It would be nice if your writing muse appeared whenever they were needed. But unfortunately the inspiration to write rarely crops up at the perfect time. The truth is you usually have to go find your writing inspiration. Even that initial spark of a book didn't actually come from nowhere. The idea was probably wandering... Continue Reading →
When you're a writer, you may well occasionally feel guilty. In our driven society, it's not unusual to feel like this if you're doing anything that isn't "work" but is vaguely important to you. So how do you cope with it? Here are five common writing "guilts" and how to manage them. 1) Spending too... Continue Reading →
I know what you're going say about the photograph below. "That is not the birthplace of Jane Austen, Wordlander. That...is a field." Photo of field with arrow indicating location of house where Jane Austen was born And yes it is indeed a field. Because unfortunately, the original rectory of Steventon where Jane Austen was born... Continue Reading →
We all have at least one (possibly more) book we go back to again and again. One we've read so much the cover has fallen off. One we know back to front and sideways. One where the characters are like our friends and family, so real that if they turned up on the doorstep tomorrow,... Continue Reading →
It's always worth doing a bit of research before you travel, whether it be to somewhere you've been before or somewhere new. Before a recent walk, I did a bit of a search of the local area and discovered an authors grave I hadn't visited before. So I took a quick detour to St Mary's... Continue Reading →
"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction"Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, 1929 When Virginia Woolf wrote those words, she was referring to the specific condition of being a female writer. But outside of those specific intricacies, the need for a space to write... Continue Reading →
Places to go (now we can go places) I’m digging out and sprucing up blog posts to bring fantastically inspiring places to all you writers out there. Stay safe. There are some places you never think you'll see the inside of and a modern-day prison is certainly one of them. Dana Prison in Shrewsbury closed... Continue Reading →
C.S. Lewis is best known for his Chronicles of Narnia, with "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", being a perennial childhood favourite. He's buried in a small church graveyard, tucked away in what was probably once a village but has now been swallowed up into the Oxford suburbs. A handy sign points you to... Continue Reading →
I've been waiting to visit this one for ages. North of Oxford, in a busy suburb, is a smallish graveyard called Wolvercote Cemetery. It's an unlikely final resting place for arguably one of the most influential fantasy writers who ever lived but nevertheless this is where you'll find J.R.R. Tolkien, and his wife Edith. There... Continue Reading →
