Falls the Shadow

Found this an interesting introduction to one theory of how the mind forms our response to a situation. Ironically for something that talks about prior experience causing flawed assumptions, my initial disagreement was due to Feldman Barrett using certain terms differently from how I would without defining them first. https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_feldman_barrett_you_aren_t_at_the_mercy_of_your_emotions_your_brain_creates_them She divides experience into "feelings", …

The Noble Language of The Eye

You will be unsurprised to read that I think my books are good. If you know me well, or any author well, you will probably also be unsurprised to read that I have difficulty stating openly that I think my books are good. However, I realised today that waiting for people to ask before I …

Voices Like Candles

Matthew Graybosch wrote an interesting article yesterday about not fitting in despite appearing to be part of the majority. I might not agree with his suggestion that he doesn't deserve congratulations for still being functional, but I wholeheartedly agree that sharing feelings of isolation is better than leaving the world in some grand gesture. Because …

The Beauty of Our Own Reality

PsychGuides have published a study of how the BMI of successful contestants in the Miss America contest has changed for the worst over the years, along with some of the risks of an unhealthy BMI. I can't add to their science, but what I can do is add my voice to the side of healthy …

10 Reasons you stop writing your book and why to ignore them

All of these are true of writing as more than a hobby, but they also apply to making any hobby more than a pastime.

Even ‘You’ve written yourself into a hole’: our experience changes constantly which changes both what we can do and what we see as worthy, so it might be surprising how infrequently our plans to progress need revision.

Suffolk Scribblings

There isn’t a writer alive that hasn’t stopped writing, whether as a planned break or simply because they got out of the habit. It’s happened to me in the past and I’m sure it will happen again in the future. When it does, we often come up with excuses as to justify why we’ve stopped writing, but the majority of the time that’s all they are, excuses. The trick is recognising them for the lies they are and dealing with them. Here are the ten most common reasons people stop writing and why you should ignore them.

1 Your writing isn’t very good

You’ve just read back what you’ve been slaving over for the past few weeks/months and are horrified at how poor it is, so much so you’re questioning whether you’re a writer at all. I’ll let you into a little secret, every writer does this. OK, there may be a couple…

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Covering Your Bases

Many author-publishers design their own book covers. And on any writing forum, you will find best-selling author-publishers discussing whether it is the biggest false economy those people make, potentially even more incorrect than not obtaining professional editing. Taken as a balancing act between cost (in time or money) and increased sales, there are good arguments …

Who Doesn’t Watch The Writers?

One of the most common pieces of writing advice is to not write and edit at the same time; and both scientific studies on the parallel use of different areas of the brain and anecdotal evidence of increased speed, word-counts, and other measures seem to justify its ubiquity. I have certainly produced more since I …

Not That Type of Perky

Most rational discussions of stereotypes in either role-playing games or fiction writing quickly include the idea of a character as wish-fulfilment; as either the creator's idea or how they would like to be, or how they would like their ideal partner to be. A similar, if darker, theory is sometimes raised in discussions of discrimination. …

My Own Personal Fauxpocalypse

I have just finished compiling edits for the last story but one in Fauxpocalypse; so it is all coming together. As a definite release date becomes ever more real, I am filled with ambivalence: the pleasure of forthcoming publication wars with the fear of what is still to do. For the last story to be …

The Balance of Favours

I have been having computer issues for some time. Fortunately, my system computer has remained stable for several days, so might finally be returned to its previous functionality. Unfortunately, I it has caused me not only the stress of an ailing computer, but also the stress of potentially not being the friend I usually am. …