Often a fantastic thing happens on the last evening of our writers' retreats - and yesterday was no exception. We always finish with a 'read-around', where delegates share some of their work by reading it to the rest of the group. This can be something they've been working on during the retreat or something else … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 16th April →

The most rewarding elements of the retreat yesterday came after the 'Character Building' workshop when at least three of the attendees tried out my character profiling suggestion on their works-in-progress. They said they found the exercise very useful, and that the profiles will help them build their final stories. That really as all I could … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 15th April →

The retreat at which I'm now mentoring kicked-off in pretty standard fashion yesterday - apart from a little local 'colour' which doesn't really warrant any further explanation here, but one day has to make it into a story! As usual, there are a variety of writers here who I'll be getting to know over the … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 14th April →

The great news from yesterday was how well Andy thinks my performance of Crash is coming along. Indeed, we are likely to reduce formal rehearsals to bi-weekly until just before the June event. One of the beauties of the piece - and the performance - is that I can practise at home, something I'll have … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 13th April →

Given what was on the agenda, yesterday was always going to be pretty busy - yet I even managed to fit in something unplanned! The library session was quiet (but only in terms of people wanting to see me), so I cut it short half an hour early. During my time there (and at various … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 12th April →

I'm not sure which is more satisfying: a day where you work on things exactly as you planned, or a day where you find unexpected projects taking up your time. Of the two, yesterday felt pretty much like the former: a decent chunk of time on "C" (though not sure the quality was quite there); … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 11th April →

In spite of a pretty productive day yesterday, it proved to be a tough one mentally. There were lots of positives: a Crash read-through and work on its sequel; drafting "C"; planning work on a possible companion project; various other bits-and-pieces including prep for tomorrow's Stanza meeting; deciding TikTok isn't for me (regardless of BookTok). … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 10th April →

100th consecutive day of posting!! Thank you if you're dipping into my 2023 writing diary. So what was yesterday like? Well, a fair chunk of time spent on drafting "C", which has now made it beyond 30k words. This, I find, is the difficult time; the time when fatigue sets in and belief is challenged; … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 9th April →