March 28, 2016
Research has once again show what writers have instinctively known for years–letting your mind wander and spending a few minutes skiving can make you more productive.
One of the latest surveys to hit the headlines is that for the National Bureau of Economic Research. It confirms previous studies, such as that by the University of Melbourne in 2011, that workers who mentally play truant to surf the web or daydream for up to 20 per cent of the time, become up to nine per cent more productive. It might look like wasting time, but taking a break actually enhances concentration, boosts morale, reduces tiredness and makes you happier. If you have a walk about and/or get a drink or something to eat as well, so much the better. There are limits, of course, but as Garrison Keillor puts it: "... the writing life requires freedom to waste time, to putter and daydream and browse through books with no goal in mind."
Don't feel guilty if you give way to the temptation to check the celebrity gossip on Yahoo or to phone a friend. If you're going to take a break, take it and don't ruin the effect by trying to bully yourself back to work. Do set a time limit on it, however. Treat it like a cat nap–20 minutes is enough to help you return to your tasks refreshed and motivated; more and you become like a zombie.
If you still feel guilty, try repeating these famous lines form William Henry Davies' poem 'Leisure': 'What is life if, full of care,/We have no time to stand and stare'. You could always fill your break with reading a short story or poem, then you can call it research.
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
March 22, 2016
Sometimes I think life would have been so much easier if I'd been an overnight success. Some writers have their first novel taken up by an agent and soon rival publishers are fighting each other to offer the highest advance. Before long, they're on the bestseller lists, being feted by the media and doing a deal for the film rights. Undoubtedly, it does happen–rarely.
Most 'overnight' successes have served a long apprenticeship in one way or another. They might have studied a degree or t...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
March 15, 2016
Last week I responded to a request on a writers' forum for people to relate the catalyst that inspired a novel. I wrote about the incident that eventually led to
Monkey-tail, which is awaiting a rewrite. I was on holiday with my husband in Cornwall when we saw a man fishing without a rod in the sea from the rocks. He constantly cast and drew in the line, so that my husband said he looked as if he was conducting the sea. I was rewarded for the tale by someone sending me a poem by William Carlo...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
March 6, 2016
Would you rather have the good news or the bad news first? The good news. Right, here it is. Smashwords is holding its seventh annual Read an Ebook Week from today until 12th March 2016, and my books are all enrolled in it. That means you can get Discord's Child FREE (
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/410566) and Discord's Apprentice (
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542490) and Artists and Liars (
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/322872) for half price. All you have to do is go to ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
March 2, 2016
It took more hours than I care to admit and my jaw still aches from gritting my teeth, but I've done it! I've fought my way through a first draft of the story that didn't want to be written. It isn't fit for anyone else to read at present, but at least I have something I can work on and shape. If I had given up, I'd have nothing. Sometimes all you can do is plod on.
When you're struggling through a patch when it's tough to find the right words–or any words, for that matter–it's all too...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
February 22, 2016
There's a story I want to write. I know the plot, I know the main sequence of events and necessary scenes, I know the characters and I have a deadline. I want to write it, really I do. So why do I have this urge to turn on the television? It will only irritate me and I know I won't write if it's on. Perhaps I should make another cup of coffee or check my emails again or do the ironing first, so the knowledge that a pile of crumpled laundry is waiting for me won't put me off. I even started wr...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
February 15, 2016
Editing your own work is one of the hardest parts of writing. The trouble is, you know the story, so it's hard to tell whether you've given the reader insufficient detail or too much. Asking someone else to read it is always a good idea–preferably more than one person. Failing that, put it aside for a few weeks, if possible, so you can come back to it fresh.
There are various 'rules' to stop your work being slow, which is usually taken to mean 'boring'. Generally, writers are told to cut...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
February 7, 2016
I'm not celebrating anyone's birthday (best wishes if it's yours), but those books, films and television programmes you can read or watch time and time again.
There are now TV channels that repeat series on a rolling basis. As soon as they come to the end, they begin again. I suppose people find them comforting in a way, much as the shipping forecast is. They offer a kind of stability. It's comforting to know that somewhere on the television there'll always be an episode of Midsomer Murder...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews
January 25, 2016
I don't want to worry anyone, but there are only another 11 months until Christmas. That means I've already had one twelfth of the available time to achieve what I want to in 2016. As ever, time's going faster and things are taking longer than I anticipated.
One thing that has been frustratingly slow is keying in a TV screenplay. I was using a template from the BBC's Writers' Room website and had expected to zip through it. Using a template or setting up styles are well worth the small ini...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
January 18, 2016
One of my friends is on an extended stay in New Zealand at the moment. Usually, she's only on the other side of the country, but even then we write letters to each other. Thanks to modern technology it's possible to have instant communication with people on the other side of the globe. If she had Skype where she's staying, we could even see each other. That's great but it's ephemeral.
There's something about receiving a letter that's special. You have a real physical connection to the send...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
