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Stop Being a Suffering Artist
I want to talk about this idea of the suffering artist. I’ve been thinking, and this might sound harsh but, we bring it on ourselves. I think that part of us love the suffering, we love the idea of being a martyr for our art, we love being able to tell people how much we’ve […]
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Why I Wish I liked Annihilation
I watched Annihilation the other night. Horror/thrillers where the cast gets picked off one by one until only the protagonist is left standing is not usually my jam but I really wanted to like this one. I wanted to like it because the core cast was entirely female in a genre and narrative structure that […]
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Making Money From Writing
The age old question. Can anyone really make any money from writing? Whether it’s freelance or fiction plenty of people will tell you the answer is a resounding NO. Once when I was volunteering at a literary even I got chatting with a published author who was sitting on the panel. When I told her […]
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Are you a young writer? What it’s like getting old.
Last month I turned 29. According to many grants, competitions, festivals and publications, that makes this my last, official year of being a young writer. Loosing this label is a little disheartening, panic-inducing some might say. It’s as if the clock hands have been suddenly wound forward. I know it’s not true. There’s no definitive […]
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How to Use Writing Prompts to Keep Writing
I always associated writing prompts with getting started. Used to spark new ideas or stories. What I didn’t realise was that prompts can be used at any stage of the writing process (and at any skill level). Natasha Lester’s post on how she uses writing prompts really helped with this realisation. So, while some prompts […]
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Can you only have one creative passion?
Can you only have one creative passion? If you’re a writer can you be a painter too? Can you be a musician and a sculptor? Yes, of course you can. Now that was a short post, perhaps I should go into more detail. For a very long time now I have identified as a […]
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Simple Pleasures: Reading at the Beach
When I go to the beach I pack a towel, sunscreen, a water bottle and a book. While I love to lounge in the sun and go for a swim, the greatest pleasure I find in going to the beach is reading. The two things are intrinsically linked in my mind. I grew up an […]