writing process Archives - Cat Lumb, Writer & Writing Coach

Writing as a Triathlon

By cat.lumbPosted on 11 April 2022Posted in Goals, Mindset, opinion, part of the journey, Publication, The Write Catalyst, WritingTagged advice, marketing, promotion, success, writer, writing, writing dream, writing process

As a debut author, and a short story writer, it’s taken me a long time to accept that the only way I can share my stories with the world is to talk about them! It seems to be one of the final stages in the writer’s triathlon of self-belief. First you have to swim through […]

The Shiny New Story Syndrome

By cat.lumbPosted on 11 March 2022Posted in opinion, The Write Catalyst, WritingTagged advice, idea, story, writer, writing, writing process

It’s every writer’s joy to discover a new idea – a spark of inspiration that sets off a chain of possibility in our brain. From seductive scenarios to compelling characters, we love creating that perfect story in our mind and spending precious time nurturing it into something amazing. Only the problem is, we still haven’t […]

Believing You Can Write a Book

By cat.lumbPosted on 7 February 2022Posted in Editing, Goals, Mindset, opinion, part of the journey, positive thinking, WritingTagged novel, writing, writing belief, writing dream, writing goals, writing process

Believing you can write a book is a bit like believing in fairies. You have no evidence they exist, but somehow you *want* to believe that they might. The problem is, as grown ups, we don’t believe in the same way as we did when we were kids. And that’s such a shame, because it prevents us from trying so many things.

Turning a Writing Dream to Writing Reality

By cat.lumbPosted on 3 January 2022Posted in Goals, Mindset, part of the journey, positive thinking, The Write CatalystTagged learning, writer, writing, writing dream, writing goal, writing goals, writing process

As we bring in the new New Year I thought I’d share how I made my Writing Dream into my Writing Reality. I hope that other writers reading this (i.e. maybe YOU) can be inspired enough to turn your own writing dream into a reality.

Writing that dreaded Synopsis

By cat.lumbPosted on 8 November 2021Posted in UncategorizedTagged fiction, novel, synopsis, writing, writing process

I think putting together a synopsis for a novel is one of the most challenging aspects of writing for ‘new’ writers. Even practised writers still find it difficult. How are we expected to sum up a story that it has already taken us around 90,000 words to tell in only a page or two? There […]

Creating Unique, Relatable Characters

By cat.lumbPosted on 27 September 2021Posted in opinion, The Write Catalyst, Writing, Writing exerciseTagged advice, characters, novel, writing, writing process

By exploring your character’s reactions to more generalised scenarios, you’ll be better equipped to comprehend how and why they’re going to respond to your specific plot points. Not only this, but it’s not just what they do, it’s how they do it.

How to START writing a novel

By cat.lumbPosted on 5 September 2021Posted in Goals, Mindset, opinion, The Write Catalyst, Writing, Writing exerciseTagged advice, novel, The Write Catalyst, writer, writing, writing process

You know that old saying – everyone’s got a book in them? So many people want to write a book, but never will, and if you’re a writer then I’m sure you’ve had someone tell you that they would LOVE to write a book too, but they just don’t have time. So, what makes the […]

On being a ‘good enough’ writer

By cat.lumbPosted on 12 August 2021Posted in Mindset, opinion, The Write Catalyst, WritingTagged advice, AmWriting, struggle to write, writer, writing, writing process

This certainty that we are not good enough bleeds into our writing. It makes us question ourselves, convinces us that we are terrible writers, and can eventually prevent us from putting words on the page at all. So what can we do about it?

How to Balance Writing Time

By cat.lumbPosted on 11 October 2020Posted in Goals, NaNoWriMo, The Write Catalyst, WritingTagged editing, reading, struggle to write, writing drive, writing goals, writing process, writing routines

Every writer will have their own writing routine arising from personal writing goals and what they believe they are capable of in any given time frame. I think we all have our peaks and troughs – sometimes we race on ahead and surprise ourselves with our enthusiasm for the novel we are working on, whilst […]

What does it take to finish writing your novel?

By cat.lumbPosted on 21 September 2020Posted in Goals, Mindset, opinion, part of the journey, The Write Catalyst, WritingTagged finish, novel, story, the end, writing, writing process

The process of writing a novel is not something that can simply be taught. People can advise and suggest ways for you to get started or to keep your motivation going or even how to celebrate when you finish. But they can’t write the book for you, nor can they tell you what is best for the story you are trying to tell. All of that has to come from you.