Petra Hawthorn

Replacing "She saw the scary ghoul charge towards her and she realised she didn't have a weapon." with something like "The scary ghoul charged towards her. How could she possibly fight it without a weapon?"
(Not an actual example from my WIP. 😁)

Picture of brown leaves on green leaves surrounded by the text of Dream, then Do. On top of picture is quote by E.L. Doctorow "Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader. Not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.

This one really stuck with me as it is something I'm working on with my current editing pass. Showing, not telling - and removing filter words.

Highly recommend the podcast for writing advice and not just con-going advice.

If you are con-ing or event-ing this weekend - have fun!

Sad to miss World Fantasy Con in Brighton this weekend. If you want some attending Cons advice, check out Writing Excuses podcast season 11, episode 7. (Current season is 20, but I decided to start listening from the start. 😁)

I don’t think I’ll need all of November, but I have a lot of things going on in November, so I need to account for that. All good things, but they do impact on my writing time.

Re-typing project derailed a bit due to health issues - new deadline is end of November. I find setting goals and deadlines really helpful to stay focussed and feel like I’m making progress, but life happens.

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A map of the UK showing that all UK detective programmes in the north are grim, bleak and miserable, whilst those in the south are cosy, chummy and very upper-middle class.

You've just made me realise what the true north-south divide is.

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨

It's coming up to Halloween, it's cold, it's dark and it's perfect reading-with-a-biscuit-blanket-and-side-light weather.

So why not treat yourself one of our fabulous tomes with 15% off! All orders and preorders until 1st November!
share.google/7fvgFAwRlWUp...

A picture of some mushrooms on a log, surrounded by the words "Dream, then Do". On top of the picture is a quote by Gillian Flynn "Successful writing is one part inspiration and two parts sheer stubbornness".

Inspiration is great, but I've found that doing the writing often helps generate more ideas. And being stubborn in the sense of sticking with it is so important - particularly when it's hard and the words flow like treacle. Stay stubborn and have a good writing week! 😊

Why settle for one toy when you can have all of them?

I’ve been a bit nervous about offering to beta read someone else’s work, but luckily the person was happy with the feedback I gave and I learnt a lot from it, so it feels like a win-win for both of us. Will definitely try to do more of this!

Hope your writing week was good as well!

Next time I might even be brave enough to stop and talk to people afterwards - all part of the learning journey, right? 😁

The Paths to Publication event organised by the BFS at Urmston Books and Board Games was a fab event with a great panel - Emma Sterner-Radley, Keith W Dickinson, Andrew Knighton - moderated by Alethea Lyons. I really enjoyed it.

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Highlights of the week - British Fantasy Society event & first time ever beta reading someone else’s book.

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The words "Dream, then Do" surrounding a close-up of small white flowers and greenery. On top of the picture is a quote. "The best time to start was last year. Failing that, today will do." Chris Guillebeau

Like I was saying on Friday - it's ok to start small, but start - or else you'll never get going. 😊

There weren't a lot of gaps, but a couple - and designating those gaps as writing time is how I got started. Don't worry about how to get from here to all the way over there. Just figure out the first step that will move you closer and do that.

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I kept saying I wanted to write, but I wasn't making any changes to make it happen. I kept thinking I didn't have any time available. My first step was to draw up a super detailed timetable.

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I'm not only writing regularly, but my first book is in the editing phase and I have so many ideas for what comes next. Getting started is one of the hardest things - so you might as well just get it over with... 😉💪

Tagline Dream, then Do surrounding a picture of some green leaves and red berries. On top of the picture is a quote from Doris Lessing "Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible."

"I'm going to start writing regularly, when..." And the when never comes. For me, getting from keeping saying I wanted to write because I used to love it - to actually doing it regularly - that's been quite a long journey. But I'm now in a position I didn't even dream (pun intended) of back then.

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Dreaming is great, and important, but if you ever want to experience your dreams, you have to find a way to do the do that will get you there.

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Leaving an imperfect paragraph behind and moving on can be so hard. But once you've completed the project, that section you kept polishing might no longer be needed - so you spent all that time on it in vain.

Cammie & Pip are starting to snuggle together more lately, which is so cute! 😻
Though today I think it has more to do with Storm Amy and this bed being underneath the radiator. 😂

The project of red-penning and re-typing my first draft of my book is continuing. So far it has been really interesting and really useful.
Hope your writing week has been good too! 😊

youtu.be/UHiWCYgKR30

After yesterday, this is a quote I really like.
I'm at the keyboard all day today working in my re-typing project.
Good luck with your week! 😊

I have learnt some things from running that have served me well with writing. The main one is that consistency is THE most important thing. Some sessions will feel horrible, some will be amazing and many will be alright. But showing up consistently, no matter what, that gives results over time. 💪

I'm a slow runner, but I still enjoy competing against myself. Race day can go wrong in so many ways - it is only 1 day out of an entire weeks/months long training block - but if the worst comes to the worst and a PB is not on the cards - at least there's always a pretty medal at the end. 😁

Had a fab morning at the @run_north_west 10k race in Knutsford. It's a fantastic course (flat 😁) and the weather gods gave us perfect running weather - not warm, not cold, not sunny, not wet.
I managed to shave 2 whole minutes off my 10k PB from last autumn, which I am super chuffed about.

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Printing the entire manuscript, red-penning it and re-typing it is going to be a chunk of work, but I am hopeful that it will help with smoothing out the style and voice between the different pieces of my Frankendraft. All part of the learning journey for me. 😊
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Picture of small violet flowers against an orange brick wall, surrounded by the phrase "Dream, then Do". On top of the picture is a quote "My writing is a process of rewriting, of going back and changing and filling in. In the rewriting process you discover what's going on, and you go back and bring it up to that point." Quote attributed to Joan Didion.

Tried to tidy up my notes about writing craft recently and went for the structure planning - writing - editing. It was a real eye-opener how much of the work actually is in the editing phase. One more score for "don't worry about it, just get it onto the page, fix it in edits". Have a good week! 😊

Heading that says "Went to Edge-Lit in Derby - fab event!" Picture of a programme, name badge and notebook followed by text that says "Introvert = didn't speak to as many people as I would have liked. Need to work on that! BUT the people I did speak to were all lovely." followed by a smiling emoji with hearts. Text that says "When looking for lunch we stumbled across a place called 'The BookCafe'. With a name like that it would've been rude not to... And the food was very tasty." followed by a smiling emoji. Lastly a picture of pancakes.

Really enjoyed this event, so many interesting panels and workshops - it was hard to choose. 😊