Category: Writing and Publishing Information

A Compelling Sense of Place – Part 3

Writing a compelling sense of place means making the setting feel alive—not just where the story happens, but how it feels to be there in the moment during a significant event or situation, and why it matters. Here are some practical suggestions on ways to do it

Engage more than sight

Strong settings use multiple senses.

Sound:distant traffic, buzzing insects, echoing halls
Smell:rain on a grassy patch after a hot day, old books, salt in the air
Touch:gritty sand, humid air sticking to skin, cold metal
Taste (limit use) :dust in the mouth, bitterness of smoke

Example:

The fan creaked and groaned as if knowing it faced a losing battle against the summer heat.

Filter the place through the character

The setting should reflect who is experiencing it. Two characters in the same place will notice different things.

Consider:

What would this character care about here?
What makes them edgy, angry, or nostalgic?

Example:

The summer heat made Moira faint, the infernal sun created a cremation site in their backyard. Her cousin, energetic and unaware of the rivers of sweat dripping off him, kicked the ball around the yard multiple times.

Choose specific, concrete details

Make a place believable. Avoid generic words like nice, busy, or beautiful.

Food carts hissed with steam while cyclists threaded through stalled taxis, bells ringing in sharp bursts.

Rather than, ‘it was a busy street.’

Let setting interact with action

Weave the story into what’s happening.

Example:

He shoved the door open, and warm bar air spilled onto the cold sidewalk, carrying laughter and the smell of fried onions.

Use setting to support mood and theme

The place should reinforce the emotional tone of the scene.

Tension → narrow spaces, harsh light, noise
Calm → open spaces, steady rhythms, soft textures, natural romantic landscapes
Isolation → emptiness, distance, silence, derelict buildings

Example:

The field stretched empty in every direction, the sky so wide it made her feel smaller with every step.

Don’t over describe

A few strong details are more powerful than a full inventory.

Rule of thumb:

1–3 vivid details per paragraph is usually enough
Let the reader’s imagination do the rest

Make place matter to the story

Ask yourself:

Would this scene work just as well somewhere else?
If yes, the setting might not be pulling its weight.

Ways to make it matter:

The place creates obstacles
The place holds history or memories
The place mirrors change in the character

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Complex Characters Who Feel Real – Part 2

Readers don’t fall in love with plots—they fall in love with people. That’s why complex characters are the lifeblood of compelling fiction. They’re the ones who linger in our minds, the ones we cheer for, cry over, or angrily debate with friends.

But what makes a character complex? And how do we write someone who feels less like a cardboard cutout and more like a fully formed human being?

Give Characters True to Life Contradictions

Humans are walking contradictions. We want love but push people away. We crave success but sabotage ourselves. We believe in honesty but harbour secrets (Plantation Shadows –what is Milly’s secret?). These contradictions make characters interesting in their imperfections. Characters must grow from hardship, struggles, loss, etc to become the best versions of themselves. Readers need to identify with real life situations to connect with characters who echo aspects of their own lives.

Consider the following when crafting a complex characer

What do they think they want vs. what do they need?
What are their competing internal desires?
Where does their behaviour conflict with their beliefs, morals, or values?

Create a Backstory on Key Points that Advance the Character’s complexity

Build their history for yourself so you understand:

What shaped their worldview
Why they react emotionally the way they do
What they fear, avoid, or chase

Be selective about what is revealed in the backstory, offer teasers to your reader instead of telling it all. (Plantation Shadows)

Give The Complex Character Agency-Don’t Describe their Personality

Actions speak louder than a long list of adjectives.

Show the reader the inner persona through:

Their choices
The risks they take
What they refuse to do—even when pressured

The character does not have to be aggressive, A passive character can be intriguing if their passivity is a choice, not a default.

Flaws can Hurt the Complex Character and Others

Give characters real, consequential flaws. Flaws are the engine of character-driven storytelling.

Ask:

What is their most harmful belief about themselves or the world?
How does this flaw sabotage their goals?
How does it hurt the people around them?

Flaws that create conflict are flaws that matter— they are signposts to something deeper/larger.

Let The Complex Character Grow, Regress, or Transform

Complex characters are restless. They might outwardly hide their intentions. Slow feed how they react to events, change their perspectives, and sometimes take a back step before a point of growth.

Explore:

Positive arcs(cynical → hopeful)
Negative arcs(idealistic → corrupted)
Flat arcs(unchanged internally but influential to others)

The character’s internal evolution when shaped by their experiences makes them believable and endearing because the reader has been drawn into their inner world.

Make Relationships Challenge The Character

A character’s interactions with others reveals more about them than any internal monologue.

Mull over:

Who pushes their buttons?
Who brings out the softness they try to hide?
Who forces them to confront truths they’d avoid alone?

Dynamic relationships create dynamic characters.

Mystery, Ambiguity, and Private Thoughts

You don’t have to reveal everything about a character immediately. People hold secrets—from others and from themselves. Let readers uncover the layers gradually. (Plantation Shadows – who holds a generational secret?)

A character is compelling when some of the interpretation is left to the reader.

Empathy

Complex characters when discovered, come alive through empathy. When a character is crafted as a person with their own desires, wounds, contradictions, and agency, the story deepens naturally. Allow them to surprise you, frustrate you, and challenge your drafting of their lives.

Look at the world around you, it abounds in complexities, and contradictions that carry the potential for growth, transformation, or regression—that makes characters human.

Make your complex character, live.

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Perspectives on Truth and Conflict

Conflict casts a shadow on truth telling, giving rise to versions of the truth over time.

Plantation Shadows unravels secrets through competing perspectives or on point revelations captured for posterity to convince the reader on a particular point of view.

The crafting of characters influences how the reader receives fictional truths. The proven trustworthy character holds the stronger sway in storytelling. Often, the social standing of a character influences following the ‘esteemed’ character, which might, unfortunately, lead the reader down the rabbit hole to a multiplicity of mistruths.

Who should the reader trust, the doctor, gardener, or domestic staff? Truth is not devoid of emotional strains, and memory creates versions of it, depending on who demands it, narrates it, and receives it.

Plantation Shadows unearths the inner and outer conflict spanning three generations in a family drowning in secrets. The women living in a patriarchal community on the canefields of Natal, South Africa, take the forefront in narrating the truths that unfold one perspective at a time. The only male perspective has no blood ties to the conflicted family he serves. Edgar is the all-knowing eyes and ears between the two plantation houses, embroiled in secrets withheld in the living years. What ancestral truths will the grave yield?

There was internal strife that I was privy to, but I kept my head down and my ears open… Part Three, Edgar, ‘Plantation Shadows’

In unraveling the truth in a land buckling under colonial domination and rising resistance, is the twisted patriarchal mindset genuflecting to colonial expectations by preventing women from being heard. It is not until the fourth generation breaks the cycle of control, by assuming the courage and conviction to address and accept the long-held secret of an imploding family—hope rises.

Creating fictional women as untainted characters in a controlled society is to deny their right to break with convention in choosing the path they desire. Plantation Shadows is a closely held sisterhood of hidden truths among grandmothers, mothers and daughters.

Truth is a double-edged sword—it names and shames but creates understanding and gradual acceptance. Are generations of secrecy ever allowed to rest in peace?

Read Plantation Shadows, to feel and understand the secret hearts of the aging Milly and her dead mother.

Secrets diminish with death – Part 3, Edgar, ‘Plantation Shadows’

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Fiction – AI or the Human Touch

Whether we accept it, remain neutral, or deny it, it’s here!

When it comes to creativity, the writing of fiction–how do you balance AI and the human touch?

Ernest Hemingway said, There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed. If this is so, why is AI necessary when the writing process is innately, humanely natural?

For centuries, storytelling has been a cultural tradition in every corner of the world. Who is the best at sharing their personal experiences through storytelling?

Is it possible for AI to display raw emotions?

Some argue that it’s authentic, while others contend that it’s programmed and thus not genuine.

The subjectivity of creativity begs the question: can it be programmed?

The dilemma is that some mask truths to create a fake identity. The theme of appearance vs reality in Shakespeare’s plays exposes how easily humans can be deceived. Will AI be yet another mask for machine-generated creativity? Who receives credit for the positive reception of AI-generated work? Another door to truth and ethics is unlocked.

Be curious and informed before leaping.

Artists create. They can express themselves through art in a multitude of ways — painting, writing, music, fashion, architecture, machinery, transportation, and beyond.

Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso, Mozart, and other masters of their crafts possessed scintillating minds and remarkable imaginations before AI.

How does AI affect the human brain and heart when it takes over our inherent rights to uniqueness, growth, and creativity? When AI ‘generates’ creativity, do artists’ voices and works lose their uniqueness that only the human touch can produce?

The books and authors that writers admire, inspire them. Their mentors, past and present, guide them in honing their skills and style to create unique storylines. Imagination and voice make up a writer’s unique human fingerprint. It captures the reader’s attention. Have we reached a technological level where AI can imitate a writer’s style and imagination?

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will. – George Bernard Shaw

AI is a part of our daily lives, but we often overlook it. Bots have butted into our lives before we had a name for them. Just whisper ‘Hey Google,’ or ‘Alexa’ and they are ready to provide us with the answers we seek. Does this make the human mind lazy if we don’t physically do the research?

The uniqueness of a writer’s voice lies in the manner in which they tell the story. AI can mimic the tone and intonation of the human voice, but can it replicate the character and personality of the human soul to articulate life experiences?

Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought. – Albert Einstein.

As an artist, you live your passion, share your talents and skills, and develop with every piece of art created.

The ways and reasons for entering this brave new world of creativity are widely debated.

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt — Sylvia Plath

Be curious and cautious to guide your choices in a rapidly evolving creative sphere. What’s your choice?

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Trust the Process

When you begin writing a story that has whispered for a period, and then hauls you in—you have no idea how far you will go, or how many stories you will create in your lifetime. The process must be trusted and aided by dedicating time and space to allow the story to emerge.

Anything and everything is possible when you trust the calling first, then the process.

You may begin with a plan, an outline, and flesh out characters, but soon the story magically grows with you the writer, as the vessel, guided by a force you cannot quite describe. Some call it a ‘voice’ others call it a compulsion, or their divine muse that lays out the game plan drawn from the seed of imagination. The writer as a scribe leaves each writing session either exhilarated or surprised that a character has chosen to embolden their voice.

Once this arises, all thinking dwells on the place and society you are creating. The heart’s longing cannot be denied. The brain might test resilience, and negative emotions might slip in, depending on who is invited into your inner circle. Those external voices of doom and gloom, which might be your own if you allow it, kill inspiration. Shut them all out—regardless of who they are or what they have to say. It is YOUR story. Own it. Let the editors and ARC readers speak later in the publication process. Writing your raw story is your lone venture.

The heart’s longing cannot be denied.

You are never truly alone. Your main character will step up to lead you by the hand, and your secondary characters will vie for your attention, urging you to consider their point of view.

When many voices clamber for recognition, step back and surrender to a higher consciousness. Meditate for guidance on the next step. Clarity allows the selection of a voice that will be meaningful for readers now and years down the track.
Once the writer’s imagination and emotions blend with skilful writing, a great story is born.

The process is magical once you have plunged into the waters of creativity!

As Ray Bradbury said in, Zen in the Art of Writing, ‘…but one thing always remains the same: the fever, the ardour, the delight. Because I wanted to, I did.’

Allow the process to unfold, and above all, trust it. One idea at a time, one story at a time builds your body of work.

Happy writing, happy publishing, and happy reading.

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Paving the Crime Fiction Way

Why does crime fascinate the reader or the viewer? From a gripping novel to a suspenseful film, both mediums are loaded with intrigue, blood, gore, missing persons, and dead bodies, and they certainly hold our attention for more.

Pushing boundaries is the adventurous inclination invited by human fascination, as is vying for the person we want to set free from crime.

Crime writing, like reading crime novels and viewing crime films, is an emotional investment for the adrenaline rush we crave. Words on a page must do the creative hard work that diegetic or non-diegetic music elicits to keep us on edge, before, during and after the crime has been committed.

Descriptive language, sharp, short sentences, sensory imagery and specific punctuation, create and elevate the mood that befits a crucial scene in a novel. The intrigue must be deep enough for the reader to push on, chapter after chapter, well into the night, or wee hours.

Crime fiction often draws inspiration from actual crime, which allows for greater reader appeal. Research is vital to achieving a realistic, entertaining selling point.

Attending a criminal court hearing is a valuable catalyst for storylines to kick off. Make a friend in your local police station and shadow the police person to walk in their shoes for a few days. What better way to get inside the aftermath of the crime?

Visit a prison, and if allowed, ask to interview a prisoner. Getting inside the minds of criminals fuels the creative urge for the realistic crafting of your MC.

Research profiles of victims of crime and seek a psychologist or psychiatrist to gain a greater depth of understanding of why the victim might have been targeted.

Visiting crime sites long after the investigation and conviction enrich the landscapes in a crime fiction story.

Live research is valuable for the unique imaginative triggers they invite. Equally, reading crime novels of note is vital to the crime writer.

Crime documentaries are accessible anytime if physically going to a prison or crime site is not an option.

Don’t go too far. Grab the daily newspaper, and a new crime of the day or week holds our attention as we seek more on the investigation.

Unending thirst for crime novels and films continues to expand, weaving through different genres and is an inroad to writing for aspiring creatives.

Writing the right crime pays.

What are your favourite crime novels and films?

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Author Spotlight: Mel Goven

As creatives, news about a debut author from the land of one’s birth is received with great joy. The creative landscape is a connected, supportive space that celebrates newcomers to the publishing fold.

Meet Mel Goven, South African debut author of the crime novel, Unfinished, launched in July, 2022 on Amazon. Please join me in welcoming Mel Goven to the blog this month.

Get to know South African Author : Mel Goven

1. Biography : Mel Goven

I hail from Johannesburg and have quite a demanding day job as a teacher in a primary school.

Unfinished is my first novel although I have written many short stories which have gained a place in short story competitions in local magazines and writing groups.

My short story, Scorned, a crime mystery, was placed 3^rd in Woman and Home, in 2014. Love Knots, another short story, was shortlisted in the annual short story competition run by The Writer’s Group. One of my favourite short stories, Lucky, featured on a few writing blogs and had quite a successful run in 2016. All these stories can be read on my blog site.

I have also published newspaper feature articles and opinion pieces during my stint as editor for the local newspapers: The Randburg Sun, Fourways Review and the Northcliff Melville Times.

My features were around education challenges in South Africa. Some of which were: Preparing for Future Career Opportunities, Effective use of Technology in the Classroom, Private versus Public Schools.

Having always been drawn to the romance genre, I imagined I would write romance novels, which I haven’t completely taken off the table yet. However, I found my voice in thrilling crime mysteries.

I have two more novels in the pipeline and have realised that with each new world I create, I am finding myself as a writer. I don’t like conforming to a specific trope and while I admire the writing styles of my favourite authors, I don’t think I am in the same league and so choose to write my way.

I have been blessed with four incredible children of whom I am super proud. In formally starting my writing career at this stage in my life, I hope to inspire them that dreams come true at any age, no matter what challenges and obstacles arise.

2.When did your passion for writing emerge?

I love reading. I believe you must be an avid reader to be a good writer. When I was a child, I would beg my parents to take me to the library.

I visited many libraries in the area I grew up in: from the little mobile libraries that would go around the community on Tuesdays and Thursdays; to the community libraries that were finally built when the demand increased, and then to the Durban City Hall library when I was old enough to travel to the city on my own.

I started writing after I read Anne of Green Gables. I felt such a deep connection to the main character, Anne. Although she was a lifetime removed from my world in terms of the era, race, and circumstances, she felt what I felt; messed up like I did; was the odd duckling — just like me.Anyway, the community library did not have the sequel to Anne of Green Gables and so I decided to continue the story in my imagination. Eventually, I wrote it at the back of a Maths book (I did not like Maths very much). That was how I began writing.

Every time I finished reading a book, and if I felt that I wanted more from it, I would continue the story to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.

3. What inspired you to write your debut novel, Unfinished?

In 2012, I became fascinated by a story I heard from a patient in a doctor’s surgery. The patient had undergone a heart transplant a few months before and she had been excited to meet the family of her donor.

I found myself researching it and was surprised to find that some heart recipients experienced major personality changes which are sometimes connected to their donor. The idea of the heart, which we consider the seat and symbol of emotion, sparked a story and this epic drama unfolded.

Unfinished is set in Hout Bay, Cape Town, because the first human heart transplant occurred successfully at the nearby Groote Schuur Hospital. But, it is more than just a story about a heart transplant. It revivifies an unsolved murder committed almost 40-years before the story begins; those affected by that crime and how their lives have interwoven until a heart transplant finally exposes the truth. I wanted my characters to come to life on the page, and each one needed to have a voice, so I opted to write in each main character’s POV.

4. Who are your favourite authors?

I have so many. I have great respect for the classics, so Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Emily Bronte, L.M. Alcott, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and of course, L.M. Montgomery.

Contemporary authors: I would say, Khaled Hosseini, Kazuo Ishiguro and Eleanor Catton. But there are so many others. I have never restricted my reading to specific genres. I read all, except perhaps horror. Although I did spend a few sleepless nights reading Stephen King’s, The Dream Catcher.

I suppose I could say I have favourite books rather than authors. At present I am enjoying Barbara Kingsolver’s, The Lacuna. And, A Madness of Sunshine, by New Zealand author, Nalini Singh, and The Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah.

Oh, dear! There are so many more books I still have on my to-be-read list. My guilty pleasure is that I also enjoy a Harlequin romance novel now and again.

5. What advice would you offer to aspiring writers?

Write about what you experience. Write that story you wished could have had a different ending. Write about your dreams. Whatever takes seed in your imagination, write about it.

Grab your copy of Unfinished at these Amazon Book Links

Paperback

Kindle edition

Join Mel Goven on social media:

Facebook

Instagram

I extend my gratitude to Mel Goven for sharing her author journey and wonderful advice to aspiring authors. Unfinished has certainly grabbed my attention!

Happy Reading, Happy Writing.

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Discerning Choices

Is there ever too much in a writing life?

A full-time writer lives and breathes, creating fresh stories, poetry, and essays. Nothing is ever too much for the creative.

When starting out as a writer, passion draws one to all things writing, from social media, literary associations, events both live and online and a plethora of books on how to write and publish. FOMO consumes the early years, but on the flip side, it can erode creative time.

Over time, whittle down to those activities that create the time and space for the creative process together with growing an author brand and business. There is much to gain from trying different groups and associations to test what fits your values and the type of writer you hope to be.

Be unique, select memberships wisely

Don’t strive to be someone else. Readers appreciate authenticity.

While exploring the creative cyber space, books, groups, and associations, you realise, over time, what adds value to your work.

It is vital to look for integrity when seeking to find where you belong as an artist in what can be an overwhelming space if trying to fit in with more than you can humanly manage.

Passion and FOMO drive the need to be a part of all and more

Give priority to the innate reason for choosing a creative life. This will guide your understanding of where to invest your time and growth. Running your own creative business is a mammoth task before investment in virtual assistants.

In the initial stages of a creative life, creatives might manage a day job and fit in a creative life after hours, besides managing rest and domesticity.

To ensure you give adequate creative time to your work, divvy up time to at least two associations that echo your values. An authentic organisation such as ALLi guarantees professional development, keeps you informed of current writing and publishing trends. Podcasts and FB live monthly advice sharing, and a Self-PubCon offer advice not to be missed. A directory of vetted services available to ALLi members is where you will find cover designers, editors, and many other services you require as a creative in publishing.

Depending on where you live in the world, you might hook up with a local association and join a Facebook Group or two for the quality of the experience. It is easy to slip down the rabbit-hole chasing after what appears bigger and better. Over time, this will steal valuable time from your ultimate purpose: to write and write more.

Sharing across author platforms is a great way to promote your work to different readers while helping promote the work of writers you enjoy and admire to your supporters. This garners support from grateful creatives who return the respect by promoting your work.

The creative space is generous and supportive. Find your authentic niche and belong to grow your creative works.

Please share the platforms you enjoy in the comment box below to help fellow aspiring writers make discerning creative choices.

Happy Writing, Happy Learning!

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Experience and Writing

Does life experience matter for writing a book?

There are two answers to this question (In my book, anyway).

Experience matters in writing to represent an authentic voice, if the story/plot pertains to a particular generation/profession/life situation etc – authenticity will draw the reader into the story. A sense of place if core to the tale, and references a real place rather than a fictional setting, the experience of having visited a place, such as a town, beach, farm, a particular building etc, will add lustre to the place described. This makes the reader feel they inhabit the fictional setting.

If life experience, in the numerical sense, is absent, the young aspiring writer will achieve as much as his or her experienced counterparts if the novice writer reads widely and writes extensively. It is universally understood that to write well, one must read widely and often. What one reads is important to add believability to a time, place, or character beyond the true-life experience of the young writer.

Both actual life experience and vicarious life experience hold value in the depth and authenticity in the stories writers create. The experience gained during and through the composing process enhances light, shade, depth, and adds colour to the prose.

Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life. ~ Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Seasoned and aspiring generations of writers have much to gain from each other. Writing groups offer a wealth of opportunity to sharpen the ability to write through the voice of any age or place, or past life experience. Wisdom is not age/number bound, neither is the capacity to learn a new way to meet the market of readers ready to devour new releases that offer meaningful connections.

The value of experience is not in seeing much, but in seeing wisely. William Osler.

Research, like reading, broadens the ‘life experience’ of a writer. Interviewing people who are of the generation, time, and place before that of the writer is valuable for crafting a character, place and society that is alive on the page.

Mind, manners, and morals of a time before one’s own is accessible, not only via digital means, although the digital connection helps the researching writer find a genuine contact who might willingly be interviewed. To honour the sharing of memories of a time past is often rewarded by a mention in the author’s acknowledgement of sources consulted. Writers take great delight in doing this.

Similarly, when writing crime or detective fiction, visiting police stations, attending court cases, interviewing police officers, or shadowing an officer/detective on the beat is a hands-on way to gaining their work life experience.

The writer’s map has many points of entry… it comes down to individual choice ~Mala Naidoo

On another note, the broader necessary experience as a writer, the how, why, and the business of being a writer are accessible through Facebook groups, writing organisations, attending webinars, and signing up for a masterclass, as is reading a recommended book on how to write and manage a writing business. From a range of noteworthy groups, books, or organisations, the aspiring/new writer embraces and shapes what is needed to craft a unique voice/work of art.

Experience can’t be taught. Anonymous.

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Creative Time and Space

You work full time but have a raging desire to write that book buried deep inside you.

If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.’ ~ Toni Morrison

How can I make it happen?

Time and space are necessary, negotiation with your after work, home tribe is mandatory — your loved ones under the same roof need to know the rules of the ring-fence around your creative time. Tell them, the adults and children alike, that this is your scared time after dinner, and family time. It will be a stretch on your energy levels, it will erode your sleep time… but if you seriously want to, not hope to achieve your hidden dream, then lost sleep is a small sacrifice.

The space is as sacred as the time and needs a physical barrier around it to avoid little ones from tottering in to play.

Say you choose nine-thirty to eleven thirty each night, stick to it unless there is something serious that requires your attention. A no-phones-space or noise cancelling headset is all the additional equipment you need to lock in the time and space for your burst of creativity each day.

Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences ~ Sylvia Plath

Quality, rather than quantity, counts during this spiritual time to achieve what you have set out to do. Adherence to this time space includes weekends. Be prepared for a dent in your social life. Exceptions are granted for extra special occasions—birthdays, wedding anniversaries, graduation night, etc. These are outside the prohibited norm, and you might have a special occasion not included here. Limit these to those dearest to you. Dwindling social circles are inevitable if your social tribe doesn’t appreciate what you’re doing.

That’s all it takes, but regularity, commitment and determination are the way forward to having your book in hand. And what an exhilarating moment that is!

A word after a word after a word is power ~ Margaret Atwood

As progress happens, negotiate a reduced day job working hours with your manager as you create more time and space for your creativity to flourish.

The writer also needs time and space to read, read, read, all the poetry, craft books, and novels one can fit into a busy day to enhance the craft of writing. Shorten an office lunch break, stroll outdoors and add to the daily scribblings.

And there’s connecting with creative peers for inspiration. It could be a master class or a writer’s association. This tribe is essential to avoid total isolation and to validate your passion.

Soon you will spend more time in your creative space and limited time on your day job.

Go tell that story you have harboured for so long. The world is waiting!

You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write! ~ Saul Bellow

Happy writing as you create the time and space for holy writing hours!

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Author Spotlight: Keshni Washington

It is with great joy today that I travel on the blog from Sydney to Washington to feature the inspirational Keshni Washington who I met through an introduction from a respected and trusted mutual acquaintance. I have had the privilege of attending a virtual screening of ‘Immigrant Story Telling Night’ with Keshni Washington and speakers on the night who shared their honest, authentic, lived experiences as immigrants.

Regardless of where we reside in the world, the connection is palpable.

Author – Keshni Washington

My ten questions introduce Keshni’s life and work in Washington DC as a writer and compassionate person, living, working, and contributing to DC society with a strong connection to her South African roots.

1.What is your most vivid memory of South Africa?

I miss those perfect hot dry Joburg summer evenings, the smoke of a braai (bbq) with friends and the clear skies and stars. Along with this memory, I also miss the taste of Koo baked beans and South African mayo potato salad.

2. Did you move to Washington for work?

Yes, I was recruited from South Africa to work for an international non-profit that is based in Washington DC. I had never been to the USA before coming through for the interviews. I worked there for 8 years but have been trying my hand at being an entrepreneur for the past year.

3. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I can remember composing the opening to my first book when I was 11 on the walk to and from school in Chatsworth, Durban. But I was soon discouraged and advised to do something more financially rewarding that would secure my future – I grew up in an apartheid segregated neighborhood and so being able to support yourself and others financially was a natural priority. I put away the dream until decades later in life. Coming back to it about 5 years ago, reaffirmed the feeling inside me, that this is what I was meant to do, and I know I will be telling stories for the rest of my life. I have been learning and honing my skills and now have two draft novels.

4. Tell us about your ‘Signal Fire Series’ podcast and what motivated you to do it.

I wanted to fuel my own fires of inspiration by talking to some of the people that inspire me about their journeys and glean some of their wisdom. I realized quickly that these conversations could do the same for others out there, whatever their passion. Since I have deep roots in South Africa, I decided to host conversations with both Americans and people from my first home. It has been an expansive experience, in which I have found a new admiration for every single person’s journey, whether they pursue their passion in their spare time or full time. It’s my offering, and I hope the person who needs it will find their connection and inspiration.

5. Please share your recent publishing success and writing motivation.

Published in Yellow Arrow Literary Journal

I have recently had short pieces/essays published in American literary journals: Yellow Arrow Literary Journal, Mer Vox Quarterly and Pen-in-Hand Literary Journal. I have also been fortunate to attend two writing workshop intensives – VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation) with author Daniel Jose Older and Tin House Writing Workshop with author Alaya Dawn Johnson.

Keshni Washington’s favorite writing spaces where a cup of South African Rooibos tea is served at the Jamaican Tea Shop in DC.

6. What genre do you enjoying reading the most?

This is hard to narrow down as I read just about everything. When I was young, I was obsessed with science fiction. When I got older, I gravitated to literary fiction and poetry. Over the past year, I have been reading a lot of YA as my latest novel is a YA novel, which has been a ton of fun.

7. Tell us about Tin House, and the experience you have gained/are gaining.

Tin House is an American publisher of award-winning books of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; home to a renowned workshop and seminar series; and partner of a critically acclaimed podcast, Tin House champions writing that is artful, dynamic, and original.

The writing workshop consists of a series of small classes of no more than eight writers per class, so spots are limited. I got to work with the amazing Alaya Dawn Johnson. As part of the selection process, I submitted the first three chapters of my book, and these chapters were critiqued during the workshop by both my classmates and my workshop leader. All my classmates were critiqued this way. It was an invaluable opportunity for feedback and discussion. I had one-on-one meetings with Alaya and a literary agent who gave me feedback on my query letter. There were many amazing craft lectures by the faculty, generative exercises, and discussions about the publishing industry. We had the opportunity to do a reading from our work and mingled with other amazing writers attending and teaching at the workshop. It was an intense but invaluable experience.

8. When did KAMA DC start and what is your role at KAMA DC?

I first found Kama DC when I signed up to participate in their Immigrant Story-Telling Night. (where immigrants share a five-minute story from their experience on the theme of the night.) I have since stayed with Kama DC as a volunteer – part of the Storytelling team. Kama DC is a nonprofit in the DC area, run by volunteers, whose mission is to build community through immigrant-led experiences, providing a platform for immigrants to teach classes, share stories and their skills and passions to foster awareness, understanding and community. I also inaugurated and now run the @immigrantsOftheDMV Instagram feed, which is similar to Humans of New York in that we invite immigrants on the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area to do a takeover – hold the handle and share a bit about their story, home country, and experiences in the USA. It is a wonderful group of people and I am immensely proud to be a part of this mission.

9. What has been most inspirational about your semester of Creative Writing at GW?

During this semester we get to learn from published author Cutter Wood. It is focused on creative non-fiction aka essays, and how to write our true stories. As my self-study has been focused on fiction and novel writing for many years it’s wonderful to develop this different writer muscle. It is a small class of 13 people. We write a new piece every week, so I have to dig around in my memories and experiences and create something on a schedule. And the best part is sharing in class and getting to grow through the experiences and creations of the wonderful writers in my class.

10. If there is one piece of advice that you would share with young aspiring writers, what would it be?

To just start. Just write. Whether you think it’s imperfect or feel you are not ready. Just write. Put your fingers to the keyboard, or your pen to paper today, start journaling today. You are not too young nor too old. Just write. You will get better by doing, I guarantee this. But you must start, the world needs your stories.

With gratitude and best wishes to the inspirational Keshni Washington for sharing her creative journey, life and work in Washington DC.

Connect with Keshni here:

Website

The Signal First Series Podcast

Instagram

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Patience and Perseverance

As creatives, we are flexible in what we do if we are steering the vessel.

A sense of place and time is important to the creative, but in the unpredictability of current times, adapting to everything that comes our way is daunting.

Patience is the ultimate virtue in a creative life. Nothing happens overnight, now more than ever, with all that blew in with 2020.

It is the slow burn that needs a tender mind, hand and heart

Amidst waiting for the right time, there is the desire for the energy of the muse to enlighten the artist on how much, when, and what will be written/created. This wait is underpinned by the bend and twist of the tide of change that tests adaptability.

Shifting an established creative routine generates a splurge of musings when the noise and demands of new daily expectations receive attention.

A daily meeting with oneself in morning reflections on what is and is not working facilitates the coming to terms with how to create a new routine.

Reflection is the art of patience that sharpens the creative pen.

The writing muse happily visits if the mind is willing.

Patience takes hard work; it sits on the back of perseverance — one without the other is a no go.

To cultivate the art of patience, look at reactions/behaviours to situations outside of creativity, learn from it and readjust the behaviour. While patience is a virtue, it is also a personal inner medic, keeping creative work in check by allowing the body and mind to process situations without elevating stress levels.

Finding what calms and settles the creative is the best way to grow in being patient rather than becoming a patient.

The writing world is competitive enough without adding layers of undue stress — the art of writing is profoundly therapeutic.

After writing a scene or chapter, the sense of exhilaration that follows such achievement is remarkable. Journal these moments to refresh a reflective morning that needs a reminder about why we do what we do.

To be a writer, requires barrel-loads of patience in how to nurture a story from seed to flower, chip back words and scenes, polish to refine the story and then publish.

Patience, perseverance, and adaptability are the keys to creating more stories and poems as is refining before a book/product hits retail shelves.

Step back, let time and place do the work, relax overthinking and communication to create valuable space to refine the manuscript. This aspect of the creative zone has the potential for success, abundant success if that is the desire.

Be gentle and patient with yourself, persevere with your creative goals and adapt to the ever-changing demands of a writing and publishing life.

Go well in all your endeavours.

Share, like and comment on what works for you as a creative sailing through the winds of change.

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Creativity: Flex and Extend

Routine is necessary to accomplish a finished product. The creative benefits from a routine that maximises goals and intentions.

Rote, however, harms creative growth when curiosity is denied in favour of robotic daily ‘doing’ that limits the capacity and capabilities of the mind. Rote erodes enjoyment, takes the fun out of creativity if allowed to fester in mindlessness.

Once we relinquish the act of questioning, debating, and learning alternative ways, the creative quest goes down the rabbit-hole

Open to what others are doing successfully in their creative pursuits. Debate with the self, first, to test how to improve our creative patterns and when we observe or flex to alternative methods, before embracing them, then we are on the route to extending the creative mind.

What we read is as significant as what we write. As a fiction writer, it is essential for me to move beyond restricting myself to only reading fiction.

Get out of the box – mind the bog

It is imperative that we read judiciously selected, respected successful forerunners of the craft of fiction—past and present—for inspiration on the ways in which we can flex the mind. Engaging with the information gathered is the actual flexing—then question what does not sit well. Argue why this is so, look for alternatives to the arguments that have surfaced. Never ignore your internal unrest without asking why and how. Why am I unsettled by this? How should I address why I feel this way? We learn to flex and extend our skills from observing first and then listening to what is around us. The inner well is deep, but testing the waters from the ocean of talent available deepens and brightens the path ahead.

The choice to extend ourselves is within our grasp to refresh or radicalise how we create. Flex to invite minor changes, analyse what is working for you, and incrementally extend to achieve more.

Like muscles that face a new physical challenge which is overcome by gradual flexing and extending, achieved through the art/act of trying—not rote, but being open to challenging the self, so too, the creative mind grows.

Photo Credit: My Life Through a Lens (Unsplash)

Creative and Critical

As creatives, we ought to be critical thinking beings—not cynical but critical. Herein is the source for debate to generate fresh waves of thinking and doing.

Watching a documentary, for example, on an unfamiliar topic that holds some interest is beneficial for starting the mindset extension with exposure to new knowledge. This opens inner and external debates that arise from the observation phase to grow the knowledge base and experience on the subject/topic.

Extend listening skills to enhance creative growth without visual distractions by listening to podcasts that present new knowledge to stimulate thinking without the bias of the visual effect. The brain rain received generates novel ways of thinking or questioning how we can reinvent old patterns.

Never stop asking why, how or what can I gain from this?

As fiction writers, we should seek to understand the values that differ from our own to invite creative ideas to emerge from this openness to what lies outside of our inner workings.

I ground my novels in, in our angst and joy we are one under the sky of humanity.’ Inclusivity is my pre-wired emotional mindset because I have lived my formative years under South Africa’s apartheid regime’s divisive rule.

Suggested Reading

Try reading all or extracts from the following non-fiction books to open new vistas of understanding, or to deepen your understanding of human relations, justice, and politics, if this is of interest.

Essays – George Orwell

The Source of Self-Regard– Toni Morrison

The End of Imagination – Arundhati Roy

Caste – The lies that Divide Us – Isabel Wilkinson

Pick up, or do something different—something you have never read or done before and observe, reflect and note by writing what it stirs within. Get past the initial discomfort then decide if you want to extend what you do and how you do it.

When we flex the mind in a new direction, there’s discomfort at first, when extended, it fuels passion and ignites creativity

How do you flex and extend the mind in your creative pursuits?

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2020 and Beyond – Voices in Literature

Diverse voices exist in literature but are under-represented in traditional publishing

The tragedy of George Floyd’s death in the United States has sparked a resurgence for the recognition of black writers. Read the rumble in the UK here on what the newly found Black Writer’s Guild has initiated.

It is shocking to note that black writers are offered a lower advance to that of their white contemporaries, and editors ask for white characters to be added to books. At some universities, students are asked to write for a maninstream audience denying rich cultural voices that confirm that we are indeed, …one under the sky of humanity.

As an author of colour, in Australia, I faced the dilemma of whether I should create a neutral ‘non-black’ pen name to get publishing recognition. But my writing mission is, In our angst and joy, we are ONE under the sky of humanity, which does not support using a pen name and so authenticity prevailed.

My apartheid past in South Africa had stolen the right to feel comfortable in my skin or to dare to speak out against racism. Hence my debut novel Across Time and Space and the sequel Vindication Across Time, present the bald face of racism as a universal disease through my eyes. My third novel, Souls of Her Daughters exposes injustice on multiple levels.

Fear makes one believe that a name that hints at race would be bypassed by publishers and readers. Listen to the words of author Michael La Ronn who articulates the issues black writer’s face in writing and publishing. Note what he says about gaslighting

Racism – Inequality – Injustice – Prejudice – by any name must be caught and called in the books we read, movies we watch and conversations we have

The Zulu word Ubuntu refers to the human spirit as it should be:

I am because we are
humanity towards others
the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity

In my writing of multicultural stories – the spirit of Ubuntu prevails.

What will you be reading and watching in the renaissance of Black Lives Matter in literature?

The movies, In My Country poignantly depicts the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa, and Rabbit-Proof Fence, a gut-wrenching revelation on Australia’s Stolen Generation are reminders of human atrocities that should never be allowed to recur…

From Uncle Tom’s Cabin and beyond, voices have raised the alarm but sadly the call to end racism fell on deaf ears. Now it must be made history, an unforgotten one to remind us that prejudice is heinous and should be obliterated from the stage of life. Diverse voices that are in the main ignored, share why the human condition needs a radical shake-up.

Feel the angst, walk a mile in the shoes of the racially downtrodden – only then will you know the corrosive impact of racism.

The wound of prejudice cuts deep to the soul leaving indelible scars.

But you pick your head up, as you do, to face another day no longer silent especially to subtle bias…

In the wake of the change in 2020 and beyond, walk a mile through these suggestions to know and feel that in our diversity the common factor is that we are emotional beings with the capacity to rectify prejudice by the stories we tell and read.

Here are ten suggestions where diverse voices rip out your heart to sensitise your soul.

Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela
. My Place -Sally Morgan
Talking to My Country – Stan Grant
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead
Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
Cry the Beloved Country – Alan Paton
The Power of One – Bryce Courtney
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence – Derald Wing Sue

May you write and read stories that share histories to sensitise our souls to dismantle racial bias.

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Writing For Success

In my first post on the prolific and inspirational Trinidadian author and poet Brenda Mohammed, we got a glimpse into her writing journey. Brenda has written twenty-five publications — her passion and dedication to literature is phenomenal.

Today we chat to Brenda Mohammed to catch up on her rapidly growing and expanding writing life and the scoop on her latest writing venture!

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a former Bank Manager of a leading bank in Trinidad and Tobago. Later in life, I moved into the Insurance field and excelled there also. I always loved dealing with finance, and never dreamed that I would fall in love with Literature.

When did you start writing?

Actually, I was always a very good writer in my school days and won the top English Language prize when I graduated from High school at sixteen years of age.

When I joined the bank my superiors at the bank were always impressed with my ability to learn quickly, my efficiency in every department I was assigned, and also my writing skills.

When I was promoted to the job of Assistant Manager Credit I had to prepare detailed financial proposals for the Manager’s signature to be sent to the bank’s Head Office for approval. The Manager rarely changed a word, and the Bank’s Head Office always approved the proposals without any questions.

The Banking term for that was “clean sanctions,” something other Managers wished they could achieve. Later on, when I was appointed as Manager I continued with that skill and moved on to Senior Managerial positions. Yet, writing books never crossed my mind and I moved into Insurance where I also excelled, qualifying for membership in the Million Dollar Round Table, The Premier Association for Financial Professionals, {the name pertains to sales achieved and not earnings}, until I was struck by cancer and told by my doctor in Trinidad that she could do nothing for me.

To make a long story short, I survived and wrote the book, I am Cancer Free, which became a bestseller, and gave me the encouragement to write twenty-four more books.

You wrote twenty-five books. Can you tell us the genre of those books?

I write both fiction and non-fiction. The genres include Memoirs, Romance, Mystery, Poetry, Children, Science Fiction and Self Help.

Tell us something about your multi-award-winning book Zeeka Chronicles.

Zeeka Chronicles is about a vengeful man who misuses science in the year 2036 to create havoc in a small exotic island named Gosh. He is angry for two reasons. After his former lover jilted him, he married another on the rebound. His wife contracted the zika virus when she was pregnant. His child was born deformed as a result, and she died. He blamed the hospital for her death and his deformed child. This vengeful man kidnapped the son of his former lover and the story evolves thereafter.

The story is set in the year 2036 when there is great advancement in medical and information technology. It is a high-tech world.

Skillful robots are used as home helpers, and police use high tech weaponry, electric cars, and smartphones. The hospitals are well equipped with state of the art equipment and doctors and scientists are making significant breakthroughs and inventing cures for patients with critical illnesses.

Yet, in this high-tech world, the minds of some human beings remain evil.

Can Mankind ever achieve a sinless state? Will human beings forever continue to foster greed, malice, anger, jealousy, and the desire to control and take revenge?

I wrote this book to highlight the fact that material things can never improve the minds of some individuals.

Today, in spite of all the new and advanced developments, crime has increased to unstoppable levels. What will change humanity?

The benefits to readers are the underlying lessons to be learnt from the content, especially in light of the situation the world is experiencing today with COVID 19.

Who are the primary readers of your books?

My books are for both mature audiences and young adults and the children books are, of course for children.

What are you working on now?

I am working on the third story in a Mystery series – Barry Holmes Mysteries

What happened to Mary Loo has elements of romance, mystery and suspense. It will be a short story and should be ready for publishing by the end of May.

The book cover was designed by Mary L Schmidt.

Can you leave us with a valuable quote on Writing?

Writing is a mysterious journey of thoughts that can unravel the strangest imaginary plots.

Writing for me was exploring a new milestone.

What are your social accounts if people want to connect with you?

I am on Linked In, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, where I have nine author pages for each genre in which I write, and a personal page.

They are – Poetry to Enlighten, Zeeka Stories, Banker turns Writer, Romance Stories, Children’s Corner, Barry Holmes Mysteries, Brenda’s Video trailers, Fascinating Memoirs and Brenda’s Publications.

I am also available as the Founder of How to Write for Success Literary Forum.

Brenda Mohammed a former Bank Manager from Trinidad is a multi-award-winning author of 25 books, and Founder of the Literary Forums How to Write for Success, Poems for Suicide Prevention, Library of How to Write for Success, and Poems against Domestic Violence. Her award-winning book HOW TO WRITE FOR SUCCESS is popular amongst writers and University students.

She recently published three best-selling Anthologies – A Spark of Hope Volumes I and II, co-authored by 49 and 64 authors respectively, and Break the Silence: An Anthology against Domestic Violence by 87 authors. All three topped the charts on Amazon as Bestsellers No 1.

In November 2018 Brenda received two awards from Readers Favorite International at an award ceremony at the Regency Hotel in Miami for two of her books, ZEEKA CHRONICLES and I AM CANCER FREE.

She was inducted into the Indie Author’s Wall of Fame in January 2020.

Brenda was also honoured on 22nd February 2020 by the Peru Government for Excellence in Literature, and in August 2019 by the Seychelles Government for her Literary skills.

You can connect with Brenda Mohammed through the links above.

I wish Brenda everything of the very best in her writing success.

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Publishing During a Global Crisis

Every corner of the world has been hit by Covid19 — life for millions has come to a grinding halt. Businesses have shut down left, right and centre. Bookstores have closed their doors. Libraries are no longer a sanctuary as silent voices are in lockdown.

The question tossed around is: do we go ahead with the launch of a new book?

My heart says yes but my mind says, should I? Then a voice whispers an answer: yes, launch it online, reach people who need to move out of the mental space of the current crisis we all face. We need the sanctity of books. Bookshops continue to take orders online if a digital book is not a preference.

In the face of a global crisis, publishing is vital now more than ever before — it says we are here, later it will speak confirming that we were here, and this is what we did. It is akin to writing historical fiction. The Great Books of the world brought us knowledge of people, cultures, religions, events, aspirations, challenges and celebrations from eras long before our current existence. Without those esteemed scribes, the artists of the past, we would be as ignorant of the world as the occupants in Plato’s cave.

Literature is the light into now, the glow of the past and spotlight into our dreams of the future. Books imprint memory

Writers have the acute ability to sense mood and observe human behaviour down to minuscule details. So, why wait? It is time to pick up the pen of prose or poetry. Each will speak of this time and of our dreams and visions. Leave the messages that say we are indeed one.

In our angst and joy, we are ONE under the sky of humanity

To ignite compassion, we must walk in the shoes of angst, or suffering, to extend love and care to others because we know it—we feel it. Stories elicit compassion and bring meaning more particularly as we sit in self-isolation to protect our loved ones and communities.

Writing and publishing must go on, as must, soft digital launches of news titles and relaunching of backlists. Lower prices, offer free titles, reach the masses by bringing meaning to the lives of those living in fear of what the next news bulletin or press conference will announce. Our uncertainty unites us in our desire for a renewed tomorrow. We inhabit the same house under a global sky.

Now we speak with the same human voice in our sans streets, sans parks, sans beaches… but we should never be reduced to fearing each other.

Keep literature flowing for generations to come—it is within our control, thanks to the digital platforms that serve us.

Keep Writing, Keep Reading.

Stay Safe.

This time too shall pass. Keeping hope alive through poetry and stories.

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End Bell

As the year draws to a close in the blink of the year bowing out, it is a time to reflect on where we are, where we’ve come from and of course where we’re heading to.

Gratitude

My gratitude for a writing life is the blessing of the creative gift to tell the stories of forgotten or unheard voices and the passion to sustain this. I am indebted to the people I’ve met along the way who support my creativity by reading my books and inspiring and supporting my desire to write more.

ALLi guides my ethical author status by providing up-to-the-minute publishing and marketing advice through podcasts, publications, members’ forums and Orna Ross’ weekly, Maker, Manager, and Marketer accountability for creatives.

The vibrant How to Write for Success FB group supports seasoned and novice writers in a nurturing, inspirational forum and is a space to create and showcase some of my pieces while supporting writers on their creations in a constructive, non-judgmental forum.

Joanna Francis Penn’s Travel and Books Podcast and Mark Dawson’s SPS Podcasts are informative, entertaining and inspirational.

Writers no longer work in isolation. Seclusion is necessary for the creative process and networking creates visibility

Publishing

The third novel in the Souls Of Her Daughters Collection was completed, titled What Change May Come and a collection of short stories, Life’s Seasons was published this year. It has been a year of many things on all of life’s fronts with life experience extending understanding and the capacity to live my passion.

2020 – Onwards and Upwards

Currently, a new novel series/trilogy is in the making with the first draft complete and chilling for a month before several rounds of editing and reworking to be born into the world in the first quarter of next year.

Poetry is a calling that intensifies as evident in the post, Poetry Educates Prose. It was a joy to have my poem, ‘Listen,’ published in the December edition of the literary journal SIPAY. Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron, Keats, Yeats and Orna Ross are poets I enjoy reading.

Additionally, supporting rising poets brings joy to my creative space.

What more…

Lots more writing and possibly looking at non-fiction and poetry publications while teaching, learning and growing.

A writing life, like reading, is the breath and pulse of life.

Have you signed up for my monthly or bi-monthly newsletters for special offers/ free books/stories and updates on new publications? Join the community here to enter and receive two free short stories.

As the year closes this chapter, I look forward with a glad and grateful heart.

Happy Reading, Happy Writing and Publishing this holiday season.

Season’s Greetings, may 2020 bring you the very best in peace, joy, good health, enhanced creative productivity, and abundant success in all your endeavours.

What are you grateful for as 2019 draws to a close?

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Proficiency and Professionalism

Author professionalism is not negotiable in a world where access to all we say, do and create is out in the world with a click.

It costs nothing to be supportive of aspiring authors and accept that there are oceans of experienced, seasoned authors out there who act as mentors and are deserving of respect and acknowledgement. Blog about the work others do put yourself out there to be blogged about and while you find your way to being noticed as a writer, notice others in a personable, professional manner.

The publishing landscape is rich and diverse with an ever-growing space for all. Collaboration is vital as learning is never exhausted. As a teacher, this lesson was all too clear with constant syllabus changes or when students challenged an idea and a new wave of thought was born. Like classrooms without borders, learning is a two-way process, and so too is the writing, and publishing world.

Pride and ego waste creative energy—aiming towards excellence is a humble, hardworking process. No one person is gifted in the craft without commitment and extensive effort in being worthy to be viewed as a mentor/master of the craft.

Being proficient is ensuring great covers clothe your labour of creative love, and that they appeal to the genre and audiences’ interest. Having your work edited is an important step in the writing process to rise to professional standards in the industry. (although creativity is not an industry for me—a labour of love for sure!) Publishing services come with a price tag if it’s quality that matters. With quality, the stamp of professionalism is assured.

Never compromise your values…

Professionalism as an author like any walk of life is also about expressing thanks and appreciation without the ‘I’m the artist’ big-headed attitude. Collectively a professional outlook makes success a possibility. Professionalism can be challenged when confronted by unethical practices in the publishing ecosystem but as always it’s best to walk away, let it be, there are plenty more avenues out there to pursue, that might well be a better fit for you. Like any job, if the fit is not good, move on to greener pastures, or create your own. As a writer, you steer the vessel on the path you choose to take.

Authors are among some of the most exploited people if unaware of the pitfalls. The way to armour yourself is to sign up for authentic associations, register for webinars and Facebook live sessions, attend conferences, network, to educate yourself in knowing that the allure of being published comes with ethical responsibility. Read, research and find your way with the confidence that you are proficient and professional.

Writing is a solitary process but being an author is a collaborative role. Aspiring writers, you are not alone. Pick who you follow, to wisely ensure you are protecting your craft and practice.

Happy Writing/Creating and Publishing.

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Word Rhythm – some time… somehow

People ask, ‘so how does one complete a novel?’ The simple response is, ‘write every day.’

Fifty words on a page are better than a blank page.

Consistency is key and if for whatever reason writing is impossible on a day, double up the output in the next writing session. Perhaps not all in one go, divide the writing time to two sessions if possible, on a given day that fits in with what is already on your plate.

Writing more is by showing up, at a regular time, bottom on the seat, minimal distractions or no distractions at all. Commit to a solid ninety-minutes, then change the activity, but if the juice is still flowing go back for another session.

Blocks of time, free of distractions is essential to see a creative project to completion.

Ways in which to maximise creative time is to have a notepad/journal at the ready wherever you are. I have A5 journals in my handbag, workbag and pencils stashed in every pocket. Sitting in the doctor’s or dentist’s waiting room, or with colour in your hair at the hairdresser, or as I do, while sitting in the car at the car wash, scribble a few lines to keep the momentum of your story going. Watching soap suds gyrate in a splash of colour stirs the imagination! Back at your desk, if that’s where you prefer to write, draw those mini journal creative thoughts into your WIP manuscript.

Having word count goals helps to hold one accountable. My target is to finish a chapter at each writing session, if possible, or to leave a trigger sentence for the next writing session, to pick up the pace, action and momentum.

Caught in a roadblock? Pull out a notepad and write, if you can’t take your eyes off the road, audio record your verbal musings — now traffic cops, I dare to say, have not come up with traffic fines for the some time… somehow writer at a standstill in a roadblock, NOT in moving traffic, I must add – that is a massive NO-NO! Anything that will hinder the imagination is a blaring siren and flashing lights… although a fictional high-speed chase adds adrenaline to a thriller… let me add that… to my…

Like we need our zzzz’s, we need our number of words down on the page each day.

Some like holding themselves accountable through a writing group and others prefer to create their own deadlines. Either way, commitment matters to take your draft from a manuscript to an actual book.

Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success ~ Wolfgang Von Goethe

Some have a few writing days set aside in the week and commit like it’s a job they go to for five or six hours a day. If these are the only days available, the habit is cultivated and creative productivity soars on those days.
Roads trips, as long as you’re not doing the driving, is another great way to nab some writing hours, the imagination will be stimulated as you travel through various locations.

My next some time… somehow is to jump on a train and go to the furthest end of the line and back while writing. I am a desk-bound writer so this is an adventure that might or might not yield a new result. Let’s hope nobody throws me off the train for wearing heavily shaded sunglasses, a cap and seen to be furtively writing some secretive lines, perhaps on the comings and goings on each platform?

Get on that train, write at the car wash, whatever you do, do create space for your book!

Happy Writing, Happy Musing!

Carpe Diem!

Please share your some time… somehow to help others maximise writing outcomes.

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Editing Tips

The End! A joyous moment in finishing a novel after many months or years of getting up at the crack of dawn or staying up late into the night, writing the story that has burned within, but, it is only finished after the professional edit.

A product in hand created from the imagination in a fictional story is a proud moment. Now the editing process looms. No book ever goes out into the world without this step or rather several takes of this step.

I’ll share a few pointers that might be what you’re looking for, or perhaps you have another way of approaching the first round of editing.

Let the manuscript sit for a week before you look at it. Some say leave it for a longer period, perhaps six weeks before revisiting the composition with new eyes. Whatever works for you, ensure you have somewhat removed yourself from the emotional hooks of the work – this break allows the gaps, errors and omissions to come to light.

Print out the draft and run through the hard copy with several sharpened pencils, an eraser, and highlighter while correcting or adding in notes for a reconsideration of scenes etc. Scanning through a few chapters a day, when most energetic and lucid, perhaps over a two-week period, is an initial step towards removing redundancies, adding in omissions and checking spelling and other inconsistencies that arose during the feverish days of writing.

The second step is to read the draft out loud and record the reading. This highlights the flow or lack of it in dialogue and the unfolding of the story arc. This is followed by revisiting what needs to be rectified on pace, plot and character. Often at this stage, while characters might be developed, plot holes might be discovered.

After this is cleaned up, I usually format the draft as an Ebook and copy it to Kindle or iBooks and read it again on my device. Things that were missed in the last round of checks, pop in this new format and so the next round of corrections begin. This takes two rounds of Ebook checks. Reading chapters backwards has the benefit of noting errors that slip past the eye, as the mind sees and reads what is not there when following the sequence and ‘sense’ of the story.

Then a proof-reader is engaged for what the emotionally-hooked eye might have missed during the abovementioned process. All this occurs before the professional edit – a positive step towards getting advanced feedback on what could be improved upon to make the story sing. Ultimately, it’s up to the writer in what is accepted or rejected as plot, pace or character change.

Let the manuscript rest before revisiting it with ‘new eyes’

Some suggested pointers on key areas to work through during the self-editing of a manuscript.

Astound the Reader

Think about what intrigue is set up. How will the reader be surprised by an event or situation? Will there be a sudden revelation that the reader did not anticipate? The trick is to keep the reader turning every page in expectation of the next scene. Astounding the reader improves with each book written. The imagination is like a muscle, once taken to uncharted waters, it grows and develops. How is this achieved? ‘Read, read, read,’ the works of other successful writers, or be curious by turning to non-fiction books on the craft of writing. Become a life-long student of the craft.

Cut-out excess

In this fast-paced existence we lead, being superfluous kills the reader’s interest. In composing the first draft, write as much as possible – get all the ideas down in whatever fashion they emerge but be prepared to cull a lot during the editing phase.

Become a surgeon or a skilled chef of words, cutting away the disease or layers of fat that serve no purpose other than to make the story sluggish. This is referred to as ‘killing your darlings’ – the crutch words that we depend on are the unconscious gremlins that creep in.

Try not to include a back-story or contextual details that serve no purpose to the story – this is info-dumping that fills white space on the page to no effect in engaging the reader. Here, reading the manuscript out loud assists with discerning where the info-dump might be sitting with unnecessary details that steal from creating a more in-depth representation of an idea/character. Don’t give it all away too soon.

Make the Prose Sing

Style – choice of language and the general flow of the narration is an ongoing development of the writer’s craft that is enhanced with every piece written. The reader wants to see, feel, and be moved by the story. The use of metaphors, symbolism, imagery etc – bring music to the language of the story. This is what it means to ‘show, don’t tell.’

Additionally, look at how chapters end, are they leaving the reader with something that makes it difficult to put the book down? Keep it subtle and suggestive leaving the reader craving for more.

‘… emotional rawness in unadorned simplicity’ is indicative that the prose is appreciated for the meaning created, as is, ‘another engaging and addictive tale…’ Read your work as a reader, to feel, find, enjoy and connect to the story, then go back to the drawing board if something is not ‘singing,’ to polish the prose for a timeless read.

Create Characters with Emotional Depth

‘No tears in the writer,

No tears in the reader,

No surprise for the writer,

No surprise for the reader.

~ Robert Frost

If a writer does not feel it, how will the reader feel it? Invite the reader into the character’s head- what do they think, feel, see, and believe? How do they demonstrate this through their words, deeds and actions? Reading a review that states, ‘…brought tears to my eyes…’ is an indication that emotional triggers achieved the desired effect. Hearing a reader say, ‘I want a character like that in my life…’ signifies that a character has the effective emotional depth to elicit such a reader response. Reader reactions in, ‘… the characters had depth and charm…’ reveals a connection with the reader.

Creating believable characters with everyday concerns allows the reader to step into a character’s life to experience their foibles, vulnerabilities, strengths and challenges.

What are your thoughts on editing the first draft before the professional edit?

Please add your comments in the box below to share your views.

Happy Writing, Careful Editing, Enjoyable Reading!

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