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From Writing With Love
In From Writing With Love, her inspirational book on writing, Costa Short Story winner Avril Joy shares her writing life - the highs and lows, and everything she learned about writing along the way.
'I came late to writing and after a matter of only months found myself hopelessly in love. I had some modest, early success with publication but then a series of difficult rejections. In 2011 I came dangerously close to falling out of love with the one thing that had changed my life. Writing had brought me a deep and lasting sense of satisfaction and pleasure, it was the only thing I really wanted to do, so if I wasn’t prepared to lose it all I had to think again.
Much of this new thinking has gone into the pages here. In From Writing With Love , I share with you how I stayed in love with writing, what still inspires me, what helped me cope with success and disappointment in my writing life, how I came to win the Costa short story competition and everything I’ve learned about the craft of writing along the way.’
If you are just starting out on your writing journey From Writing With Love is a book for you. It will inspire and encourage you to find your writer's voice and to grow in confidence. If you are already an experienced writer,From Writing With Love offers hard won advice on writing the short story and the novel as well as outlining routes to publication and helping you re-define and achieve success in your writing life.
‘In From Writing With Love I share with you as honestly as I can my writing journey, in the hope that it will inspire you to be the best writer you can be, bring you success and help you celebrate and enjoy this amazing writing life.'
This is a book in seven parts: Becoming a Writer, Finding Your Voice, Writing Short Stories, The Novel, How to Succeed, the Writing Life and a Postscript which includes the Costa winning short story,Millie and Bird
'I came late to writing and after a matter of only months found myself hopelessly in love. I had some modest, early success with publication but then a series of difficult rejections. In 2011 I came dangerously close to falling out of love with the one thing that had changed my life. Writing had brought me a deep and lasting sense of satisfaction and pleasure, it was the only thing I really wanted to do, so if I wasn’t prepared to lose it all I had to think again.
Much of this new thinking has gone into the pages here. In From Writing With Love , I share with you how I stayed in love with writing, what still inspires me, what helped me cope with success and disappointment in my writing life, how I came to win the Costa short story competition and everything I’ve learned about the craft of writing along the way.’
If you are just starting out on your writing journey From Writing With Love is a book for you. It will inspire and encourage you to find your writer's voice and to grow in confidence. If you are already an experienced writer,From Writing With Love offers hard won advice on writing the short story and the novel as well as outlining routes to publication and helping you re-define and achieve success in your writing life.
‘In From Writing With Love I share with you as honestly as I can my writing journey, in the hope that it will inspire you to be the best writer you can be, bring you success and help you celebrate and enjoy this amazing writing life.'
This is a book in seven parts: Becoming a Writer, Finding Your Voice, Writing Short Stories, The Novel, How to Succeed, the Writing Life and a Postscript which includes the Costa winning short story,Millie and Bird
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 23, 2014
7 people want to read
About the author
Avril Joy
20 books22 followersI was born and brought up on the Somerset Levels, the setting for my first novel, The Sweet Track, published in 2007 by Flambard Press.
I left Somerset at eighteen for U.E.A, and a degree in the History of Art, then lived in London where I taught for a couple of years before moving north.
After the move north I travelled in India, Kashmir and Nepal for a while and when I came back I started work as a temporary teacher in a women’s prison HMP Low Newton, on the outskirts of Durham city. I met Writer-in-Residence Wendy Robertson here and that’s when I began writing. Until then I had no thoughts of ever being a writer.
In 2003 I won a Northern Promise Award, from New Writing North.
When the children were up and leaving home, I finally left my job in order to write. I was by this time a Prison Governor with responsibity for learning and skills development. I hadn’t meant to stay at Low Newton for so long but almost from the start I became deeply involved with the women and their lives – read more here and in many ways that never leaves me. I see it creep in again and again, often through the back door, into what I write.
In 2012 I won the inaugural Costa Short Story Award for my story Millie and Bird.
My latest novel, Sometimes a River Song, was awarded The People's Book Prize 2017 best Achievement Award
I left Somerset at eighteen for U.E.A, and a degree in the History of Art, then lived in London where I taught for a couple of years before moving north.
After the move north I travelled in India, Kashmir and Nepal for a while and when I came back I started work as a temporary teacher in a women’s prison HMP Low Newton, on the outskirts of Durham city. I met Writer-in-Residence Wendy Robertson here and that’s when I began writing. Until then I had no thoughts of ever being a writer.
In 2003 I won a Northern Promise Award, from New Writing North.
When the children were up and leaving home, I finally left my job in order to write. I was by this time a Prison Governor with responsibity for learning and skills development. I hadn’t meant to stay at Low Newton for so long but almost from the start I became deeply involved with the women and their lives – read more here and in many ways that never leaves me. I see it creep in again and again, often through the back door, into what I write.
In 2012 I won the inaugural Costa Short Story Award for my story Millie and Bird.
My latest novel, Sometimes a River Song, was awarded The People's Book Prize 2017 best Achievement Award
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 21, 2014
Or 9/10 (I am very stingy with my 5 stars!).
This is an excellent little e-book with some very practical, sound advice & inspirational quotes peppered throughout. The first half of the book concerning short stories was the most useful section for me, and I have applied several of the principles given in this already to my stories, with some good results. The rest of the book is very informative, and the inclusion of the Costa winning short story a bonus. It lost one point because I felt the last few sections were perhaps so helpful as the rest - though to be fair a discussion on the benefits of self / e-publishing would probably merit a full book on their own.
Well worth the purchase, and a book I will refer back to for advice time and again.
This is an excellent little e-book with some very practical, sound advice & inspirational quotes peppered throughout. The first half of the book concerning short stories was the most useful section for me, and I have applied several of the principles given in this already to my stories, with some good results. The rest of the book is very informative, and the inclusion of the Costa winning short story a bonus. It lost one point because I felt the last few sections were perhaps so helpful as the rest - though to be fair a discussion on the benefits of self / e-publishing would probably merit a full book on their own.
Well worth the purchase, and a book I will refer back to for advice time and again.
June 20, 2014
A fantastic book which I intend to return to for inspiration and motivation in the future. The book is presented in short, easy to understand passages which meant I was able to read this in 5 minute bursts when I had the chance! I have shamelessly stolen and shared (with referencing, of course!) Joy's advice in the chapter entitled 'Lists & Cottage Cheese Sandwiches' and would fully recommend this book to anyone interested in writing as a hobby or profession.
January 5, 2017
Good tips and useful reminders of why we write in the first place, and the importance of defining our own "success" as writers. This is a great little pick me up if you are in the writing doldrums. However, for a book about writing, there were a lot of typos. A very thorough edit would iron those out. Still a good read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews