Fi Phillips

During the current rewrite of my novel, I found that it was necessary to cut certain scenes, chapters and characters. It was all a little sad, and scary, and brain-wrecking, but I can see that the story will benefit from all these changes. In her article, Does it serve the book? Killing your darlings is a mark of writing maturity , Roz Morris discusses just this topic. Have a look.

On the Pages panel to the right hand side of this page, you will find an entry titled The 7 'Ways' Articles . These posts range from maintaining your sanity as a work at home mum to how to work to a deadline. From time to time, I'll add to this list so if there's anything you'd like a 7 Ways on, do let me know. I'll be adding the latest 7 Ways on how I stay motivated in the very near future.

As you know, I'm working on a re-write/re-draft/general page shuffle of my Shadowbinder novel. I made good progress throughout the April Camp NaNoWriMo dash but since then my writing progress has faltered. Faltered is an understatement. My writing progress has tripped, skidded, demolished a fence and thrown its rider (me) into a thorny hedge. I'm working on a new chapter. It isn't the first new chapter I've written this time around so I'm unsure why I'm having so much trouble. I have this image for inspiration. I walk past this archway at least once a fortnight and photographed it last time I passed. It always strikes me as a little odd, hovering between gardens as it does. I know what I want to happen in my chapter. I've identified who the major players in this chapter are too. I know how it must end and how it will set Steve and his friends on a path. Why can't I get it down on paper? So I've decided to fall back on a method I use when ...

It's raining today. It started raining last night and the sound of the rain on my window woke me this morning too. Rain always makes me think. Whether I'm in the house or walking in the downpour, my thoughts turn inward, which is handy for a writer. Your writing exercise for this month is to imagine yourself stranded indoors somewhere by the rain. Where are you? Are you alone? Does the rain make you feel sombre, refreshed or something else? Is it a choice to stay indoors or is something besides the weather keeping you there? Tell me a story.

Research is an issue that scares a lot of writers. For others, it can gobble up their (writing) time. Novelist Cesca Major discusses how she researches her novels. Cesca Major discusses research for writers.

This month's photo is one of my favourites that I've taken this year. I love the winding vine and the peering out into another world. What grabs your eye in the photograph? Is it the vines, the archway, the countryside beyond or the boy? How does it make you feel? Are you more drawn to the unseen area behind the camera or do you want to step through the archway? What does this inspire you to write?

I'm obviously not at the stage yet of holding a printed copy of my novel in my hands but I'm filing this article away for future reference. From the Write Angle website, this article The Art of ARC-ing by Marcy Kate Connolly has some great ideas on what to do with your advance reading copies (in addition to keeping a copy for yourself of course). Have a look. Courtesy of The Writers and Artists Yearbook