Fi Phillips

There's plenty of choice creative advice out there at the moment in the enthusiastic light of the new year. I recently came across a wonderful article by brainpickings,  Margaret Atwood's 10 Rules of Writing . It's not new but it's well worth a read. Have a look. In My Personal Zero Moment: How I became a writer  I mentioned that I'd signed up for Gabriela Pereira's diy MFA book club. Well, now I have a wonderful TED talk from Gabriela for you too. 'Creativity is a craft and it belongs to everyone' Gabriela Pereira of diy MFA

Writing a children's book is a new development for me. Any help I can find along the way is appreciated so I was more than happy to come across this article from Writers & Artists, Researching Your Children's  Book by Allan Boroughs. There are useful links at the bottom of the article to more advice on research for your children's book too.

Today I spent the morning and early afternoon on my daughter's school trip. I hadn't realised quite how much noise 60 ten year olds could make in the enclosed space of a coach. Still, it left me to day dream while watching the rain drench the Welsh countryside. Many of us dream about attending a writing retreat but the expense involved can mean that it stays just that, a dream. This article from Bookbaby offers an alternative - 6 Essential Tips For Your Own Stay-at-Home Writing Retreat .