Writing for fun and to inform the craft

Connecting words with your imagination.

I’m not a gifted writer - even though my early writing won prizes, and I started placing my stories and articles in magazines and newspapers early on, fiction doesn’t come easy to me. I make up stories all the time and if someone asks me to make up a story on the spot I can. But becoming a published writer whose books are read by many - especially children didn’t come easy.

There are stories I’ve worked on for years and eventually were published. And there are innumerable stories I’ve written, ideas I’ve scribbled that went nowhere. And to be honest, I wouldn’t submit those early stories if I had a chance now.

So how did I go from a mountain of rejection letters to books being published? First of course, I didn’t give up! That’s the basic. If you really want to tell stories, and you have stories to tell, stories that no one else has told before, then you have no choice but keep trying.

Some ask me why I didn’t go the self-published route - and that’s because I knew I wasn’t good enough yet and I am always humble enough to accept that someone else has to read it and see its flaws and help me fix them before I send it out to the world. And also I had a full-time job and I didn’t want to do someone else’s job. I don’t do DIY for furniture for the same reason - someone more qualified than me is available and I’d rather use their skill and expertise.

But I digress! Trying over and over again to me doesn’t mean working on the same story for a decade or just keep writing without refining the process, considering the inputs and learning from mistakes. So this is what I did:

A) I love to write lots of different things. I tried my hand at everything. Writing picture books, poems, jokes, plays, longer fiction, shorter fiction - all sorts of things. I tried my hand at different genres - I set myself challenges to write a fantasy story, or a sci-fi picture book or poems about space or emotions or growing up. I tried my hand at different things and these come in waves for me. I’d spend months writing poems and then I’ll focus on plays for a few weeks and then I’ll get bored and move to something else.

But throughout all this - I’m doing two things:

a) reading other things in the same space I’m trying to write in

b) playing with ideas - they don’t have to be perfect stories - but I want to have a go.

c) learning about the craft of that particular aspect - reading books, blogs, listening to writers speak - I will immerse and absorb.

B) I play with words - I’ll write to prompts, I try things that are not for publication - write 10 knock-knock jokes. Write a poem every day for a month.

C) The Study of Craft - I have some specific craft books and I’ll even use an online course or a how-to book to practice specific things that are again not publishable but help me unlock some techniques. I will focus on things I’m weak at - whether it’s exposition or dialogue or action sequences. I know what I’m weak at because when I read other books, I’m always analysing what I’m reading for its merit and also evaluating it against my own skillset. If I have an idea for a similar genre / format - do I have the skills. If I don’t, I will learn - I will practice, I will try and I will fail. Sometimes after failures, I will put it aside and go to other things. Other times, I will try again and again. It depends on how badly I want to write it.

These three things are ongoing as a writer. I’m always learning new things to write. It can be as specific as learning how to write a specific form of poetry or generic as wanting to be able to write a funny memoir essay.

a) Up-skilling

b) Writing for play/fun

c) Learning the component parts of the craft

So during COVID, when I was on my own for those long lockdowns, I set up Write30. Set up is a big word. Those days Twitter was a real place where we used to hang out. So I invited friends to come and write for 30 minutes to a prompt every Friday at 3 pm - hence Write30.

At first it was three of us and then slowly through twitter connections, the group grew. Then the group held after all the lockdowns were lifted and we were back to work in real life.

We still write most Fridays at 3 pm to 3:30 pm - to a prompt.

The prompts fall into the following categories:

a) Fun prompts to trigger imaginative play

b) Craft prompts - asking each writer to focus on a specific aspect - it could be sensory details, or writing weather or action or dialogue.

c) Discovering us as writers - some prompts especially during the beginning of the year and at the end- it’s about tapping our own subconscious and our minds - what do we like to write and why!

Often people will try new things and other times they will apply the prompt to their work in progress. Many have discovered new scenes or chapters or ideas from their writing in the session.

This is just me inviting other writers to come and play in the sandpit I built for myself. I love writing to prompts and I extended an invitation to others to join me. It is a brilliant way to connect - with writers of all skill levels. And when we discuss the prompt after it benefits everyone - especially if they struggled to finish the exercise.

It’s a judgement free space - we don’t read what we write. We seldom stay on the call after 30 minutes. And we have no obligation to publish anything we write. It’s just feeding the muse of the storyteller and the craftswoman inside of us.

If you want to join us, then register here. You can check us out in one session and then continue if you prefer. We love to invite people who will come as often as they can even if there is no pressure to attend every week.