Fi Phillips

Back in January and February, I returned to an old love of mine - acting. It was a small part in a pantomime, and it's definitely not the most attractive I've ever looked, but I enjoyed it immensely. It wasn't until after the show had finished that I realised how acting on the stage had sharpened my scriptwriting skills, reminding me how my plays felt to perform and looked to the audience. Fellow writer Nick Cross came to a similar conclusion recently. His blog post Can Acting Make You A Better Writer?  appears on the Notes from the Slushpile site. Have a look.

I've always had a specific approach to getting writing done. I write. Then I wander around, get a coffee, do some housework, while I think about the next stage in my my writing. Then I write some more. I've always done that, whether working on a play, my novel or these blog posts, and it's been an effective way to get things done in the past. It doesn't work, however, when you're writing to a time limit. I have 20 minutes to write this email, or I have an hour and a half to turn this bullet list into an informative piece on productivity, all under the remit of a client. When it's my own time, it's fine to have those 'brainstorm' walks but when I'm writing for a client who doesn't want to pay for any more time than they have to, the wanderings are out of the question. It's a new puzzle to solve. I need more focus within a tighter time frame. I have to 'parent' myself like I do my children as I drag them through the door ...

This month's photo inspiration is a snapshot from my family life. I saved this photo on my computer as 'shopping trip' but it could be so much more. What do you think? What clues can you find to a new story?

After an introductory month to my new role as freelance copywriter in February, I'm now set firmly on the course of this fresh career path. With plenty of work on the way, I'm enjoying the challenge of writing for a different arena. Writing to order isn't new for me. Plenty of my murder mystery plays were commissioned by customers. Being economic with time and wordcount, however, is something that I haven't had to deal with much in the past but it's a new development that I'm relishing. Murdering The Text This year, I will have been writing murder mystery plays for twenty years. Twenty years! How did that happen? To celebrate this impressive anniversary, I'm writing a new, as yet untitled murder mystery that relates back to the original script that started this journey. I already have a cast, a setting and a decade (the 1980s). I'll let you know when the script is finished and ready to be performed. Shadowbinder I'm still working on the re...