14 Comments
author

Hello! I’m Abigail! My Not A Write Off win is that I actually - prepare yourself to be amazed - stopped an episode of Below Deck halfway through last night after the baby went to bed and... wrote! It’s a journal entry that came out in one go and I haven’t overthought it since closed the laptop lid. Hooray! Also, it’s cold enough to dress the baby in corduroy today and that’s another win IMO.

Expand full comment

Hi! I'm Sharon. I am a month into a 100-day writing challenge which I hope will help me establish a writing habit 🤞

Expand full comment
author

A month in already, that’s such a great start! How’re you finding it?

Expand full comment

It's hard to think about new subject matter, so it's forcing me to write things that I wouldn't usually write or publish things that I would usually scrap. I hope to the practice engenders more authentic writing.

Expand full comment
author

I think you’re right. I listened to Tim Clare’s excellent podcast Death of 1000 Cuts a few years ago and the daily prompts really pushed me to write and not overthink. It’s even good when you’ve got a big project going like a novel, as doing a smaller low-stakes writing prompt can really loosen you up before diving into drafting or edits.

Expand full comment

I love that you've started a Substack! I love it here. My win for today is, I've printed out a section of the book I'm working on (tiny margins/two columns) and it's already helping me figure this section out off-screen, rather than on screen. The magic of analogue 🪄

Expand full comment
author

Oooo I love this! Do the tiny margins and two columns make it feel more book like too? ✨

Expand full comment

They do!

Expand full comment

Hi I’m Rachel, a crafting writer and content creator trying to write my first novel whilst holding down a job and living with chronic illness 😴 It’s tough and I need the kind of inspo you’re dishing out! Cannot wait for these newsletters. My win is that I really struggled to get out of bed this morning and was craving toast, forgot I bought bread last night so thought it would just be a banana for breakfast, came downstairs, found said loaf and had toast. It was fab!

Expand full comment
author

Oh my word, surprise bread when you REALLY WANT bread is honestly the best. 👌 I’m so glad you’re here! Writing a novel alongside work and illness is so tough but absolutely doable when you’re kind to yourself (sometimes the hardest part!) and figure out a plan that works for you. I’ll be posting about that too!

Expand full comment

Love the new Substack Abi, well done! Can't wait to read more ☺️ Your reasons for sacking off the day rang so true, I'll add cat sat where the keyboard usually goes and declined to move to mine ☺️ I really enjoyed the workshop you ran on character, so looking forward to more of you talking about writing x

Expand full comment
author

Well if the cat wants that spot, that spot they must have! I’m so pleased you liked my Creating Character workshop - I’ve got some more in the pipeline from September but I’ll share details on here in the run up to that! I’ll stop with the exclamation marks now - that’s enough excitement for one day 😅

Expand full comment

This is great! I don't know why I did not find you before, being a fellow LWS writer and I have followed you on instagram for ages! Yes I know that feeling of writing while the baby naps. I don't write from under the baby as he's always been pretty good in his cot/pram/car chair but night-time writing has been, alas, non-existent for a few months now (prior to this phase of not going to bed he slept like a dream and I used to stay up for HOURS!)

Expand full comment

This is great! I don't know why I did not find you before, being a fellow LWS writer and I have followed you on instagram for ages! Yes I know that feeling of writing while the baby naps. I don't write from under the baby as he's always been pretty good in his cot/pram/car chair but night-time writing has been, alas, non-existent for a few months now (prior to this phase of not going to bed he slept like a dream and I used to stay up for HOURS!)

Expand full comment