CRITICISM IS GOOD FOR YOU
CRITIQUE & REVIEWSHey writer, do you know that criticism can be good for you? It’s actually true, and today I’m here to tell you why. “The trouble with most of us is that we’d rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” – Norman Vincent Peale – In this…
DID YOU SAY IMPOSTOR SYNDROME?
WRITERS WEDNESDAY: For someone who struggles with impostor syndrome, evidence to the contrary doesn’t matter. They may be a renowned author, selling millions of books, or winning literary prizes and still feel like they don’t deserve any of it. They may find themselves amassing...
THE WIDER CURRENCY OF CRITICISM
CRITIQUE & REVIEWS Hey writer, do you know that successful people tend to look at the wider currency of criticism? Instead of taking each review – whether positive or negative – too much to heart, they see it for what it is: Useful feedback to extract data from. And no, that…
CRITIQUE MAKES YOU STRONGER
CRITIQUE & REVIEWS Hey writer, do you believe that critique makes you stronger? Most of us could share quite a few stories about the criticism we’ve received in our days and the mark it left on our psyche. We all know it can leave us feeling weak, misunderstood, and vulnerable,…
DO YOU KNOW WHY IT HURTS?
CRITIQUE & REVIEWS Do you know why it hurts? Criticism stings, and it can sting even more for writers as it relates to something we made. Something that may be deeply personal, or that we feel very protective of. But then again, as Aristotle taught us: “Criticism is something you…
NOT ALL FEEDBACK IS VALID
CRITIQUE & REVIEWS Not all feedback is valid. I can’t stress this enough, so I’ll say it again: Not all feedback is valid! As I’ve mentioned before, people can’t help themselves. They just love to dish out criticism for all sorts of reasons, whether they know what they’re talking about…
WE ALL GET BAD REVIEWS
CRITIQUE & REVIEWS No love, you’re not alone - we all get bad reviews. Every single storyteller, every single creator, gets bad reviews. Granted, some get more than others, but generally speaking, we all get our confidences knocked down a peg or two every now and then. But it doesn’t…
JUST DON’T BE A DICK
CRITIQUE & REVIEWS Once upon a time I used to love reading the reviews in The Sunday Times. It was my most precious indulgence as a poor single mum living in the north of Sweden. I’d pick up the thick envelope from my newsagents on Wednesdays and put it aside…
WHAT IS MAGIC?
WHAT IS MAGIC? When I decided to get back into the manuscripts for my Ulfrheim saga, it dawned on me that I had a lot of unanswered questions about magic. Some of these were fairly simple to work out, but others I’m not 100% sure I have resolved yet. So,…
TWO MONTHS TODAY
TWO MONTHS ago, I posted my first tentative hello on social media having been awol for a year. And, oh my days what a ride it has been! No word of a lie – I’m a little blown away and I think it will take me along time to get used…
1000 FOLLOWERS?
SOCIAL MEDIA is like a weird alternate reality. I love it and it fascinates me, but every time I think I know something about it, something happens to turn that knowledge on its head. One of these things that seem to stump me is how follower patterns shift. You can…
SEVEN WEEKS ONLINE
I KNOW I said I was going to stop these posts as I started the monthly milestones, but I guess I was a tad too excited. It feels right, somehow, to keep counting up to 1000. Provided I ever get there. I’ve done social media promotions for many years, and…
SIX WEEKS ONLINE
WEEK SIX is over and September is nearly at an end. I’ve managed to write fiction, poetry and a few articles, I’ve received my first reader comments, and my Ulfrheim drafts have been read in four different countries. In the last month and a half, I’ve: successfully activated a twitter account;…
FIVE WEEKS ONLINE
FIVE WEEKS online after a year of radio silence is actually rather overwhelming. I’m so glad there are nifty little scheduling solutions you can use to plan and space out your engagement in advance. Anyway, this is another celebrate every milestone kinda post. Look what happened this week: Six hundred…
FOUR WEEKS ONLINE
WEEK 4, whistled past like an autumn storm and I’m actually quite surprised it’s time to do one of these already. But missing out on an opportunity to celebrate? No chance! So, what’s the reason we’re throwing a party today? Yep, there it is. 500 followers have found the @AsWeWrite…
THREE WEEKS ONLINE
WEEK 3, is over and my love affair with the twitter #WritingCommunity continues. Seriously blown away by the kindness, support and generally helpful vibes from writers and authors with platforms ranging from a few hundred to millions of followers. I won’t be doing these posts as a weekly thing forever, but…
TWO WEEKS ONLINE
DANG, my second week of trying to promote this place online is over, and I’ve got so many new friends in the #WritingCommunity. I try to thank people who follow, retweet and comment, but I’m already way behind. Who’d’ve thunk it, eh? Not me, that’s for sure. In keeping with my…
LET’S TALK
Kissing in StorytellingLET’S TALK about kissing… In case you didn’t know, I love Colin Firth. I think he’s a brilliant actor and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen all of his films. Several of them more than once. But his kissing scenes? Eh, no thanks! I seriously cannot stand watching him kiss on…
MY FIRST WEEK ONLINE
SOMETIMES, patting yourself on the back and celebrating even the smallest of milestones along the path can be very liberating. And uplifting. When I decided to throw caution to the wind and share my fictional writing with the world, I promised myself that I would be unabashedly proud of every…
WELCOME TO MY PANDEMIC PANIC ROOM
THIS SODDING pandemic has turned our world upside down, and for many it has sadly lead to isolation, deprivation, bereavement and severe mental health problems. For me, it started out as a team effort. My kids and my spoonies were all in and we did what we could to support…
