In this issue:
Where and how do you write, when it feels like you’ll never find the perfect spot?
Writing Tip - Slowly, slowly
Come Join Time to Write
This Month at Time to Write - what our members have been up to, and links to their stories you can read
Upcoming Zoom workshops with links to book
Link to my courses
Your spot - let me know what you want to see in a future newsletter
This photo feels like me! Every time I detect even the threat of a sun ray, I abandon everything and go and stand in it, put my face up to the sky, and let it wash over me. I’m not entirely sure where my sun-worship comes from, but I know I’m at my happiest in hot, dry, sunny weather. Which is why I live in England, obviously.
My happiest place to write is somewhere sunny - that is, on holiday. So I am happy to say I have two such trips to look forward to this year. The first one is in June, to Morocco. Lovely hotel room, private bit of pool, drinks on tap, and nothing but sunshine if the sun gods look upon me favourably. In September, my writing place will be in my spiritual home, Skiathos, in a secluded villa with pool, where all the worries and hassles of the world will fade away.
But for now, before all that loveliness can happen, I have to find my writing place here, in my little house, with a husband walking back and forth behind me and being cute and loving and distracting and all those things that fill your heart but not the page you are writing on.
But - I have to do it, I have to find that place, because I have a novel to write, and workshops to plan, and feedback to provide, and courses to take to make sure I stay on track. So I will take a deep breath and do it.
Where do you write? I would love to hear about your writing haven, especially if it was difficult to find. How do you make sure you get that space and time? Photographs of your workspace would be very welcome too. Let me know by clicking on the link below.
Writing Tip - Slowly, Slowly
Don’t set yourself too big a goal. In this busy world, if you can make space for just ten minutes a day, then use that for you writing. No great expectations, no great disappointments.
If you would like to work with me on a one to one basis so we can organise your writing schedule and come up with a plan for moving forward with your project, email me because I would be delighted to work with you. I have two published novellas-in-flash, and a novel forthcoming in 2025, so I have experience in planning and bringing forth an idea.
Join DublinWriter Time to Write Club where we all show up every day to work on our various projects. For just £75 per year you can become one of our lovely family, who meet 14 times per week, with free sessions alongside structured sessions to help you produce, improve, and develop your writing. Plus - it’s fun and has a lovely, friendly vibe.
This month in Time to Write - A Round-up of News from the Group
April has really whizzed by at Time to Write, and people continue to show up day after day and put in lots of working hours. It’s so good to see the work paying off, with books being produced, courses being worked, and - as always - lots of publications.
Joyce got into the top tier of runners up in the Globe Soup Primal Fears competition.
Alison, Donna and Joyce were all successful in getting into the National Flash Fiction Day’s Flash Flood, which is on 15th June.
We are trialling a new structured session this week, where we will look at old notebooks in which we scribbled notes, or wrote first drafts of ideas at workshops ages ago, and try to turn them into a new piece. If it is successful it will join our other three structured hours, which are currently: Monday - Fun, Fast, Prompts; Wednesday - FiSection (looking at great stories and what we can learn from them); Friday - Feedback on our own stories.
Here are just a few examples of what the members of Time to Write had published in April.
Alison Wassell
David X Lewis
Hilary Ayshford
Snow Woman - Siren’s Call (on Page 10)
The Perfect Ceremony of Love’s Rite - The Hooghly Review (page 367)
Joyce Bingham
Upcoming Workshops
Sunday 5th May 7.30pm to 8.30pm - Retreat West Monthly Micro Workshop
This runs the day before their micro competition opens and is a good way to come and discuss the craft of micro and get a sneak preview of their prompt, which will be released to the wider public the next day. Free for RW members, but anyone can buy a ticket to come.
Sunday 26th May 4pm to 6pm - Creating Fiction From Fact - Just £10 for 2 hours
I’m doing this one for Retreat West, so tickets are being sold by them. In this workshop we will be thinking about and using experiences that are personal to us and changing them up enough to become fictional. It might be that we really need to get something off our chest, or to understand something, or get closure to help us move on. Or simply that we just want to use the event to give us a story. We will be talking about what “writing what you know” really means and about how to apply techniques to distance yourself from it effectively.
Everyone with a ticket will be sent the replay link.
Other Zoom Workshops/Events Coming Up - Click Links for More Details
Fun, Fast Writing Prompts every Monday evening from 5pm to 6pm UK - Get three prompts, write for 15 minutes each one after the other, with optional sharing at the end. A great way to start your week with some words to work on. £5 plus booking fee. This is free to Time to Write members.
Writers Reading June 20th - Come see 10 talented writers read their work. Tickets are FREE with optional donation. (Everyone who books will get the video afterwards) If you would like to read at this, please email me at dublinwriter@hotmail.co.uk
Write Drunk, Edit Sober - the social writing experiment you want to be part of! Two hour session. Next one is Saturday 25th May at 8pm. First hour is fun, games/quizzes, and drinking. Second hour is a prompt to test the tipsy muse! Always fun. You don’t have to drink - you just need to enjoy a laugh. £10 plus booking fee.
Check out my courses at the link below. The Sourdough Starter Story Baking Course current started on April 1st, but there are still two months left of its run, so not too late at all to get on board and make May and June super productive. Please come and join us.
Your Spot - Please get in touch
Thank you for reading this month’s newsletter and I hope you enjoyed it. Please recommend this to your writer friends, and share any of the links that you found interesting. If you have anything writing related you would like me to cover in a future newsletter, or have any questions at all, please let me know by hitting the comments button below. Until next time…. Happy Scribbling!
This newsletter will always be free to subscribe, and will soon be developed to include even more writing content I hope you will find useful. I would appreciate your support, which you can give by buying me a coffee or two if you can. Thank you xx
My favourite place to write is my garden, weather permitting! Or, like you, on holiday, but always outside. I also can get a lot done in cafes and, a few times, at the hairdressers while my colour is sitting!