Let's get acquainted
Welcome to In Writing! Let's introduce ourselves.
One of the greatest joys about making the In Writing podcast and newsletter has been watching it find its way from London, UK, to many different corners of the world. The podcast in particular has been reviewed by listeners in the USA, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, France, Sweden, India and New Zealand, and I get emails and messages all the time from people who are working on a memoir in Ohio, or a book of poetry in New Delhi. It makes me feel connected, and that makes me very happy.
That’s why I would love you, as a subscriber to In Writing on Substack, to tell me and our community here a bit about who and where you are. What kind of writing are you doing, or are you simply a reader who’s interested in this process?
You might even want to tell me a bit about your desk, your kitchen table or the coffee shop where you like to work – just as my podcast guests do. I can tell you that right now I’m sitting at the table in my living room where I do most of my writing, looking out onto a sunny day. I painted the table blue-green during the pandemic (lockdown boredom) and on my ‘desk’ right now there’s an Indian enamel jug with a peacock painted on it; a tube of hand-cream; and a pile of print-outs that I’ve scribbled all over in red pen.
So – tell me about you and where you are. Make it short and sweet or long and detailed. Let’s get to know each other!
Hi everyone, I felt moved to write after reading Hattie’s substack this morning – so much of it struck a chord. I’m a London based freelance journalist and copywriter by day, aspiring creative writer on the side. I love writing poetry but am also currently trying to rewrite my first novel for the third time and feeling all the despair that Hattie talked about so eloquently. Glad it’s not just me that feels this way. It’s hard to keep going and a rather lonely business, so hoping joining this community might spur me on a bit!
My novel is a coming of age story and at the moment I’m grappling with it not sounding YA as I think the 90s era it’s set in will have more nostalgic appeal for those who were there at the time than for today’s teens. Any advice on this dilemma most welcome!
Another dining table writer here, although I’m considering upping sticks to the local library. Ostensibly to save on fuel bills but also to remove me from the kettle and biscuit tin – my top distraction when I’m in procrastination mode.
hi there. i'm shar, a writer and sometime academic based in London. i love writing and i've always wanted to be a writer, but i struggle with motivation, with distraction, morale failure, anxiety...the whole shebang. i can sit at my desk all day sometimes with 50 tabs open and have only accomplished maybe 100 garbled words! it's exhausting. so lately i've been trying to reconstitute how i approach creativity and the drafting process, trying to be more joyful and permissive and open-hearted about it.
i write mostly at this blue desk i assembled myself [well, from the instructions], facing the canal. lately i've also written in my Google Docs app on the tube, whatever keeps the story going. nice to meet you all :)