As a scientist I have to write papers. A new thing I have tried recently, which has worked well, is booking writing sessions with colleagues. We book in a 1 hour session once a week and both commit to writing during that time. We have been doing it over zoom; we check in with each other at the start of the meeting, we then both start writing, and at the end of the hour we congratulate each other on what we have achieved. The beauty of it is that because we have committed to each other, we actually do it, we protect the time, rather than letting everything else get in the way. Good luck with your editing! Liz
For me, the trick is to write my fiction in a good, lined journal with a fountain pen, just let it flow - a much calmer way to write than on a cold computer screen that beeps and flashes at you all the time! Then I edit it only when I type it up on the laptop, weeks later. You become more ruthless about cutting your words, after some time has past, and you can plainly see which bits work, and which don't. One handwritten page equals about 250 words - yep! I've counted them! So, four A4 pages per day means 1000 words written, that did not exist yesterday. One page takes me about one hour to scribble, so I write for 4 hours a day, 6 days a week - and funnily enough, I need to stare at a blank wall, to project my imaginary scenes onto this wall - like a movie. Hard to find a blank wall in my house, because I have pictures everywhere! I used to feel slightly ashamed that 1000 words per day wasn't really enough - then I read an old interview with that genius, Graham Greene, where he confessed to writing only 300 words per day, because he was too fond of long, boozy lunches! I think it was PD James, who said the trick to writing fiction, is NOT to write as if you went to university! I agree with Dame Phyllis Dorothy about that - that's why I think you should write as you speak - with just a little embellishment. You speak, Georgie, in a most charming and amusing way, so I'm sure your fiction would be just my cup of tea. One thing I dread these days about being published, is the likelihood of having a 'sensitivity reader' culling my words according to their woke agenda - and killing my frivolous jokes stone dead - torture!
One of the most helpful pieces of advice I received from a writing teacher was “Sometimes you have to kill your darlings.” This had to do with editing your work and cutting something you love, a sentence, a paragraph, even a whole chapter, but just doesn’t work in the piece, short story, novel…what ever it is you’ve written. You have to hold your breath and hit the delete key. 😊
I hope this is the manuscript you began reading to us and I hope it's not changed. I have a vision of the house in my mind that I don't want changed. If I can still conger up this vision after all this time, it is certainly something that should be pursued!
I'll reference the book 'Perch Hill' by Adam Nicholson. I read it about ,would it be,ten years ago. I was SO SURPRISED to read that this writer already a well known published author,and his books are totally engaging,the ones of them I have read,was stoney broke and it was his wife,new wife Sarah who saved their bacon with her gardening and cooking entreprises. I expect you know who Sarah is. Maybe youve met her! You both have that high level mix of practicality and positivity. Id love to revisit Sissinghurst with the many changes they have made i hear,trying to recreate the ambience Adam remembered from his boyhood. So youre in one person embodying both broke writer Adam and prosperity success Sarah! You can do it,from what youve told us everything youvr had a go at has worked out so im confident you'll ace this. PS. Channel Sophie Kinsella!
Wow You've almost persuaded me to have a crack at a book. Ive been told I should write a book . I was a Dementia lead before I retired. I am passionate about living well with dementia. I will try the 300 words a day and see what churns out. If nothing else, it gets it out of one's head and onto the page. Thanks ( I used to incorporate the garden and gardening in my practice, now I just garden for joy) Best of luck with your book!
I loved Artist’s Way~it was a college course! Writing the morning pages helped to clear the mind and the weekly artists date inspires a spiritual path to creativity❣️I’m an artist & felt the book was my kindred spirit❣️
Congratulations Georgie on finishing your first draft! Brilliant. I think all three of the books you recommend are excellent in their own different ways, along with 'Writing Down the Bones' which someone else here has mentioned already. I also love 'Steering the Craft' by Ursula K. LeGuin, for those just setting out on their writing journies. Wishing you every success with the book and hope you'll be telling us more when it comes out!
All writers find a method. For my dissertation I was lucky to have a support group. We met every week to talk about process, not content. What did you do this week? What will you do this week? How do you manage meetings with your dissertation director? What obstacles stand in your way? All helpful questions to help you find a path, helped by a lovely pot of tea.
I feel like we are ending creators such as yourself because we are looking for an outlet. It may be good hard physical labor in the garden. We may be seeing flowers as the paint to decorate the canvas of life. And many of us have a deep “seeded” desire to write. I think that we must be an archetype. So many of us have common goals and dreams. Are we the creatures for whom life is about color, culture and words? As always I gain knowledge, inspiration and courage absorbing your content.🙏💗
Two years ago I got All Desires Known and didn't start it until I was on the plane headed for England. I read it while there and each morning I had to review what I had read the night before to my traveling friends! I loved the book and they loved my telling of it. It was our eighth visit to your beautiful country from the US. I will do the same with your newest book!😊😊
I love your channel because I adore flowers and having to have totally neglected my garden for two years while I wait for my (ear infection) balance to be restored has been a killer. So your videos help. I love that you're not a slave to "tidy" or what other people think. You remind me so much of Hugh Fearnley Whittinghall, and I mean that in a good way, you could be brother and sister, your way of talking is so similar and you both have firm opinions on things, as I do myself. Thanks for taking the trouble to create these vids, they're an absolute godsend for me while I'm so tied to the indoors. And your mother is absolutely wonderful, she gardens like I do (used to) and will do again. Her potting shed was a marvel of organisation. I'm afraid the climate in my part of NZ precludes keeping much in the shed - high humidity and lots of rainfall normally, the bugs LOVE it. The only survivors are the plastic flowerpots which are currently having to battle it out with the swathe of morning glory which has had a field day trying to reclaim my land. I had no idea how much I used to achieve when "pottering" outside until I no longer did it! Never mind, when I eventually stop feeling like a drunken sailor, I expect to deal to it and get back to sowing and enjoying the sweet peas and zinnias again ♥
Love that you pointed out the lack of time people have. I do feel it is important to suck people into reading as much as possible. If that means having repetitious blurbs throughout then I think you are catering to the text messaging age. Not all bad if they read something and learn something.
Loved this video. However, my comment is for Tea Cake. We had a pit bull who was allergic to grass. We tried everything! Homemade concoctions to expensive potions, but guess what worked like a charm? Head and Shoulders shampoo.
Anne Lamott always gives good advice. I’ve attended a few of her lectures as she lives here in the SF Bay Area. Congratulations on your draft and your strict schedule to ensure it was finished within your deadline.
You might enjoy Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg... I particularly enjoy listening to her read it every now and then, usually while in the car for a few hours traveling to a yearly sewing retreat. Keep at your writing and growing of all the things, Georgie, I very much enjoy what you've been sharing with us here!
My No. 1 go-to book on writing! I've run creative writing workshops and classes on and off for years and this is the first book I always recommend to people. Her second book 'Wild Mind' is excellent as well.
Hi Georgie! Can’t wait to read your work. I will immediatly purchase and read Ian Foster’s book. I too loved Stephen King’s book, have you read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron? If so you know how inspiring it is for a writer. Cheers! Jackie
Bonjour Georgie,I'm impressed and I'm looking forward to reading your new book. Thank you for your very communicative enthusiasm and dynamism. I hope you had a very nice birthday. I'm coming to London first days of July. I have planned to visit Chelsea Physic garden. I would have love to see Kensington roof garden with the flamingos but it seems difficult. Do you have any recommandation or suggestion for gardeners paradise ? (gardens or nurseries or lovely places) Thank you so so much. Take Care 😘Marie
As a scientist I have to write papers. A new thing I have tried recently, which has worked well, is booking writing sessions with colleagues. We book in a 1 hour session once a week and both commit to writing during that time. We have been doing it over zoom; we check in with each other at the start of the meeting, we then both start writing, and at the end of the hour we congratulate each other on what we have achieved. The beauty of it is that because we have committed to each other, we actually do it, we protect the time, rather than letting everything else get in the way. Good luck with your editing! Liz
that's a really good idea to do on zoom or something so no travel - easier x
For me, the trick is to write my fiction in a good, lined journal with a fountain pen, just let it flow - a much calmer way to write than on a cold computer screen that beeps and flashes at you all the time! Then I edit it only when I type it up on the laptop, weeks later. You become more ruthless about cutting your words, after some time has past, and you can plainly see which bits work, and which don't. One handwritten page equals about 250 words - yep! I've counted them! So, four A4 pages per day means 1000 words written, that did not exist yesterday. One page takes me about one hour to scribble, so I write for 4 hours a day, 6 days a week - and funnily enough, I need to stare at a blank wall, to project my imaginary scenes onto this wall - like a movie. Hard to find a blank wall in my house, because I have pictures everywhere! I used to feel slightly ashamed that 1000 words per day wasn't really enough - then I read an old interview with that genius, Graham Greene, where he confessed to writing only 300 words per day, because he was too fond of long, boozy lunches!
I think it was PD James, who said the trick to writing fiction, is NOT to write as if you went to university! I agree with Dame Phyllis Dorothy about that - that's why I think you should write as you speak - with just a little embellishment. You speak, Georgie, in a most charming and amusing way, so I'm sure your fiction would be just my cup of tea. One thing I dread these days about being published, is the likelihood of having a 'sensitivity reader' culling my words according to their woke agenda - and killing my frivolous jokes stone dead - torture!
I agree - write as you speak or you'll trip up the reader with your smart proper words x
One of the most helpful pieces of advice I received from a writing teacher was “Sometimes you have to kill your darlings.” This had to do with editing your work and cutting something you love, a sentence, a paragraph, even a whole chapter, but just doesn’t work in the piece, short story, novel…what ever it is you’ve written. You have to hold your breath and hit the delete key. 😊
yes that's a brilliant piece of advice x
I hope this is the manuscript you began reading to us and I hope it's not changed. I have a vision of the house in my mind that I don't want changed. If I can still conger up this vision after all this time, it is certainly something that should be pursued!
ooh that's great you can remember the description so long afterwards x
I'll reference the book 'Perch Hill' by Adam Nicholson. I read it about ,would it be,ten years ago. I was SO SURPRISED to read that this writer already a well known published author,and his books are totally engaging,the ones of them I have read,was stoney broke and it was his wife,new wife Sarah who saved their bacon with her gardening and cooking entreprises. I expect you know who Sarah is. Maybe youve met her! You both have that high level mix of practicality and positivity. Id love to revisit Sissinghurst with the many changes they have made i hear,trying to recreate the ambience Adam remembered from his boyhood. So youre in one person embodying both broke writer Adam and prosperity success Sarah! You can do it,from what youve told us everything youvr had a go at has worked out so im confident you'll ace this.
PS. Channel Sophie Kinsella!
yes Adam Nicolson a fine writer - and Sarah Raven wrote the preface to my second flower book Grow Your Own Wedding Flowers x
Georgie you are such a creative lady! Between flower farming,florist and author. Just amazing to check in and you always got something new.
thank you so much x
Wow You've almost persuaded me to have a crack at a book. Ive been told I should write a book . I was a Dementia lead before I retired. I am passionate about living well with dementia. I will try the 300 words a day and see what churns out. If nothing else, it gets it out of one's head and onto the page. Thanks ( I used to incorporate the garden and gardening in my practice, now I just garden for joy) Best of luck with your book!
go for it xxx good luck xxx
I loved Artist’s Way~it was a college course! Writing the morning pages helped to clear the mind and the weekly artists date inspires a spiritual path to creativity❣️I’m an artist & felt the book was my kindred spirit❣️
ooh sounds interesting - I'll have a look x
@@theflowerfarmer Ignore the religious bits.
Congratulations Georgie on finishing your first draft! Brilliant. I think all three of the books you recommend are excellent in their own different ways, along with 'Writing Down the Bones' which someone else here has mentioned already. I also love 'Steering the Craft' by Ursula K. LeGuin, for those just setting out on their writing journies. Wishing you every success with the book and hope you'll be telling us more when it comes out!
ooh will look those titles up - thank you x
All writers find a method. For my dissertation I was lucky to have a support group. We met every week to talk about process, not content. What did you do this week? What will you do this week? How do you manage meetings with your dissertation director? What obstacles stand in your way? All helpful questions to help you find a path, helped by a lovely pot of tea.
lovely idea - x
I feel like we are ending creators such as yourself because we are looking for an outlet. It may be good hard physical labor in the garden. We may be seeing flowers as the paint to decorate the canvas of life. And many of us have a deep “seeded” desire to write. I think that we must be an archetype. So many of us have common goals and dreams. Are we the creatures for whom life is about color, culture and words? As always I gain knowledge, inspiration and courage absorbing your content.🙏💗
glad you enjoy the content x
Two years ago I got All Desires Known and didn't start it until I was on the plane headed for England. I read it while there and each morning I had to review what I had read the night before to my traveling friends! I loved the book and they loved my telling of it. It was our eighth visit to your beautiful country from the US. I will do the same with your newest book!😊😊
how lovely x
I love your channel because I adore flowers and having to have totally neglected my garden for two years while I wait for my (ear infection) balance to be restored has been a killer. So your videos help. I love that you're not a slave to "tidy" or what other people think. You remind me so much of Hugh Fearnley Whittinghall, and I mean that in a good way, you could be brother and sister, your way of talking is so similar and you both have firm opinions on things, as I do myself. Thanks for taking the trouble to create these vids, they're an absolute godsend for me while I'm so tied to the indoors. And your mother is absolutely wonderful, she gardens like I do (used to) and will do again. Her potting shed was a marvel of organisation. I'm afraid the climate in my part of NZ precludes keeping much in the shed - high humidity and lots of rainfall normally, the bugs LOVE it. The only survivors are the plastic flowerpots which are currently having to battle it out with the swathe of morning glory which has had a field day trying to reclaim my land. I had no idea how much I used to achieve when "pottering" outside until I no longer did it! Never mind, when I eventually stop feeling like a drunken sailor, I expect to deal to it and get back to sowing and enjoying the sweet peas and zinnias again ♥
go for it - I hope for you a swift recovery x
I too see the similarities between Georgie and Hugh. It is their practical approach and advice that they are similar.
@@MsYingyang2
What a compliment xxx
Love that you pointed out the lack of time people have. I do feel it is important to suck people into reading as much as possible. If that means having repetitious blurbs throughout then I think you are catering to the text messaging age. Not all bad if they read something and learn something.
glad you agree x
Loved this video. However, my comment is for Tea Cake. We had a pit bull who was allergic to grass. We tried everything! Homemade concoctions to expensive potions, but guess what worked like a charm? Head and Shoulders shampoo.
that's genius - I'm adding to the shopping list x
Anne Lamott always gives good advice. I’ve attended a few of her lectures as she lives here in the SF Bay Area.
Congratulations on your draft and your strict schedule to ensure it was finished within your deadline.
I'd love to attend one of her lectures - I bet they are very invigorating x
You might enjoy Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg... I particularly enjoy listening to her read it every now and then, usually while in the car for a few hours traveling to a yearly sewing retreat. Keep at your writing and growing of all the things, Georgie, I very much enjoy what you've been sharing with us here!
My No. 1 go-to book on writing! I've run creative writing workshops and classes on and off for years and this is the first book I always recommend to people. Her second book 'Wild Mind' is excellent as well.
Georgie, I love your hair. It is a good length and it is flattering
thank you x
Always inspiring, Georgie!
glad you enjoyed it x
Hi Georgie! Can’t wait to read your work. I will immediatly purchase and read Ian Foster’s book. I too loved Stephen King’s book, have you read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron? If so you know how inspiring it is for a writer. Cheers! Jackie
Her last novel was great. I loved
it.
The Artist's Way sounds interesting - I'll look it up. x
thank you Joanna x
I loved "All Desires Known"and want to reread your book. Thanks for the inspiringlesson,simple but not simplistic. Today I write!
go for it x
Bonjour Georgie,I'm impressed and I'm looking forward to reading your new book.
Thank you for your very communicative enthusiasm and dynamism. I hope you had a very nice birthday.
I'm coming to London first days of July. I have planned to visit Chelsea Physic garden.
I would have love to see Kensington roof garden with the flamingos but it seems difficult.
Do you have any recommandation or suggestion for gardeners paradise ? (gardens or nurseries or lovely places) Thank you so so much. Take Care 😘Marie
the gardener's paradise in London is Petersham Nurseries in Richmond - xxx
Thank you so so much
Really enjoyed watching your lovely video. 😍
Thank you so much 🤗 x
With Anne Lamotte ignore the religious bits
I like knowing the point of view of the writer - brings more context to the advice I think x
Georgie you are such a creative lady! Between flower farming,florist and author. Just amazing to check in and you always got something new.
Fab lady!! So real and engaging... X from New Zealand
thank you xxx