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Sarah Painter

Author of contemporary fiction with a touch of magic

first draft

Hello, February! Writing, Podcasting and Investigating Book Swag

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Hello, my lovelies!

Just a quick update to let you know that I’m still here – I’ve just been buried in my Scrivener document, trying to get a first draft finished. I’m working on a follow-up (standalone novel in the same genre) to In The Light of What We See and it has swallowed my brain!

theworriedwriter_300

If you’re interested in an audio update on my writing life (complete with a croaky, cold-choked voice), my latest podcast episode is up here. It also features an interview with creative coach, Mark McGuinness, and we discuss motivation, meditation and smashing through creative blocks.

I’m also getting very excited about my next book launch. In The Light of What We See will be published in two months time (meep!) and I’ve been researching ‘book swag’ for giveaways. This mainly involves losing hours to the delights of Etsy. It’s a hard life…

I’m rather fond of these miniature book pendants by NickyDrawStuff:

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And these lockets by NovelDesignsUK:

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Both sellers offer custom design (so I could get some made with my book cover).

I’m also looking into printed canvas shopping/tote bags and notebooks.

What do you think? Got any book swag recommendations or suggestions?

 

 

 

 

Starting A New Book: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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autumn

Hello, my lovelies!

I had such grand plans for October.

I was going to finish the second draft of my supernatural/fantasy book and send it to my agent. I was going to start the first draft of a new book. I was going to update this blog regularly, take a week off with my family, sort out some DIY tasks, and, in all likelihood, solve the global warming crisis at the same time. In other words, I succumbed to the ‘do all the things’ trap. My perfectionist side likes to do this every so often – it piles on the pressure and watches the inevitable meltdown with a giant carton of popcorn. Sigh.

This was probably a result of finishing the old book completely and finally (copy edits done!) and not having started the new one. After a few weeks of panic (I’ll never have another idea! I’ll never finish another book! The others were flukes!) I settled back to work. And nothing happened. Even if I managed to write, it came out stilted and weird.

First I bullied myself (‘you must write 2000 words today or else’) and my brain froze and refused to work at all. Then I took a week off to read and watch films and walk and think and, by the end, my creative mind was beginning to wake up and send me little snippets.

Today, I finally seem to be in the zone. I have a couple of characters I adore and a ‘feeling’ which, for me, is the most important part. The relief is enormous!

In other news, it appears to be the end of October. If you’re doing NaNoWriMo this year, I wish you lots of luck (and words – lots and lots of words!). I won’t be taking part officially, but I will be trying to write as much as possible on my first draft. I’ll aim for 30,000 and will check in here throughout the month. Do feel free to set any goals in the comments, so that we support each other during November!

theworriedwriter_300Finally, if you haven’t tried my free podcast, yet; do consider checking out the latest interview with Joanna Penn (from The Creative Penn). If you need inspiration to get more productive or to follow your writing dreams, Joanna’s energy and enthusiasm may be just what you need.

Episode #08: The Worried Writer: Joanna Penn ‘I Measure My Life by What I Create’ 

Alternatively, if you’re struggling with getting words down at all and are in a writing slump, this post may help: The Only Way To Defeat A Bad Writing Day