Author: taraeast88

I went on a writing retreat…here’s what I learnt

I’ve been dying to go on a writing retreat for the past three or more years. A writing retreat, for me, is when you go somewhere other than your home, where your meals are prepared, and the only thing you have to worry about is writing.

Here in Australia, there are writing retreats you can apply for and writing retreats you can pay for. The first are super competitive and the second are some expensive, which is why I’ve done neither.

I’ve hosted (?) solo writing retreats at home with various levels of effectiveness. They’ve worked well when…

• I’m well retreated,
• have meals prepared,
• have a lighter workload,
• and the house is cleaned and organised.

And sometimes, my solo home retreats haven’t worked, simply, because I’ve put too much pressure on the need to be productive. In short: I’ve put eight hours aside to write this book, so I better produce some words!

Further than that…perhaps because I work from home…spending an entire weekend in my office feels like not much of a weekend at all.

But the idea of writing retreats persisted. Then, one day, I floated the idea past the members of my book club, and four months later, we made it happen!

I deliberately chose to not record a video while on our writing retreat because the weekend was about working on my novel, not producing free content for my platform.

I do, however, want to share how we organised this weekend, what it looked like, and what we will do differently next time.

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Need help finishing that short story, novel, memoir? No problem. The Follow-Through Formula is a free video training which unpacks the five strategies you can use to go from idea to completed project.

To access, click here to join my email newsletter and you’ll receive a thank you email containing the link to the free video training.

You’ll also receive my weekly newsletter which is sent out every Thursday morning. This is where I share links to my latest blog and YouTube video as well as other inspiring goodies that I only share via email.

Write your book in 20 minutes

The weather today is absolutely perfect. The kind of warm winter’s day where you can wear shorts and a long sleeve shirt or light sweater. In other words, ideal. As I type this, the little dog is in her fluffy bed under my desk panting because it is so ‘warm.’

It is a day not to be wasted. It is not the kind of day to spend indoors. It is the kind of day that MUST be spent in a park—which is where this week’s video was filmed.

Lately, I’ve been admiring various YouTube creators who are openly/knowingly/intentionally sharing imperfect video content. Honestly, it is just so endearing and often hilarious.

The filming and audio of this week’s video are not perfect, but I kinda of love that. Part of me feels real resistance towards YouTube videos that look like they were created in studios and edited by someone with, you know, skills and talent.

The quality of this week’s video is, well, look, just a little bit shit. HOWEVER, I stand behind what I say in the video 110%. 🙂

This week’s video is a pep talk that focusses on two specific challenges most writers encounter. Firstly, a lack of time. Secondly, our hesitancy to call ourselves writers.

Personally, I think you can solve the latter by dealing with the former, but you’ll have to watch the video to learn more about that!

So, if you’re needing a little pep talk and some sunshine, watch the video above!

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Need help finishing that short story, novel, memoir? No problem. The Follow-Through Formula is a free video training which unpacks the five strategies you can use to go from idea to completed project.

To access, click here to join my email newsletter and you’ll receive a thank you email containing the link to the free video training.

You’ll also receive my weekly newsletter which is sent out every Thursday morning. This is where I share links to my latest blog and YouTube video as well as other inspiring goodies that I only share via email.

A new approach to novel writing

Earlier this year I shared how I approached the writing of a zero draft. Today, I’m sharing how I am now preparing for the next stage: the first draft.

I know, yawn, right?

The internet is OVERWHELMED with blogs and videos providing advice on writing a first draft. However, I do feel that I have some different strategies that I haven’t seen anyone else mention before. I’d love to know if these tips are helpful, and to hear about your own strategies for writing a first draft.

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Need help finishing that short story, novel, memoir? No problem. The Follow-Through Formula is a free video training which unpacks the five strategies you can use to go from idea to completed project.

To access, click here to join my email newsletter and you’ll receive a thank you email containing the link to the free video training.

You’ll also receive my weekly newsletter which is sent out every Thursday morning. This is where I share links to my latest blog and YouTube video as well as other inspiring goodies that I only share via email.

But HOW do you write a book?

I often sit down to write a blog/YouTube script with the intention of writing about a specific topic. I almost always end up writing about something else.

Today, for example, I planned on writing a blog about the idea that only wealthy people can write. Or more specifically, only wealthy people can afford to write. I won’t get into the weeds here because that will still likely be a post in the future, but….

This week’s post is an answer to the question: ‘But HOW do you write a book?’

This came from a student in one of my classes. This question was less practical and more philosophical.

We all KNOW how to write a book. You sit down and you type it out word by word until you reach the end (Note: this will likely take more than one sitting). There is a whole corner of the internet dedicated to writing advice articles that answer this very question!

But if information was the solution, then we’d all be in perfect relationships, have six-pack abs and be millionaires.

The answer to the question, ‘but HOW do you write a book?’ is both simple and also not that simple.

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Need help finishing that short story, novel, memoir? No problem. The Follow-Through Formula is a free video training which unpacks the five strategies you can use to go from idea to completed project.

To access, click here to join my email newsletter and you’ll receive a thank you email containing the link to the free video training.

You’ll also receive my weekly newsletter which is sent out every Thursday morning. This is where I share links to my latest blog and YouTube video as well as other inspiring goodies that I only share via email.

The balance of marketing and writing

Last week I had a number of heavy conversations with writers. The topics ranged from complaints about writer-editor dynamics, lack of support from publishers, the pressure to market and promote their titles, and everyone’s favourite gripe—money. One writer I spoke to was so burnt out by it all that she was ready to throw in the towel. She had achieved her goal of being traditionally published, very well reviewed, and her title had become a set text in many schools. Our conversation was a difficult one and her disappointment and exhaustion was palpable. When I sat down to write this week’s posts, it was difficult to talk about anything but the conversations that had happened this week. However, after all of this heaviness, I did want to share something more uplifting. I want to encourage people to continue writing—if they have the means and desire to—because writing really does need to be the reward.

I’d love to hear your reflections on this, so please feel free to leave a comment.

Writing the Zero Draft of Your Novel

Need help finishing that short story, novel, memoir? No problem. The Follow-Through Formula is a free video training which unpacks the five strategies you can use to go from idea to completed project.

To access, click here to join my email newsletter and you’ll receive a thank you email containing the link to the free video training.

You’ll also receive my weekly newsletter which is sent out every Thursday morning. This is where I share links to my latest blog and YouTube video as well as other inspiring goodies that I only share via email.

The lie of writing retreats

This week’s video is about my totally failed attempt at running a writing ‘retreat’ weekend.

Even though the weekend did NOT go the way that I would have liked, I did gain some humbling and much needed insights which I share in the video.

I’d love to hear about your own experiences with writing retreats, either at home retreats or ‘vacation’ retreats with other writers.

Have you found this type of concentrated effort helpful? Did it improve your focus? Were you able to get more done because of your commitment to the retreat? I’d love to know, so please feel free to leave a comment below!

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Need help finishing that short story, novel, memoir? No problem. The Follow-Through Formula is a free video training which unpacks the five strategies you can use to go from idea to completed project.

To access, click here to join my email newsletter and you’ll receive a thank you email containing the link to the free video training.

You’ll also receive my weekly newsletter which is sent out every Thursday morning. This is where I share links to my latest blog and YouTube video as well as other inspiring goodies that I only share via email.

The Twelve Books I Read in January

Usually, January is a strange month as we deal with the shock and horror of finding ourselves—impossibly, again!—at the beginning of another year.My January has been stupidly busy with writing and teaching and reading. For the month of January, I decided to read only middle-grade and YA fiction. Why? Because research. I’m teaching a children’s book course this year and I wanted to get a sense of what types of children’s book are being published right now.This week’s video is a recap of the 12 books I read, including a brief summary of their plots, my thoughts on the books, and the overall insights I gained from this experiment. Having a themed reading month was a lot of fun and I enjoyed how it made my reading feel more focussed. It also ‘made’ me read a lot of books that have been on my TBR list that I just haven’t made time for.It’s also made me think about other potential reading themes I could have in the future, such as… – Genre greats of the 70s, 80s, and 90s (think Octavia Butler, Ursula Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, Amy Tan, Anne Rice…) – Short Classics Books I’ve wanted to read for ages but keep avoiding (I’m looking at you Moby Dick) – Read my shelves (i.e., no library books or new books) – Lesser known books by famous female authors (particularly icons like Woolf, Austen, Brontë) – A month of weird fiction

I will continue to brainstorm! Have you ever undertaken a reading challenge or read to a specific theme. Got any ideas you’d like to share? Feel free to leave a comment!

The travelling writer: Natalie Goldberg Challenge Day Five

This week’s video covers day five and six of the Natalie Goldberg challenge. For day five, I am acting as a tourist in my own town and on day six, I am experimenting with writing anywhere while travelling for a few days.

This challenge was intended to be a week long, but what can I say? Life is busy and motivation to do more things can be difficult to find at this time of year.

HOWEVER, doing this challenge has been incredibly rewarding.

What I’ve learnt:

• Changing my routine is more fun than stressful
• Writing outside of the house is productive
• Paying attention to detail on the page and in real life will improve your descriptions
• I can generate my own inspiration (i.e. writing prompts)
• Experimenting with how I write makes writing even more fun

Need help finishing that short story, novel, memoir? No problem. The Follow-Through Formula is a free video training which unpacks the five strategies you can use to go from idea to completed project.

To access, click here to join my email newsletter and you’ll receive a thank you email containing the link to the free video training.

You’ll also receive my weekly newsletter which is sent out every Thursday morning. This is where I share links to my latest blog and YouTube video as well as other inspiring goodies that I only share via email.

I try Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Practice: Deep Dreams (day four)

Need help finishing that short story, novel, memoir? No problem. The Follow-Through Formula is a free video training which unpacks the five strategies you can use to go from idea to completed project.

To access, click here to join my email newsletter and you’ll receive a thank you email containing the link to the free video training.

You’ll also receive my weekly newsletter which is sent out every Thursday morning. This is where I share links to my latest blog and YouTube video as well as other inspiring goodies that I only share via email.