The Artist’s Way – A Diary

What do you do when
you’re powering through your novel edits, then lose the will to
write? It’s amazing how swiftly a day’s reprieve can turn into a
week then, before you know it, it’s been months since you last looked
at your novel and you can’t bring yourself to open the document.

My loss of momentum began innocuously enough; blighted by a sinus infection, I took the
opportunity to rest and recover. I recovered physically (thanks for asking), but not
creatively.

I made the decision to undertake Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way program – a
12 week course in creative recovery. I first heard about it when my
colleague, writer and playwright Kris Haddow, diarised his own
journey a few years back. It looked mighty intriguing, but it’s only recently I felt the time was right for me to do it.

Listen, I know what
you’re thinking.


Ach, just bloody get on with it. Stop yer nonsense and just get it done. You’d be as well spending the time working on the
novel instead of trying to “free your creativity”. 

But I cannae.

I bound myself in
stupid expectations and ridiculous criteria until nothing about my
writing remotely resembled me. In my quest to learn how
to Write Well, I learned how to write like
other people, even if their style wasn’t my cup of tea. 

That is not what I want. 

That is bollocks.

So hear ye, hear ye, I’m getting myself back on the page.