I have really tried to change the way I think about writing this year and have been focussing daily on reacting differently to what I call my creative practice. I have not been able to write any new flash fictions or short stories for a good while, and I was bothered about that. But then I realised I haven’t exactly been resting on my laurels, so why should I be worried? 

I am working in a creative field (even if not always creating new work myself) and helping others by editing and feeding back on their work. I am doing some work for a publisher who runs competitions, and clients who have requested assessments and received them from me have given their own feedback – that my advice and notes have really helped them a lot. 

Looking at stories and novels written by other people, with the intention of drilling down into the words, the sentences, the paragraphs, and helping them be the best they can, is wonderful therapy for your own work. So – for now I am happy to be involved in something creative, and in the meantime, my brain is formulating my own new stories. Like I said last week, some people write whole novels in their heads before they even make them concrete on paper or screen, and I believe that thinking about writing counts as writing. 

If you free your mind from all the distractions that are keeping you away from writing, it will make it easier for you to settle when the time comes for you to start weaving the magic. Distraction is the enemy of depth, so when you do knuckle down, make sure you pour your all into it. So use that notebook, make those notes, do the weekly shop, and then you will have the creative space to make something really wonderful.
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I would love to hear more about your creative practice, any issues you might come up against and how you overcome them. And… what have you noticed lately that might end up in a story? Drop a comment below. And don’t forget to check out the rest of my website, and do join in some of my classes and events if you ever need encouragement and accountability.

As February sidles towards its end, I am in a very musing kind of mood. I just turned up at one of my daily Time to Write meetings – the evening one – and we all decided to do what we call “faffing”, which is code for not writing at all but doing something else that gives us some relief from that. It might be reading, making lists, updating spreadsheets, stroking the cat – anything. But I am sure we all do it with words and characters floating around our heads. And if we shut even those thoughts out, we will have earned the peace and quiet and the shift of focus.

One of the biggest issues I and many writers face, is the idea that if we are not sitting at our desks and writing, we are not being creative or productive. We often see other writers churning stuff out and believe we should measure ourselves against them. Not so.

Your creative practice is whatever shape it is for YOU. And the good news is, you don't always have to be writing. I think (though don’t quote me) it was Paul McVeigh (author of the novel The Good Son and many fabulous short stories) who said that before putting any words down, he practically writes the wholly novel/story in his head. I've heard other writers say the same. I'm sure the majority of this process involves a lot of seeing, hearing, experiencing - in other words NOTICING - what happens around them. 

Things people say, music on the radio, sections of books, what you see on your walk in the countryside, the hat the driver in front of you at the lights is wearing - all these things can prompt you to some thought, even if just for the moment it is only subconscious.

If you actively use noticing as part of your creative practice, it starts to become more useful. Instead of just laughing at the driver’s psychedelic hat, take the thought home and write a list of places and circumstances in which he could have chosen it. When overhearing the loud conversation on your next train journey, write down every noun, verb, adjective etc, that the speaker says. Do they mention a colour? If so make a list of everything that's that colour. The possibilities are endless once you open up your mind to the practice.

If you start a 'Noticing Notebook' you will make good use of those times you feel down about the fact you're not writing, and you’ll soon have a database filled with inspiration and prompts for those times you do actually sit at your desk or pick up your pen.

Lately, I've been noticing the weather more. Hard not to, it's always raining! In my Noticing Notebook I've been noting the sounds of the rain on the windows and writing a list of all the places someone could be stranded in a rainstorm. I've been listing different weather, good as well as bad. I've been doing the 'items of a certain colour' list based on the colour of people's umbrellas who pass me in the street. Mad, I know, but it works. 

What do you think about the idea of a Noticing Notebook? Would it help you? Start one and let me know what your first entries are.

While you are here, why not have a look around my website using the menu above. I have some of my published stories here, plus endorsements for the work I do as an editor and a facilitator. Look at my events and bookings page. I run a daily writing group, some courses, and a quarterly reading event. I would love to welcome you to one of them. And if you have any questions at all, you can leave a comment below or contact me using the contact form you will find on the menu bar at the top of the page. 

I have been thinking today about how anything we write actually comes into being. Everyone is different and gets inspiration and ideas from all over the place – there are a million generative workshops to be done just on getting those ideas, which are really brilliant and I do some myself – but how we treat those ideas is often different. I swear, many people think if they don’t have a finished story in twenty minutes they must be a failure. I have had people actually apologise about not having a publishable finished story at the end of a workshop. And they are doing that because some people in the workshop seem to do just that and read this amazingly complex and complete story that they’ve just created. 

For the record, I think that is rare, and maybe the person who wrote it had that idea floating around in their heads for weeks and the workshop gave them a A-ha! moment. That’s my theory. I don’t think any story just comes out of the blue. I think we have these seeds in us that are just waiting to be watered or – and this is gross! – the ideas are like flea eggs that sit in the carpet piles of empty houses for up to a year, waiting for the temperature to change or the vibrations of feet once someone moves in (look that up, it’s true). And then, boom, it looks like a stroke of genius that a particular prompt just now made them write this wonderful story.

I think that as long as you write something every day, no matter what that is (to do list, grievances, wish list, a list of all your family members, strange quirks people have list, list of potential story titles – anything) eventually ideas and stories will start to come together. Every day I try to write something that might fit in a tweet (so 280 characters) – this comes from when I used to do VSS365, which I am not sure still runs – and the point is to get something that forms the basis of an idea, almost like a treatment for a story, without spending too much time agonising, and also keeping the words and ideas succinct. I have a folder full of them, and I refer to it when I need to.

Setting yourself too high a goal is just setting yourself up for disappointment on those days you just can’t do it because you have to take your dog to the vet, or your daughter needs new football boots, and the sale is on NOW.
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Every story, every novel starts with one word, and then a sentence, and the a paragraph, and then a chapter. Some people thrive on looking ahead and knowing where it all ends, but if you just freeze your writing into moments, into NOW…. Just write that first word, that first sentence… gaze at it and then write some more.
Tell me, what small writing habit has made all the difference to you. I would love to hear. Click on comments and let me know.

I’m away in Manchester, battling my way through a draft of my novel. It’s something I do regularly thanks to an idea I stole from the great Nancy Stohlman a few years ago – the “mini-retreat” where you lock yourself away in a basic hotel in a boring location, make maximum use of time and all you do is write. I have not taken the advice totally on board. The hotel is basic, but it is far from boring as my room is directly across the street from the beautiful Midland Hotel in Manchester. However, the view really inspires me rather than hinders me, although frequently just to daydream and THINK of beautiful words and grand ideas rather than to actually put them down anywhere.

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While here, I went along to Word Central, a great reading event at the Central Library, and met up with writing buddy Joyce from |Tim. My name had been put on the reserve list to read, but I didn’t really think they would get around to me – but they did! I had to follow some great poets and writers, including the headline act, Zena Barrie, who was hilarious. She read from the book “Two Similar Looking Men with Umbilical Hernias”, a surreal collection of stories and mind meanderings. She delivered her set with easy humour, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. You can buy the book by clicking on its name to take you to the Amazon page. It is only £2.99 on Kindle at the moment.

Today, back in my hotel room writing and reflecting, I ploughed forwards with my novel in progress. I wrote for an hour or so, but then got stuck at a difficult part of the story I am writing, and it is hard to pick up momentum and get through the scene. I started wondering why I was so concerned about this. Is it necessary to rush it? Why can’t I just sit with the words one by one and see what happens when I take my time? Do we always need to be SO productive?

I don’t have the answers to any of that, by the way, and I am wondering, what you do if you find yourself in that position – at a tricky part of your novel/story/whatever? Do you make a placeholder and move on with the intention of picking it up later, or do you stay with the sentences as they slowly draw themselves out? No method is right or wrong, but I am always curious about other people’s practices. Please drop a comment in the chat – about this or any other aspect of your writing.

I had a very fraught week last week with my writing, as my computer became very poorly suddenly and for no apparent reason. Everything was running really slowly, and although I did some troubleshooting as directed, nothing that should have made it act that way was actually an issue. I had a lot of drive space, nothing was taking up too much usage, no unwanted apps were running. So it made no sense. It had just slowed down, for no reason, and it stopped my writing in its tracks. Did I suffer? Not really. The world still turns, and I can write by hand.

But I felt a bit weary anyway, of writing, of slogging through the novel relentlessly. Maybe that little break was just what I needed. We need to normalise weariness and reluctance to write, and to not feel guilty when we are not ready.
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Tell me, what stops you from writing, or even from beginning it, and do you have any strategies to help you get started? I would love to hear and maybe build up a list of tips to share with my Substack subscribers. You will be credited of course. Please pop your comments and tips in the comments.

​I’ve been talking in my blog this week about the lack of writing, the quiet times, the thinking. It’s made me think of those pieces we produce that come in shyly and silently, and that don’t look as though they took much from you at all, but we know they did. There is a power in those moments, those fragments and brief scenes you put down. They often arrive quickly and are snapshots of where you mind was for a brief fraction of time.

My favourite place to submit these snapshots to is Paragraph Planet, who publish a 75-word story every single day. Over the years, whenever I find myself in a slump, or need some instant gratification, I spill my thoughts into a quick 75 words and send it there, and they have published a few of them. I encourage you try it. It is a real boost to your writing thought process.
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I am interested in what the smallest piece of writing you have done is. If you like, post it in the comment, or just let me know about it.