Rae of Light

I'm the kind of writer who needs a target or a deadline. So much so that I set my own when I have nothing else in the pipeline. I often pick a competition or two to enter and work on a project which fits in with it or start something which specifically fits the brief. These days I don't need to start something as there's always another idea just waiting in the periphery or a character clamouring for me to tell his/her story. I'm also lucky that I attend a fortnightly writing group. This in itself serves as a kind of deadline as I know I have to prepare a set piece for the group to critique. But what happens in the in between times? Well, this is where my word count chart comes into play. I first started up this little marvel of coloured boxes when I read a blog post by Emily Benet on how she keeps track of her daily words. And until recently it has been a fabulous tool to keep up the habit of writing on a daily basis.  It's...

         C ole Beauchamp Cole is another thoroughbred from the Caroline Natzler writing class stable. We both attended a writing group at The Royal Festival Hall and collaborated on Chasing The Hypotenuse . In a 45 minute chat over chai and a slice of victoria sponge we talked about old and new projects. TRUE PATH As you know, I’ve been working on this novel on and off for the last six years, but there’s been some movement lately. A fellow writer, Alice Hiller, read the manuscript and said, “It’s basically a captivity narrative – have you thought about first person?” My main character, Gen, is institutionalised to ‘cure’ her homosexuality. At first I thought, oh no, do I really want to do this? But I found it reads much better in first person than even a close third. When you’ve been working on a book for so long, you can edit it to death and lose heart. That’s what happened. I got up to chapter 12 and stopped. Then fate lent a ...

Happy Easter Wishing all my followers the very best for this holiday which signals beginnings.