Projects & Progress

Projects & Progress 14

What to do when your agent warns (threatens you); why choosing to do the wrong thing is better than lying to yourself; perimenopause and menopause for writers; polishing your novel on a sentence-by-sentence level; introducing three new Dream Author concepts: the ‘Not For The Likes of Us Line’, the ‘The Impossibility Borderline’ and the ‘Dream Goal Staircase’!

Projects & Progress 13

Sophie coaches on how to solve for the ‘adrift’ feeling after a book is finished, how to know when to write something new and when to persevere with your current project, and much more.

Projects & Progress 12

The problem with thoughts like ‘I’ll hit the ground running in the New Year; how to plan to write in a way that tempts you; what to do when you don’t want to send your book out to any more agents; Iris Murdoch’s ‘eggs and baskets’ advice for writers; how to choose (between anything and anything!) when your instincts are leaning one way but you’re still not sure;vwhy rejection can be good for our books.

Projects & Progress 11

When your writing mentor takes all the joy out of the writing process; a DA picks a new agent for a reason that she likes; the differences between acquiring (from an editor’s point of view) a literary novel and a commercial one; how to deal with ‘am I being self-indulgent in pursuing my writing dreams?’; should you give up on your book and move on if you haven’t heard anything from your agent in several months?; how to get back into writing after a break; should you send your agent your most recent, updated synopsis, when she’s already got the previous version?; how to approach the most laborious parts of the writing process; how much information should you give the reader at the start of any story?; how to write your book when some of the content is triggering.

Projects & Progress 10

Should you speak up for yourself, even if the other person won’t listen?; your thoughts about money; when scheduling feels like fantasy stuff – what to do; is it okay to think ‘I can’t be arsed’ and make no effort?; why and when to write under two different names.

Projects & Progress 6

Sophie reports on the progress she’s making on Poirot no. 5, and other Dream Authors report on their progress and the challenges they’re currently facing, including: a bizarre book cover, a house move and how to approach a one-to-one with an agent.

Projects & Progress 5

What to do if you’re worried that you’ve fallen behind in Dream Author and/or aren’t doing it properly!; what to do if your week seems to shrink so that you can’t fit in all the things you’ve planned to do; a Dream Author’s plan for how to proceed with her current writing project; Sophie talks about her own (flawed) plan for writing Poirot no. 5.