The Creative Identity

Stephanella Meets Nik Perring

Not long ago it was established with the absolute degree of telegraphed certainty that tweeting is for twits. When I signed up last year it took me days to come up with something to say in my first seminal message to all other morons like me. It turns out it wasn't that web-shattering after all, as I don't even remember what it is that I said, nor can I be asked to scroll through my subsequent 1,500 odd utterances in order to be reminded of it. Yet, I do remember clearly when I got Twitter in the social sense of the term, and that's when I plucked up the courage to drop a line to Nik Perring. Now, whoever knows Nik will tell you that 'plucking up the courage' and 'Nik' just don't make any sense together, for this is a guy who doesn't ride a high horse while pontificating about the little people below (and, believe you me, there are some such types on Twitter...). Nik is all-round helpful, generous, kind, available and, lest I forget, a great writing resource too. He blogs about writing, has written a children's book and leads workshops as well. Oh and he's local to me, what's not to like dear reader? My very first Twitter friend is here today as his first short story collection is about to be officially released. Reviews for Not So Perfect are already flocking in and they are all stellar. I am super-mega thrilled because Nik will be... Read more →

Resistance and Procrastination

Alex and Sophie go for a walk in order to write in Music and Lyrics I've been quite adamant, if not forceful, about my dislike and contempt for the concept of writer's block. I've told you that it doesn't really exist and that it is an excuse not to work. Thus what I am about to say today may sound like a contradiction, for if I don't think block exists, then why write about ways to unblock ourselves? It depends on how you perceive block, dear reader. If you think of it as a virus that we will all catch sooner or later and that we must sweat through until it has run its course, be this days or months, then you will find the next few paragraphs against the very principles that I have outlined in past articles. If, instead, you recognise that block isn't an entity you are at the mercy of, but a fleeting change in your creative patterns, then you will understand why we don't have to believe in block in order to come up with ways that transmute negative practices into positive creative steps. Super-massive guilty confession: I have a soft spot for Hugh Grant. Among all of his movies there is one that I feel most in tune with, Music and Lyrics, for it is, in a roundabout way, about the creative process as much as it is about surprising partnerships, catchy tunes, big hair, hip thrusting and love. As Alex and Sophie are... Read more →

Try This

If nothing happens, write about it. -Cicero- When we get bored with or irritated by the process of writing we may fall into a no man's land of mental lingering. Here, we say that we want to write, but we cannot think of a single thing. We have established that writing is always hard work, no matter how accomplished we are with the pen or the keyboard, but even so, to say that nothing at all comes to mind seems to me the cry of anxiety and not really a reflection of how switched on our minds are when we sit to work. So it goes that when I came across Cicero I thought that his suggestion would get many writing gears moving, thus proving that there is no such thing as 'nothing to write'. Pick up the pen and write about nothing. Read more →

Stephanella Meets Susannah Conway

I don't find it easy to come up with something that I haven't already heard or read about Susannah, and that's because all of it has always rung the bells of recognition within me. Honest, authentic, funny, straight-forward, poignant and blah-di-blah, these things and then some are all true. If you are familiar with her work, you may feel like she crops up everywhere, no longer confined to her site, but springing up on everyone else's too. And if you're not familiar, here is the opportunity to get to know Susannah The Writer a little bit more. When I first blog-hopped to her online home last year, I knew nothing of her but within ten minutes I had signed up for the newsletter, so that I would know when the Unravelling e-course would open for registration. It worked out as a magical, serendipitous click for me, as I joined the online group by a nose, started to show my face a little bit more and, crash boom bang, I consolidated wild ideas I had been toying with for ages into what you see here today. But Susannah ain't just about e-courses: she runs fabulous interviews (My Creative Life), is a Polaroid resource and addict and is contributing to a book about it, always offers peeks into her life and how she grows, and has been writing on her site for over four years, which means you've got lots and lots of beautiful posts to enjoy. But before you go, see... Read more →

Writing Problems

Royal by Galia Alena In one of my early posts, I wrote that writing is that odd game where your only adversary is yourself. This conclusion was simple enough to reach because over the years I noted that it does not really matter whether you are at the receiving end of third-party criticism or not. There will always be one person who, when all is hunky-dory in your writing life, will invariably plant a fresh seed of doubt in your mind as big as your fist; that person is yourself. A friend of mine told me about the impostor syndrome a few years back and I think that all writers suffer from it; some will be as paranoid as to fear a passing compliment, while others may be able to grit their teeth through it and accept it gracefully, except for a private, ‘yes, but what does she know?’ chanted with raised eyebrows and a sinking stomach as soon as the polite exchange is over. For the sake of honesty I must tell you that I am just as paranoid as the next writer, I too a victim of my own vicious inner critic long before I find myself at the mercy of others. And I must warn you dear reader because, while you always, eventually, forget about outer critics (time really is one heck of a healer), you are unlikely to succeed in putting your own little devil to sleep. Acknowledging the impostor within you is your first step... Read more →