Fran Macilvey's Blog, page 43
December 1, 2016
Almost Ten Years and Counting
Almost ten years and counting
Welcome to December. I can’t say I’m sorry, exactly, to see 2016 coming to a close….
I started writing seriously in 2007, and, as may be a common experience with writers, Trapped was not my first attempt at book-length penmanship. That honour belongs to my first book, Happiness Matters, which, if anyone is interested, is submission ready. (It makes me laugh to read occasional reviews of Trapped commenting, ‘my God, she’s pessimistic, isn’t she?’ or words to tha...
November 29, 2016
In Control Scotland
In Control Scotland
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the AGM in Glasgow of In Control Scotland. ICS supports citizens in Scotland to make the most of their self-directed support, to advocate for greater awareness of SDS, and to ensure that a person centred approach obtains meaningful outcomes which help us all to achieve good lives.
Going along to the venue last Thursday and meeting people from all walks of life, I was again amazed at what the average bod in the street takes for gran...
November 25, 2016
How Long To Write A Book
How Long To Write A Book
Okay, apart from NaNoWriMo, (National Novel Writing Month) which takes place through November each year, timed, I conjecture, to fill the time between Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving, how long would we take to write a novel?
I like to be clear about this so that I can minimise self-imposed stress. Having a clear strategy keeps my sense of fun alive and well. If I’m not having any fun, why am I writing? Good strategies have to include fun time. So long as we have a strate...
November 23, 2016
Fear of Failure
Fear of Failure
On the long and winding road that is a writer’s career, one aspect that perhaps deserves a passing glance is fear of failure.
What is this thing that lurks unseen, this oddly shapen, unacknowledged and slightly shameful thing? Fear of failure? Never heard of it….
Fear of Success, Fear of Failure, Fear of the Unknown…. Fear lurks in many guises, and stalks a lot of artistic people, a lot of business people. Fear keeps us trapped in the things we know and have done a million tim...
November 21, 2016
Self Imposed Stress
Self Imposed Stress
Self-imposed stress is one of these ‘working for ourselves, got to work’ bugbears that, I think, infects all of us creative people, at some time or other.
Just to be clear: a bit of self-imposed stress is A Good Thing. We can all do with taking our work seriously, with planning and setting out our strategies, and taking the time to bother with the details. And a few deadlines thrown in there to motivate us do no harm at all. Sometimes, I wear a smart jacket to work in t...
November 17, 2016
Not getting finished
Writing Hazards – not getting finished.
Continuing my occasional series on the hazards that wait to trip up the unwary writer, I’d like to spare another glance at that perennial nightmare, not getting finished.
I’ve always found it very easy to start new projects. Ideas come to me all the time, and starting a new piece of writing is brilliant fun, lively and very exciting, unlike any other feeling. Finishing was always my biggest challenge, so nowadays, I also feel the most enormous sense of...
November 14, 2016
Be Brave
Be brave
As far as I can so far make out, the three most valuable attributes for successful writing are the willingness to be brave and honest, stamina and imagination. We need to be authentic, and to give expression to our unique voice, as well as stamina for the road ahead, and imagination to feed our prose.
Honestly, I wonder why I write, sometimes. It is such a labour of love and the process is akin to leaping off a cliff without a parachute. We leap, hoping for a soft landing. And if w...
November 12, 2016
Deciding is the hardest part
Deciding is the hardest part
How long do we spend wondering about something, before we do it? I’m willing to bet that the thoughts about what we should do, what we think we can do, or want to do, take a great deal of headspace in our lives, especially when we live and work for ourselves and by ourselves a lot of the time. But what if we were simply to go ahead and do stuff, without thinking about whether we should, all the time?
How long would it take, for example, to think of a plot for a s...
November 9, 2016
Being Self Conscious
Being self conscious
Continuing my occasional series about the dangers and pitfalls that lurk waiting to derail of a writer’s career, here I give a passing mention to writerly self-consciousness, an aspect of creative endeavour that we often overlook. (I don’t want to make it self-conscious by making too much of it, but it deserves a passing glance, because its effects can be far-reaching.)
Being self-conscious as a writer is absolutely fatal to the process of creation. Like a pianist who pla...
November 7, 2016
Is it CP or is it me
Is it CP or is it me.
In the throes of unhappiness and pondering the lot I have been given, in my youth and for a long time after, I made the classic, youngster error of assuming that all my problems were the result of being disabled. Not so very disabled, I asserted with a prickly self-righteousness, as to be unable to do the things they do, but enough for it to be a total, permanent pain in the ass. That was my reasoning, and because I was such a prickly pain, no-one felt like challenging m...
