Musings on Literature, Writing and Translation
For many years I have “suffered” from writer’s block. The inverted commas are to indicate that I don’t really believe such a thing exists. But writing was not happening. The impulse is to wonder why and here’s a list that may or may not explain it: Lack of confidence Perfectionism Bad time management Avoidance of Read More …
I’ve been putting off writing this blogpost. It feels a little like pinning down a butterfly. Flying around it creates wonderful glimpses of colour but I know if I don’t pin it down, it will flutter on its way and the memory of it will fade. I attended a poetry workshop in the local university Read More …
It’s not been long. I’ve only been on the wagon (that would be the writing and blogging wagon) for the last month. I can already feel I’m flagging. Now I could say it started last week when I failed to get a post up, but that would be denying the scale of the problem. It Read More …
One of the things that aids a good procrastinator, sorry I mean distracts a good writer, is that there is endless debate about the best way to go about writing. So first you must decide if you are a planner or not. This refers to whether you will plan your manuscript to the last comma Read More …
Anyone who mentions how many thousand words they throw out before breakfast, anyone at all on the #amwriting hashtag, any completely unhelpful “10 great writers who wrote prolifically” get THE LOOK from a not-writer. The one that says – I’m trying to be cool here but the truth is I’m jealous and will now Read More …
A few days ago I came across a post by Chuck Wendig that summed up a quandary I’ve been in lately. When I say came across I actually mean read in my Feedly because I follow his blog. But that sounds boringly practical, so instead imagine me wandering aimlessly through the wild grasses of the internet Read More …
A while back I realised that I had an attitude problem. It wasn’t immediately noticeable to everyone, in fact for the most part, nobody knew. But I knew and it was eating me up inside. This attitude was one that is probably not uncommon in expats. It’s a negative view of the country you live Read More …
I need to start wearing glasses, metaphorical ones, I’m already wearing ones for distance. I can see the outline of my goal, the bright shiny vision of the future. I can see exactly what it will be like and how good it will make me feel. There is a soft-focus effect at play though, the Read More …
When I think of my most productive time in terms of creative effort it is slightly contradictory. I produced most but yet produced nothing for publication. In a way it was writing in its purest form, to figure out the world and my place in it. The overriding value in my life was, appropriately enough Read More …
The last week I’ve been thinking about my inner critic, prompted in part by Tara Sophia Mohr’s blogpost and by her description of her own inner critic piping up in the Global Niche conversation of last Friday night. My own inner critic is pretty close to a realistic thinker. At times it is a little too Read More …