“Do not ask for what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and do it. For what the world needs is people who are fully alive.”-Howard Thurman 'But you're not thinking like an entrepreneur!' This was a (well-intentioned) observation made to a friend of mine recently. He had shared with a group of…
Ten things I have learnt writing a novel
I’m giving my manuscript a final proofread before submitting it to a potential publisher later this month. It’s been years in the making, this novel. It has sat, untouched, for months at a time. Life has gotten in the way, including setting up my own editing business, raising my daughter, becoming single, rebuilding a life,…
Wrestling the Octopus: how to avoid writing a novel
At a certain point, a novel-in-progress starts to get a tad unwieldy. When you begin, you have a blank screen and the boundless enthusiasm of a puppy. After a few months you have a mountain of scrap paper scrawled with half-finished paragraphs and synopsis drafts, screeds of ideas jotted down and pinned all over the walls in your office,…
Writing small
I posted this wonderful quote on my Instagram account today. (bellbirdwords). This is so important, and it's an issue I help many of my clients with. It's closely related to the "show, don't tell" rule; another vital principle of good writing that I'm often reiterating to beginner writers. It's tempting to think you have to…
Patricia Bell, Author 