Having all the time in the world isn’t always a good thing
You might think that having all the time in the world to do your writing is a good thing. You have these images of people with unlimited time sitting there with a candle burning, a notebook and a pen on their desk, wistfully staring out of the window and contemplating existence. However, I don’t think that having all the time in the world to do writing is always a good thing. Trying to focus when you have a lot of time is difficult. When you have a stretch of time beyond what you normally have (say, an entire day when…
February Thoughts – Welcoming Spring
This month has been a waxing and waning of writing inspiration and time. Sometimes I find there are weeks I can sit at a desk and write a lot, other times I have to go and rest on the sofa. I was really struggling to get back into my novel until I spoke with one of my friends who had recently taken up writing as a hobby. She was talking about how she had spent time planning out her story and made the comment that it’s technically still writing – right? In that moment I was quick to assure her…
Consume stories, regardless of the medium
There is a lot of good writing advice out in the internet ether that recommends reading a lot if you want to write a lot. This advice has a lot of truth in it, and it is important to read to help your writing craft. However, today I want to talk about the benefit you get from consuming stories in any medium, not just through reading, and the benefits it’ll give you as a writer. Stories each have a particular way of being told, and the medium through which the story is told will tell the story in a different…
Goodbye January
January has come and gone in a blink of an eye it feels like. I’ve been improving my wordcounts on my novel, and had a few plot-based breakthroughs this month that I’ll talk about more in a separate blog. For now, the focus is to try and stay on track with my novel writing, stay on top of my blog, and try not to get too bogged down in the “noise” of marketing and social media whilst I do it. Introducing your Characters This month on my writing advice newsletter, I talked about introducing your characters! This newsletter has been…
My thoughts on Ship of Magic – beginning the Liveship Traders Trilogy
Having finished the Farseer Trilogy, I then had a decision whether I wanted to follow the rest of the Realm of the Elderlings storyline in chronological or published order. I decided to go with chronological, which then led me to the first of the Liveship Traders trilogy, the Ship of Magic. Part of my reading goals with reading Robin Hobb books is to learn more about characterisation and stories that put characterisation at the forefront of the story. Ship of Magic is certainly one of those books, and there were points where I really struggled with the pacing (the Malta…
Closing thoughts on 2022
It’s the end of December, and the end of 2022. This year has been a bit of a rollercoaster, and the last few months in particular have taken me away from all things writing and blogging. It’s been a time of change, a time of gratefulness, and a time to reflect on where to put energy in the coming months and next year. This year I’ve made a haltering progress on my first novel. It’s been a stop-start endevour as I’ve been trying to work out how to make the various pieces of the puzzle fit. However, a few months…
September Wrap Up
September has come and gone in the blink of an eye. For me, September has been a month of trying to get back into doing normal things, following August throwing me off my pattern. Exercise, self-care and writing have all slowly come back into my day to day routine. It’s still very much a work in progress, but I feel more like I’m getting back to good creative habits. Given this, it’s been a little quiet on the blogging front this month. I’ve been trying to focus on keeping my newsletter going and adding some words to my ongoing novel…
My Thoughts on “The Rings of Power”
Normally, I try and have my opinion pieces about books that I’ve read. However, this month, books have not been read. My lack of commuting over the summer has meant my progress with kindle reading on the train has somewhat reduced significantly. So instead, I’m turning to another medium to present some thoughts on, namely TV. This month, in particular, we’ve been working through The Rings of Power. Before I begin, I feel like there are some key facts that I should lay out before I get into any further thoughts on the show so far: Okay, now with the…
Summer’s End
August is always a month of re-set. Even though I am long past the educational systems’ September-September year, there always is this sensation of starting a new cycle at the end of August. In some ways, it’s a farewell to the height of summer and looking onwards into winter, and for me, it’s also a hello to writing more. Summer is never a productive month for writing. It’s a great month for ideas, for getting outside, but not one for sitting down with a computer screen for hours at the weekend. I find I’d rather spend the time outside in…
Finishing the Farseer Trilogy – my thoughts on Assassin’s Quest
The last book in the Farseer Trilogy we weave our way to the conclusion of Fitz’ quest to find Verity, who has been lost in the mountains since the end of book 1. I really enjoyed the start of the book, which followed Fitz’s reintegration with the human world. The gentle way that Hobb highlights how animalistic he has become with his months of being a wolf was really fascinating to read. Spoilers for Assassins Quest from here! There were some parts of the book I found quite painful to read. Fitz’s pining over Molly started out as a love-struck…
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Alex.J.Cobalt 