Author: Diane Ferguson

Diane is an accountant by day, an amateur astronomer by night, and a writer by morning. Having just completed her first novel, she has embodied the maxim: writing IS editing. Diane and her husband have raised two girls in the wilds of Grey County. She was involved with the Words Aloud Spoken Word and Storytelling Festival for over fifteen years. And now looks forward to more time writing as she enters the empty-nester phase.

Ghosts of Christmas’ Past

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Will I ever forget the blizzard of 22? We were stuck home like so many others. But since we knew it was coming, we’d prepared. We’d canceled plans to visit family on Christmas and made sure we were well-stocked with food and necessities. But no more than an hour into the blizzard and we’d lost power. This wasn’t looking good. We hadn’t filled the water buckets yet. Our usual debate about getting a generator ensued.

Without power, we stayed by the fire most of the day. What better time to do some reading! I have the most comfortable reading chair right next to the fire. That, a cat and my blanket and I was all set for a Hygge Christmas. I took the forced digital disconnection to catch-up on some reading on writing. I re-read most of Robert McKee’s, Story.  And I skimmed through, Story Genius, by Lisa Cron, which I’d previously read. And also caught up a bit on, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, by Jessica Brody.

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Fear

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The theme of fear keeps popping up for me this month.  My spiritual teacher used it for a focus of discussion at the beginning of the month and I’ve been contemplating what my fears are and which ones I need to push through and which ones I need to honour. For instance, the old example of jumping off a cliff into water. I’m okay with not doing that. I don’t chase an adrenaline high. Maybe I’m missing out, but I generally don’t like falling. Perhaps I’m just a creature of comfort, but I also know I have to push outside my comfort zone to grow anything.

I’m also listening to the book, The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals that Protect Us from Violence, by Gavin de Becker. He tells us how our bodies know when something’s wrong, it’s whether or not we listen to our own inner warning signals. The signs are always there even though people often say, I had no idea. Becker uses the example of our dogs, how they will react negatively to a person who wants to harm us in some way. The dog is not reacting to the stranger, the dog is reacting to you and the signals your body is giving. Often, in an effort to be polite, or nice, we override our own gut instincts getting us into trouble we could’ve seen coming. Read more

The Tortoise and the Hare for Writers

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Photo by Ryan Grewell on Unsplash

As a novel writer, I move at a tortoise’s pace, working over my words with a fine tooth comb, re-reading to make sure everything flows as it should, reviewing beginnings and endings…you get the point, it’s never ending. As a first-time novel writer, I have the luxury of time.

But the newspaper and magazine world are all about timeliness. I’ve had a taste of this as I used to write-in to the local newspaper fairly frequently, responding to the current issues of the day. When you need speed, you lose some perfectionism, or at least you have to let some of it go. It feels antithetical to novel writing.

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This Writer’s Bookshelf

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Happy Reading & Writing Place

If you’re a writer, chances are, you’re a reader. And there’s a high probability, like me, you’re a bookaholic. You can’t get enough. Walk by a bookstore? Only with the greatest inner fortitude. But now you don’t even have to walk by! I’ll be quietly working away at my day job, when—DING—there’s an email, Chapters / Indigo is having a sale. Pop to their website, scan the titles, order, pay, and boom, back to work. Or, I’ll be listening to a podcast while I work, a book suggestion comes up, pop over to Amazon, no min order needed to get free shipping, just a click away and the book is somehow already shipped.

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A Year in the Life of a Writer

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It’s been over a year since I’ve done a blog post. I was taking a break to focus on my ONE writing priority: FINISHING MY NOVEL. It’s been a long project since I was learning how to write while I raised a family, worked, and tried to keep up with our house. My struggle is every artist’s struggle: How to keep creating when life is overwhelming you. (Unless of course you have a fabulous patron and you’re living in some historic castle writing away while dragons play outside.) But for the rest of us, here’s my story on how I kept to my goals when life was super challenging. And the tips, techniques and resources I used to keep myself on track even when life was busy making other plans for me.

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The Joy of Writing

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Here it comes, the darkest days of the year as we slide into winter—and we’re in a pandemic. I think most of us are ready to say goodbye to 2020. It wasn’t a great year, but it won’t quickly be forgotten. Now Old Man Winter is begging us to hibernate and the government is asking us to stay home too; stay safe. What better time for a writer?

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To-Write or Not-To-Write

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Every writer I know has trouble writing. – Joseph Heller

I never thought I’d experienced writer’s block, assumed it meant you couldn’t think of anything to write. For me, there was always something flowing out my pen, even if it wasn’t great literature. One sunny day this summer, I was procrastinating on my writing and picked up a book I’d been gifted: Write. 10 Days to overcome Writer’s Block. Period, by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D.

I quickly learned what I thought of as “resistance to writing” was in fact WRITER’S BLOCK!!! Who was I kidding? I was constantly fighting writer’s block. There are many real things to keep us from writing: day jobs, kids, partners, parents, social obligations. But the real demons can often be found in our own heads.

We dream of having a block of fully un-interrupted time where we are immersed in our writing and hours go by without our noticing. Or anyone interrupting. We are able to achieve the illusive “creative flow”. But the reality is, though we may have those days from time-to-time, most of our writing happens between things.

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