This week I start a fiction writing course...
...and I have been shi$%ing myself a little bit, but then I read some helpful things.
I signed up a while ago (after cancelling another fiction writing course earlier in the year - it was naive and terrible timing!)… but this week I am starting four weeks of creative fiction writing with none other than the queen of romantic comedies and the best characters,
.Why am I sharing this with you? Well, firstly, because committing to showing up more on Substack these last few months has given me more confidence to write, write, write (and sign up for courses like these), and secondly, for a bit of group accountability.
In fact, a friend sent me a message recently to say that my renewed commitment to writing on Substack (I trying/aiming for once a week) has in fact inspired them to write more. I was chuffed, because we should all just be writing (and/or reading) more, in any way that works. You do not need a fancy qualification… to write.
However, knowing that fact and feeling the great feels when I actually put pen/text to paper/screen, has not stopped me from years of procrastination around writing fiction. It seems so scary, a step up, something only literary folk can do. Rationally though, anyone that can dream up a story, can in fact write a novel.
Moments of doubt have still popped up this week as the course start looms. There is no real rational basis to these doubts, as it’s not like I am intending to write a finished novel in four weeks, so I tried to remember WHY I signed up. It was to have a space to learn from an author I Iove, to seek community around writing and to just START.
That’s it.
So, as long as I give it a go, then the goal has been achieved. Also, practically, I cannot keep carrying these characters around in my head. They must be given a chance to live on the page.
I am hoping that in reading this right now, it might indeed spur you on too, to write that essay/poem/novel/journal/script.
However, if you are in need of some extra inspiration and bolstering support, then I highly recommend reading these two pieces I stumbled upon today. Yes, they are behind a paywall, but very worth subscribing for, even just to read these two.
Thank you
and .
Until next week,
Camilla x
Exciting! I've been thinking of joining a fiction-writing course too, for accountability. Look forward to hearing how it goes for you x