Monday Writerly Roundup

Getting Disabled Writers In The Room

This is a scheme that gives five disabled writers an opportunity to develop an idea for TV or film. I’ve had a notion for a while to turn my novel, The Pink Cage, into a play. But being involved in this scheme would help me develop my scriptwriting skills.

The scheme is run by an organisation called Tilting the Lens and the application deadline is 17 May. Here’s some more info if you’re interested.

Making Money From Writing

I heard an interesting interview with an author called Ian Winwood, who shared his experience in an article for The Telegraph newspaper in the UK about how much money he made from a successful, traditionally published book he wrote about music.

One of his findings is that the average salary for a published writer is about £7,000 a year. It’s true we’re in it for the love, but does that give publishing companies and other organisations the right to exploit that love?

Big Wins For My Writing Client…

… and I can take 10% credit.

Only joking. But I was delighted to hear that one of my clients is launching her book. Mary Darlington is a safety consultant and she’s put her vast experience into a book called Safety Sorted, helping businesses to operate more safely, whatever their size. I compiled a report for Mary, advising her on how to polish up her language. She’s launching the book on 3 May in the Book Centre in Waterford, and the book is also available on Amazon.

This is the cover of Mary’s book, Safety Sorted, with several pictures on it depicting safety situations people might encounter in an office setting. The title and author name are in black writing on a white background.

Reader’s Report for Budding Author

I also created a reader’s report for a budding author to help her decide how to develop her story after that difficulty first draft. I gave advice about how to build character, create a more structured plot and write more authentic dialogue. I also advised her on what genre I thought the book fell into, and gave her ideas which could take her story in an unexpected direction.

And finally… I was having a listen to Something Rhymes with Purple, the podcast hosted by word gurus Suzie Dent and Gyles Brandreth, and Suzie mentioned the word limbeck. It’s a word for when you fatigue your brain from trying to generate ideas. Much more elegant than mere writers’ block.

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