wags its finger and says things like: ‘you should be doing something more useful, more lucrative’ or, if that doesn’t work, it carries on with: ‘you’re useless at characterisation’, ‘your dialogue doesn’t ring true’, ‘you’ve clearly got trouble with plot’, ‘grammar’, etcetera, etcetera.  I bet you can recall dozens of similar whisperings that plague you endlessly, as you try to get words on the page. Read more

Editing and the Art of Sheep Shearing: Three necessary things Gosh! you say, there’s so much wool here – how can I tell where the flesh begins and the wool ends?  And the novel you thought was terrific – well … not bad – is back from the editor with masses of comments and suggestions.  Mind overload - where to begin?  How much do I cut, shape and seamlessly mould into a good story? Read more

Reviews and how to deal with them Part I - I once organised a creative writing weekend and asked the – alas with us no more – famous writer and journalist, Maeve Binchy if she would come and tell aspiring writers how to become a bestselling author.  She very generously agreed and she gave us a wonderful, entertaining workshop. Read more

Doesn’t have to be perfect, just good to look at Door Decoration / Table Centrepiece Whenever I can, I try to source plant material in the fields and garden and for this door decoration, the only cost was the ring itself.  These can be bought at a floristry supplier and are usually called ‘wreath rings’.  They’re made from a circle of plastic containing oasis. Read more

Joys of Journaling I never travel without my Journal.  My preference is for wire bound. It sits nicely and allows you to write without having to press on the spine every few minutes. Journaling is a must, to keep the writing muscle flexed, stop the cogs from getting rusty. Read more

Pray for Me Whoever is praying for me, please - don’t stop.  Last week, when my ECDL Certificate in Photoshop arrived in the post, I felt a great sense of achievement.  The following day, Books Go Social – who organise the Dublin Writers’ Conference – told me I had won their ‘Unlocking Potential’ prize!  More of that anon. Read more

Words, words, words It’s all words, words, words.  My brain needed a holiday, so I took myself off to see the Picasso exhibition in London.  It consists of his collected works from 1932 when he had a burst of creativity.  I gather he was fed up hearing that at the age of 49, he had passed his peak.  For anyone to hear that must be galling and I expect it either goads or floors.  In the manner of the bulls he liked to paint, he contemptuously scraped the dust from the ground, snorted – and charged.  And what a charge.  He found himself a new Muse, new surroundings and didn’t stop. Read more

Birds Even the birds are re-cycling! This nest has been created from  pieces of plant material, interwoven with a strand of plastic from a white polypropylene sack, plus part of a compost bag – which, in turn, is making its own re-cycling journey.  Inside, the ‘floor’ is made from  mud whose smooth finish would be the envy of many a plasterer. Needless to say, the nest was empty when I found it – the stone ‘egg’ is just to show the depth of the interior. Read more

Long live launches and readings! It was very nice to be invited to the launch of Clair O’Connor and Mairide Woods latest publications of poems, beautifully produced by Astrolabe Press.  Being of the usual introverted, writer-type, I have been shy about attending ‘come all ye’ launches but this time, I was amongst friends from the writing group. Read more

Ace I’m in love, still in that fuzzy, dewy-eyed state where he can do no wrong, where he’s perfect, everything you could wish for: well-formed, sturdy legs, good teeth.  His temperament – that virtue once highly valued but alas seen as weakness today – is one of joyful bonhomie.  He is always pleased to see me, never pouts or complains.  Our new ram, Ace, is delightful. Read more

Trust and let go Summer - time to relieve the ewes of their woolly coats.  Wool prices are at their lowest I can remember – 60 cents a kilo.  A lovely raw material – in our own case, coloured wool - which has sadly gone out of fashion.  It is also horse-fly season – Shakespeare’s gadfly of King Lear among other plays - the female needing the protein from blood to produce her offspring.  I have been bitten already, my arm is bright red and swollen.  Hopefully it was an organic fly, carrying no lasting infection! Read more

De-cluttering I am de-cluttering.  The advice is to do one room at a time, one specific thing at a time – for example, books, clothes or documents.  In my case, it is manuscripts, short stories and short, what I like to think of as humorous, pieces from my time in Toastmasters.  Some of these are not publishable; others need some editing.  Although I don’t think I am a hoarder, I am loathe to put any writing on the bonfire.  Even the worst story took time and effort and, like the bits and pieces a neighbour buys in pound shops, it may come in useful one day. Read more

An endless Litany of Mistakes I was very surprised by Helen Mirren.  ‘There’s been an endless litany of mistakes and mis-steps,’ she said.   Firstly, because she has had and continues to have, as an ‘older’ woman,  a very successful career and appears not to have put a foot wrong. Read more

Find someone you addmire In February’s blog, I talked about the ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ most frequently asked question of writers.  Well, if you had been with me last night, you would find so many ideas, you’d imagine your head would burst. Read more

Where do you get your ideas from? This is the most frequently asked questions of writers. Allied to that is, ‘I would like to write but I don’t know what to write about.’ ‘Ideas are all around you,’ I say. ‘Go, sit in Starbucks. Listen (discretely) to the sounds (i.e. conversations) around you. Last time I was there, a group sat at the next table, behind me . A man’s voice said, ‘I have reached the pinnacle of my professional qualifications. I can’t go any further.’ I found myself responding to this in my journal.   Read more

Getting it written The good news is that there is no magic formula.  Unfortunately, that’s the bad news too. Read more