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A Bump in the Road…

by eloraburrellLeave a Comment on A Bump in the Road…

Hello fellow creatives,

It certainly has been a while, but I’m doing my best to get back on the horse!

My absence from blogging and all around writing isn’t because Covid restrictions were lifted and I went on a fancy holiday somewhere abroad, remote and sunny. In fact it has nothing to do with breaks of any kind.
Mental health is something I have always battled over the years, and this time it hit with an unrelenting fierceness that I hadn’t quite expected, and so writing this is very raw for me.

No one can warn you of what happens when you fall off the wagon with your mental health, and you never know how it’s going to affect you. I myself have experienced so many different effects from my own struggles that I never know what I may face with the next stint.

The affects of Covid and lockdown have affected everyone and I am no different. I lost my grandfather to this awful illness all too suddenly, I have had to manage my pregnancy virtually alone in regard to doctors appointments and meetings with my midwife. This all took its toll and consequently spiralled into depression. It stopped me from doing and enjoying the things that I loved the most. Writing, reading, taking my son out on day trips, I gave it up to spend most of my time inside on the sofa.

Even now, with help from therapy and support from my extremely patient husband, my drive hasn’t quite come back. There is no sense of enjoyment or accomplishment when I try to write, my imagination has dimmed when reading and I struggle to focus.
I say this not to complain about how hard mental health can be, but to express to those who share in my struggles that they are not alone.

I know my flair for writing and reading will return to me with time, I know that I can ride through this wave and come out the other side with my aspirations still intact. Mental health is not something to be ashamed of, patience with yourself and self-care is key. It’s ok not to feel ok.

And I know that soon enough I’ll be back to my old self and better than ever.

And So It Began…

by eloraburrellLeave a Comment on And So It Began…

Hello fellow creatives,

When the idea for Neverlander sprung to mind, it had no plot, no characters and no real essence to it. All I knew is that I wanted to tell a tale that was somehow related to one of my most treasured classics.

I remember watching the 2003 version of the film adaptation over and over in my childhood. I loved the magic, the landscape and the roguish yet lovable characters. And then as my writing progressed and I developed my skill, one day the idea just popped into my head.

What if Neverland had lost its innocence?

That one simple suggestion led me down a path of more questions, that spread out like a map in my head. There was so much to work with, so much to explore and it was an avenue of this story I hadn’t seen before.
I wondered for some time how I was going to portray my line of thinking on paper, and how I was going to incorporate the characters in a way that changed how people viewed this fantasy world and after hours of scrolling through Pinterest for ideas and inspiration, the answer came to me in a dream.

As such a creative person myself, I often get a lot of my inspiration from walks, music, imagery and dreams. And when I when I’d woken from this dream, I knew that in my tale, the original characters would be older, much more mature and more importantly the world they lived in would be darker and less children friendly.

And that is how the creation of Wyn came to be. After realising the young woman I had seen in this dream was a relative of the Darling children; Wendy, John and Michael, I realised that the basic idea I had for Neverlander had shifted from a children’s story to something of a maturer nature.

What I never expected was for it to grow into such a large story! But by posing myself this question of innocence, I opened up the door to a whole new wild adventure… I would go into further detail, but for me to do so, would spoil the story!

We wouldn’t want that now would we?

What Book is my Nose Stuck in This Month?

by eloraburrellLeave a Comment on What Book is my Nose Stuck in This Month?

Hey there fellow creatives,

As much as my love for writing and my current book schedule is keeping my busy at my laptop, I will always try and find the time to do some reading.

Currently that book is The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman.

I decided to revisit the series after the television programme on BBC aired. I’m that annoying type of bookworm that must read the book before watching any television adaptation be it film or series.
This is a book I opened years ago when I was pregnant with my first and haven’t read since, so the story was rusty and reading it again stirred excitement in me.

Usually I have the memory of an elephant, I remember the plots of books for years after so it has to be a book I adore for me to read it over and over. But because I had never gotten to finish Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials all those years prior, I figured I would finish them this time around.

Unsurprisingly, I have fallen back into love with his writing style and the world created in this wonderful series, and I’m back to rooting for Lyra at every turn. Having left this series for so long, I’m glad to be enjoying it again as though I’d never read it. Quite a refreshing thing for me!

So right now, after my fair share of daily writing, I spend my evenings with a steaming cuppa and book 2 in this magical series. I fully intend to move onto The Book of Dust series afterwards, but with so many options on my shelves, I can’t make any promises just yet.

Happy Reading!

Must…Stay…Focused!

by eloraburrell2 Comments on Must…Stay…Focused!

Hey fellow creatives!

As many people who are close to me know, I am the absolute worst for procrastination!
I am the world’s worst for distracting myself by the simplest of things, especially during this lock down when I have both Hubby and son at home and under my feet constantly!

I mean who really wants an energetic 3 year old hanging off of their arm when they’re in the writing zone?!

Over this period of uncertainty, and thanks to the help and support of my husband watching the wild child, I have managed to organise my time for my ‘work hours’ to be productive and here is how I have done it…

Word Count

To reach my end goal within a reasonable time frame, I work out a daily word count that suits me. I don’t stick to this number, but instead use it as the minimum number I want to reach on that particular day. This means that if I’m feeling more productive, I haven’t restricted my flow, and if I’m feeling a little blocked its a number I’m able to reach without too much difficulty.

Set Time

I set myself a daily time frame of two hours where I’m separated from everyone and alone to be able to concentrate. I make sure its a time that I feel most productive and suits my family’s daily routine (especially at the moment with little one not in school).
I also set a separate amount of time aside should I need to do any research in connection with the story to help with the overall plot and landscape of the piece.

Background elements

This usually consists of music or white noise to help me concentrate on my writing and get into the ‘zone’
I have a whole story inspiration music playlist on youtube that I listen to, helping me fall back into the story easily. If you check out the ‘Behind The Scenes’ section of the website you’ll find it listed, so feel free to check it out!

Temptations

I am so terrible for flitting through my phone when I’m meant to be working on my manuscript!
Things like Messenger and Twitter just have a tendency to draw me in at the wrong moments, which leads to me wasting precious time! To solve this, I use an app called Forest, which was recommended to me by a friend and fellow writer.
With this app I can go into ‘Deep Focus Mode’ which means if I leave the timer, the little tree growing with perish and the timer will reset. Using this has really pushed me to focus on what I should be doing, instead of the temptations of social media!

What are your methods to keeping yourself focused during longer writing sessions? Do you use music or would you rather work in complete silence?

Let me know!

Half Way There…

by eloraburrellLeave a Comment on Half Way There…

Hello fellow creatives,

Huzzah! I can finally say that I am now over the half way point with my word count for Neverlander’s sequel NeverNever! This is a pretty exciting feat as this is my first sequel that I’ve written. I have always had a tendency of starting things and not finishing them, but I’ve certainly turned it around this time!

Through writing NeverNever so far, I have come across something I had never heard of up until now called ‘Second Book Syndrome’ . Some of you may have heard of it, but I was new to the term until recently.

Writing Neverlander had been fun and rather exhilarating; the story was brand new, the characters were new and exciting and there was so much potential. Of course, there had been days that were slower than others (especially balancing family life with writing) but overall it had been a positive experience.

Fast forward to writing the beginning chapters to NeverNever, and I found myself struggling. I still loved the concept and the characters, but it still felt dull and bland when comparing it to the first book. For the most part I wanted nothing more than to skip to the parts I wanted to write and that I was looking forward too, and skip the parts I found less interesting (but for the storyline these sections were equally as essential).

Self-discipline and scheduled daily writing goals are what have kept me grounded and producing good, solid content for NeverNever so far, and knowing that I’m over halfway is certainly pushing me to keep going! Not to mention the encouragement of friends and fellow writers.

Luckily for me, I have gotten over my initial lack of interest in the second instalment, and the magic of the plot and characters is returning with every new chapter.

Happy writing everyone!

The Joys of Self-isolation

by eloraburrellLeave a Comment on The Joys of Self-isolation

Hello fellow creatives!

News of Covid-19 is a big thing across the world right now and has affected everyday life . I don’t know about you all but I am a creature of habit. I love my routines and I also happen to enjoy knowing what day of the week it is! Of course being pregnant and asthmatic means I fall under the category of ‘High Risk’, so guess whose currently having to self-isolate herself?

As necessary as this all is, I do miss my simple comforts and have tried my best to come up with an easy strategy to maintaining my sanity and cabin fever in family life and work so that all is not lost!

However I can’t deny the positives that have com from being stuck at home for 26 days and counting…

  • The hubby is home indefinitely, meaning my son gets quality time with his dad which means that I get plenty of alone/reading/work time.
  • I have been able to focus more closely on my writing and getting into the swing of a daily word count.
  • My time management has become much more efficient and balancing home life and work life has become surprisingly easier
  • My writing has definitely sped up in comparison to before quarantine.

Being able to push myself everyday with my writing has definitely upped my creative juices and my writing flow hasn’t been this consistent in months. Discovering that if I push past my own self-inflicted writer’s block, and write a little every day while I’m able to, the content I create is still high quality and something to be proud of.

That isn’t to say I haven’t got my work cut out for me when the eventual process leads to the dreaded editing phase!

But for now the writing process for book #2 of the Neverlander Series is coming along smoothly, and that is something to be joyous of. I can only hope that when the world stops its madness and we all return to normal life, that I can keep the momentum going!

Happy Easter everyone!