Lucy Mitchell's Blog, page 44

The Good Things That Come From Tough Writing Times

I’ve had my share of tough writing times. I’ve experienced rejection, written blog posts about my creativity drying up, moaned about my writing, cried about my writing, had sleepless nights about crater-sized plot holes, written lengthy emails to writing friends about my troubling procrastination levels and filled out lots of diary pages about writing failures.

It is always important to remember that good things come too during tough writing times.

Good things like:

Friendship. Some of my best creative friendships have started with a supportive blog comment or an encouraging tweet post during a bad writing time.
New Characters. I have created some great new characters, whilst trying to clear up the literary mess, after a writing failure. I like to think the universe feels bad for your story not working out and sends you a gift. In my case a wild and reckless main character who would bring me so much joy that I would end up forgetting all about my creative pain.
New Direction. Sometimes writing failures have pointed me in a new and interesting direction. I love this because my ‘I know best’ writing mindset would have prevented me from pursuing new directions.
Knowledge. I have acquired new knowledge about writing with each failure. The universe knows I struggle to read writing craft books and take the advice of others, so it makes me learn new stuff through failure. *Sigh* The universe is so thoughtful…
New Stories. Whilst sifting through the wreckage of shelved stories I have discovered new story ideas, buried deep. Never delete or throw anything away when it comes to writing.
Humour. The best way to get over rejection is to find some funny aspect about the situation and laugh it out with writer friends. I think laughing helps the creative healing process.
Perseverance. I have learnt that you can’t buy this on Amazon. It’s something you have to cultivate yourself. Overcoming writing failures is one way of growing your own batch of this stuff.
Patience. A writing journey cannot be rushed. Books need time to stew inside your head, in notebooks and on your laptop screen. Writing failures have taught me to slow down and think stuff through.
The chance to do something again. We are so lucky as we get the chance to rewrite, modify and adjust our stories. Can you imagine if we were only allowed one attempt?

I know this is not easy to do if you are in the middle of a bad writing patch. However I promise one day you will look back and see what I’m talking about.

It has not been easy for me with writing during a pandemic. I think on day 1 of lockdown my creative muse ran for the hills. For days after I couldn’t face my writing. Now, I am trying to see what green shoots of good things I can see coming through during this rough time for creativity. This lockdown has forced me to do new things; I’ve started doing insta story recordings where I talk directly to the phone camera. If only you knew how much bravery it’s taken me to do this

How To Handle The Short Story That Demands to be Turned into Something Bigger #AmWriting

This post is dedicated to all the demanding and pushy short stories out there, currently pestering their writers and demanding to be turned into something bigger.

I read a great quote yesterday from a Barnes & Nobel article where a short story was described as a literary iceberg, tales with so many ideas unseen below the surface. This is exactly what I think they are, I just wish they were not so demanding.

If you’ve never been stalked by a short story that you once wrote – you’ve led a sheltered writer’s life!

This is what happens:

You write a short story.
Edit it, revise it, enter it into a few competitions if you’re feeling groovy or put it away in a folder or a drawer sighing with creative contentment. In your head your work is done here and it is time to move onto something else.
Your short story, however, has other ideas…
It refuses to leave you alone, climbing into your head whilst you sleep and turning up in your dreams…uninvited. 
As you rise in the morning you feel its presence inside your mind. You go about your daily life trying to ignore it and whispering inwardly ‘you were just a short story, a creative fling…a bit of writing passion.’
But it doesn’t go away.
A week later and it is still stalking you in the small hours, hanging out with you whilst you clean the loo and sat in the passenger seat as you drive to work.
It starts to whisper ‘stop playing games. Write more of me,‘ and those fateful words, ‘I should be a novel!’

Here’s my advice on handling this challenging situation.

Expect to enter a denial phase. In your head you will run through all the reasons why you can’t write more of this short story; it was only meant to be a bit of fun and you’re not looking for anything serious after finishing your last draft novel.

Try to bury the positives at the back of your head; it was a bloody good story, it made you forget about that damn virus for a few days, you’ve read about the successful novels starting out life as a short story (Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, Arthur C Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey,) and even though you’d like to deny it there was a spark of something with this particular short story.

Prepare for the short story stalking phase to last a long time. Some stories refuse to leave you alone and I hate to say this, but I have heard of short story stalking going on for weeks and even months. Short stories have ideas way above their literary station.

Expect short stories to PLAY DIRTY! Short stories can be demanding and troublesome literary beings. They can be very determined and will do whatever it takes to get into your thoughts.

Expect all sorts of weird stuff happening to you. Your short story is trying to get your attention.

If you have other stuff planned like you have an existing project to get finished then you need to be strong with the short story. Good luck with that.

If you haven’t got anything that needs finishing then…accept defeat. This short story you have written is way more powerful than you. Go on – be a devil. Write it and turn it into something bigger.

What has been your experience with short stories?

Have a fabulous day!

Why Writer Friends Are Like Stars

The world feels like a frightening place at the moment. Once again I am not going to name that damn virus which is behind all this pain and turmoil.

It is at a time like this when we really start to appreciate the precious people in our life, the people who bring us joy and who are always there for us no matter how far away they live.

Here are some similarities between stars and writer friends. As I have a day job and kids I tend to come out, in the virtual sense, at night. So, that’s why writer friends are like stars to me.

Stars in the sky are constantly going through pressure and chemical changes. Writer friends are constantly experiencing pressure and chemical changes; when their books are being written, edited, finished, launched or reviewed.
When you are lost or upset you can look up to the night sky and get comfort from the stars. The same goes for writer friends. When you are struggling to find your way with writing or a little bit emotional (about your stinky first draft or a persistent grammar issue) you only have to look up into the Twitter night sky to see your writer friends twinkling (or tweeting) and you instantly feel better again.
Sometimes the stars are hidden behind clouds but you know they are there. The same applies to writer friends, you might not be able to see them but you know they are always there…on email, Twitter, Insta, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Writer friends enjoying literary success are like shooting stars that light up and whoosh across the night sky.  Technically speaking a shooting star is not a star, its a meteor but lets stick with the shooting star fantasy here.
Stars make you smile and writer friends make you smile.
Stars are beautiful and so too are writer friends!

Have a great day and I hope you all keep twinkling in the social media sky

Why Writer Friends Are Like Stars

The world feels like a frightening place at the moment. Once again I am not going to name that damn virus which is behind all this pain and turmoil.

It is at a time like this when we really start to appreciate the precious people in our life, the people who bring us joy and who are always there for us no matter how far away they live.

Here are some similarities between stars and writer friends. As I have a day job and kids I tend to come out, in the virtual sense, at night. So, that’s why writer friends are like stars to me.

Stars in the sky are constantly going through pressure and chemical changes. Writer friends are constantly experiencing pressure and chemical changes; when their books are being written, edited, finished, launched or reviewed.
When you are lost or upset you can look up to the night sky and get comfort from the stars. The same goes for writer friends. When you are struggling to find your way with writing or a little bit emotional (about your stinky first draft or a persistent grammar issue) you only have to look up into the Twitter night sky to see your writer friends twinkling (or tweeting) and you instantly feel better again.
Sometimes the stars are hidden behind clouds but you know they are there. The same applies to writer friends, you might not be able to see them but you know they are always there…on email, Twitter, Insta, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Writer friends enjoying literary success are like shooting stars that light up and whoosh across the night sky.  Technically speaking a shooting star is not a star, its a meteor but lets stick with the shooting star fantasy here.
Stars make you smile and writer friends make you smile.
Stars are beautiful and so too are writer friends!

Have a great day and I hope you all keep twinkling in the social media sky

Why Writer Friends Are Like Stars

The world feels like a frightening place at the moment. Once again I am not going to name that damn virus which is behind all this pain and turmoil.

It is at a time like this when we really start to appreciate the precious people in our life, the people who bring us joy and who are always there for us no matter how far away they live.

Here are some similarities between stars and writer friends. As I have a day job and kids I tend to come out, in the virtual sense, at night. So, that’s why writer friends are like stars to me.

Stars in the sky are constantly going through pressure and chemical changes. Writer friends are constantly experiencing pressure and chemical changes; when their books are being written, edited, finished, launched or reviewed.
When you are lost or upset you can look up to the night sky and get comfort from the stars. The same goes for writer friends. When you are struggling to find your way with writing or a little bit emotional (about your stinky first draft or a persistent grammar issue) you only have to look up into the Twitter night sky to see your writer friends twinkling (or tweeting) and you instantly feel better again.
Sometimes the stars are hidden behind clouds but you know they are there. The same applies to writer friends, you might not be able to see them but you know they are always there…on email, Twitter, Insta, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Writer friends enjoying literary success are like shooting stars that light up and whoosh across the night sky.  Technically speaking a shooting star is not a star, its a meteor but lets stick with the shooting star fantasy here.
Stars make you smile and writer friends make you smile.
Stars are beautiful and so too are writer friends!

Have a great day and I hope you all keep twinkling in the social media sky

Why Writer Friends Are Like Stars

The world feels like a frightening place at the moment. Once again I am not going to name that damn virus which is behind all this pain and turmoil.

It is at a time like this when we really start to appreciate the precious people in our life, the people who bring us joy and who are always there for us no matter how far away they live.

Here are some similarities between stars and writer friends. As I have a day job and kids I tend to come out, in the virtual sense, at night. So, that’s why writer friends are like stars to me.

Stars in the sky are constantly going through pressure and chemical changes. Writer friends are constantly experiencing pressure and chemical changes; when their books are being written, edited, finished, launched or reviewed.
When you are lost or upset you can look up to the night sky and get comfort from the stars. The same goes for writer friends. When you are struggling to find your way with writing or a little bit emotional (about your stinky first draft or a persistent grammar issue) you only have to look up into the Twitter night sky to see your writer friends twinkling (or tweeting) and you instantly feel better again.
Sometimes the stars are hidden behind clouds but you know they are there. The same applies to writer friends, you might not be able to see them but you know they are always there…on email, Twitter, Insta, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Writer friends enjoying literary success are like shooting stars that light up and whoosh across the night sky.  Technically speaking a shooting star is not a star, its a meteor but lets stick with the shooting star fantasy here.
Stars make you smile and writer friends make you smile.
Stars are beautiful and so too are writer friends!

Have a great day and I hope you all keep twinkling in the social media sky

Why Writer Friends Are Like Stars

The world feels like a frightening place at the moment. Once again I am not going to name that damn virus which is behind all this pain and turmoil.

It is at a time like this when we really start to appreciate the precious people in our life, the people who bring us joy and who are always there for us no matter how far away they live.

Here are some similarities between stars and writer friends. As I have a day job and kids I tend to come out, in the virtual sense, at night. So, that’s why writer friends are like stars to me.

Stars in the sky are constantly going through pressure and chemical changes. Writer friends are constantly experiencing pressure and chemical changes; when their books are being written, edited, finished, launched or reviewed.
When you are lost or upset you can look up to the night sky and get comfort from the stars. The same goes for writer friends. When you are struggling to find your way with writing or a little bit emotional (about your stinky first draft or a persistent grammar issue) you only have to look up into the Twitter night sky to see your writer friends twinkling (or tweeting) and you instantly feel better again.
Sometimes the stars are hidden behind clouds but you know they are there. The same applies to writer friends, you might not be able to see them but you know they are always there…on email, Twitter, Insta, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Writer friends enjoying literary success are like shooting stars that light up and whoosh across the night sky.  Technically speaking a shooting star is not a star, its a meteor but lets stick with the shooting star fantasy here.
Stars make you smile and writer friends make you smile.
Stars are beautiful and so too are writer friends!

Have a great day and I hope you all keep twinkling in the social media sky

Why Writer Friends Are Like Stars

The world feels like a frightening place at the moment. Once again I am not going to name that damn virus which is behind all this pain and turmoil.

It is at a time like this when we really start to appreciate the precious people in our life, the people who bring us joy and who are always there for us no matter how far away they live.

Here are some similarities between stars and writer friends. As I have a day job and kids I tend to come out, in the virtual sense, at night. So, that’s why writer friends are like stars to me.

Stars in the sky are constantly going through pressure and chemical changes. Writer friends are constantly experiencing pressure and chemical changes; when their books are being written, edited, finished, launched or reviewed.
When you are lost or upset you can look up to the night sky and get comfort from the stars. The same goes for writer friends. When you are struggling to find your way with writing or a little bit emotional (about your stinky first draft or a persistent grammar issue) you only have to look up into the Twitter night sky to see your writer friends twinkling (or tweeting) and you instantly feel better again.
Sometimes the stars are hidden behind clouds but you know they are there. The same applies to writer friends, you might not be able to see them but you know they are always there…on email, Twitter, Insta, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Writer friends enjoying literary success are like shooting stars that light up and whoosh across the night sky.  Technically speaking a shooting star is not a star, its a meteor but lets stick with the shooting star fantasy here.
Stars make you smile and writer friends make you smile.
Stars are beautiful and so too are writer friends!

Have a great day and I hope you all keep twinkling in the social media sky

Why Writer Friends Are Like Stars

The world feels like a frightening place at the moment. Once again I am not going to name that damn virus which is behind all this pain and turmoil.

It is at a time like this when we really start to appreciate the precious people in our life, the people who bring us joy and who are always there for us no matter how far away they live.

Here are some similarities between stars and writer friends. As I have a day job and kids I tend to come out, in the virtual sense, at night. So, that’s why writer friends are like stars to me.

Stars in the sky are constantly going through pressure and chemical changes. Writer friends are constantly experiencing pressure and chemical changes; when their books are being written, edited, finished, launched or reviewed.
When you are lost or upset you can look up to the night sky and get comfort from the stars. The same goes for writer friends. When you are struggling to find your way with writing or a little bit emotional (about your stinky first draft or a persistent grammar issue) you only have to look up into the Twitter night sky to see your writer friends twinkling (or tweeting) and you instantly feel better again.
Sometimes the stars are hidden behind clouds but you know they are there. The same applies to writer friends, you might not be able to see them but you know they are always there…on email, Twitter, Insta, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Writer friends enjoying literary success are like shooting stars that light up and whoosh across the night sky.  Technically speaking a shooting star is not a star, its a meteor but lets stick with the shooting star fantasy here.
Stars make you smile and writer friends make you smile.
Stars are beautiful and so too are writer friends!

Have a great day and I hope you all keep twinkling in the social media sky

Why Writer Friends Are Like Stars

The world feels like a frightening place at the moment. Once again I am not going to name that damn virus which is behind all this pain and turmoil.

It is at a time like this when we really start to appreciate the precious people in our life, the people who bring us joy and who are always there for us no matter how far away they live.

Here are some similarities between stars and writer friends. As I have a day job and kids I tend to come out, in the virtual sense, at night. So, that’s why writer friends are like stars to me.

Stars in the sky are constantly going through pressure and chemical changes. Writer friends are constantly experiencing pressure and chemical changes; when their books are being written, edited, finished, launched or reviewed.
When you are lost or upset you can look up to the night sky and get comfort from the stars. The same goes for writer friends. When you are struggling to find your way with writing or a little bit emotional (about your stinky first draft or a persistent grammar issue) you only have to look up into the Twitter night sky to see your writer friends twinkling (or tweeting) and you instantly feel better again.
Sometimes the stars are hidden behind clouds but you know they are there. The same applies to writer friends, you might not be able to see them but you know they are always there…on email, Twitter, Insta, Facebook or WhatsApp.
Writer friends enjoying literary success are like shooting stars that light up and whoosh across the night sky.  Technically speaking a shooting star is not a star, its a meteor but lets stick with the shooting star fantasy here.
Stars make you smile and writer friends make you smile.
Stars are beautiful and so too are writer friends!

Have a great day and I hope you all keep twinkling in the social media sky