Fi Phillips

Due to the increasing success of Murdering The Text, I am closing down my other business Haven Crystal Gifts to concentrate my time and resources. On 1st September, the Haven Crystal Gifts website begins it's closing down sale. All items are reduced in price. Have a look to pick up some bargains.

Working on my pantomime yesterday, I suddenly realised how much 'dad' humour I was using. Let me explain 'dad' humour. It's the kind of jokes that you get in crackers or that fathers use to amuse their children. Well, they think they're amusing their children but usually the involved younglings are more embarrassed than amused, with cries of 'Oh Dad'. I suppose it's on par with dad dancing. With the pantomime, I find myself chortling at the humour I'm writing (especially as I can imagine the audience reaction) but also thinking 'oh no, how embarrassing'. When I return to my writing, I tend to read through the previous chapter or scene to get into the energy of that particular piece. For me, different kinds of writing (novel, play, blog article etc) tend to have their own rhythms and energy levels. For example, the pantomime is a very upbeat energy which has to be maintained throughout with the occasional lull for a sad bit or love song, o...

Or to be more precise, the child-filled, mostly unproductive six weeks that is the school summer holiday has taken over my life and my mind. My normal writing routine has been replaced by trips to viking museums and desperate shopping trips where I attempt to stop the octopi that are my children from destroying the comic or sweet display at the local supermarket. Everyone is different but for me, I need peace (i.e. children at school or at least asleep in bed) and usually to be alone to get any quality writing done. Cue many many midnight writing sessions after my husband has gone to bed to keep up with what I need to do over the holiday break. One advantage of having so much time with my children, however, is the boost to my imagination. I think it's a mixture of being around these magically creative little people and visiting new places (i.e. the viking museum mentioned above, a train museum , a different city, couple of zoos). I have almost filled the note capacity on my mobile...