My mental health is better when I’m writing. But also I write more when I’m feeling mentally healthy. It’s a chicken and egg situation and I definitely don’t know which comes first. But the bottom line is that writing is a good sign!! How is writing good for my mental health? I’m generally happy when I’m writing. Exploring amazing worlds, hanging out with fantastic characters, having incredible adventures. What’s not…
I’m teetering on the edge of something at the moment, have been for aaages in fact: looking at what I should be jumping into, considering it, pacing along it, but too nervous to take the plunge. We can all feel this way. Whether it’s sliding into a cold swimming pool, starting a conversation with a stranger or standing on a wooden platform high up in the trees, ready to step…
On the Saturday afternoon of the SCBWI conference I gleefully skipped along to a workshop on Pitch hoping to nail an answer to that question. It was great session, led by a brilliant tutor, but…rather than gaining any clarity I ended up spiralling into greater confusion. Partly it’ll have been because I can’t work creatively in a classroom environment. Partly it could be that the partner I was working with…
When you’re reading my blog (assuming you’re a semi-regular reader), how often do you notice the images I use? Great images for bloggers can be hard to come by, especially for free. When I first started blogging I googled for them which isn’t the best idea with potential copyright issues. To avoid that I sometimes take my own photos, although they not always as sharp as I’d like. Wherever possible though,…
Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Maze Runner. If you think about the most successful YA books in the last decade what do the majority of them have in common? They’re series. So imagine my surprise when my GE editor, Nicki, told me in one of our Editorial surgeries that publishers aren’t keen on series at the moment! Eh?! A series gets around one of a publisher’s biggest…
Waiting. When people talk about the skills you need as a writer, the ability to wait well is never mentioned. I HATE waiting. Like really hate it. There aren’t many things in life I hate. Liquorice is the only other one that comes to mind. *shudder* Waiting in queues is a particular nightmare. I can feel my life slipping away when I’m standing there. And I have an uncanny ability…
When I submitted the Winchester competition article that I posted two weeks ago, I had to enter the competition under a pseudonym/pen name. Fortunately a recent discussion with a friend meant I wasn’t at a complete loss as to how to choose one. She’d suggested combining your name with a colour, preferably beginning with the same letter – e.g. Mel Magenta or Mel Maroon – or by pairing the name of…
Hi, I'm Mel (you figured that out already though, right?!) and this is where I chat about things that relate to and inspire my writing, as well as share some of it.