The lovely Rachel from The Chronic-Ills of Rach has invited me to participate in a blog hop whereby I answer four questions about my writing process, then invite another blogger to join in and write about theirs. Thanks Rach! Visit Rach’s blog to read about her writing process, I just love that music plays a role in it.

Now I need to preface this with a warning. I feel like a bit of a fraud writing this post. I am not a writer. I’ve never done any kind of writing course or training, and school was a very long time ago for me. Besides, when I was at school I was better known for getting an A+ in daydreaming not school work. So I’m writing about writing but I’m not a writer OK? OK… glad we got that sorted!

Obviously I do write… but I think of this writing more like a waffle on about the things I love. I do like to play with words… sometimes. And I do like to arrange sentences nicely… sometimes. And I like it all to flow… sometimes. But then sometimes I like it a bit raw and unpolished, and you may trip over my words a bit… I think that’s ok too. You see if I trip over words, it can give me the moment’s pause that I need to hear the penny drop. Plus if you trip over my words here, then you wouldn’t be so surprised if you met me as I do that when I talk too. A bit awkward at times you know? So if nothing else, I’m consistently inconsistent in my approach to writing. For me the photographs tell the story*, I just fill in the gaps and extend on the details. I nearly always start with the photos**.
What am I working on?

I am working on my blog and bettering my blogging skills. I’m just finishing up my first e-course, a Blog with Pip course run by the very sweet Pip Lincolne from Meet me at Mikes. Apart from learning of lots of stuff about blogging, it’s given me the motivation to look at all aspects of my blog, funnily enough including writing! Who’d have thunk it?

Why do I write what I do?

A couple of reasons. Firstly I have a need to get stuff out. You know, the ol’ self expression thing. Who doesn’t hey? We all have our means of doing this. I use other tools to do this too like craft & photography. But sometimes only words will do. With the odd photo thrown in of course!

Secondly, I write this blog as I want to give people a behind the scenes look at my handmade goodies that I sell in my Etsy Shop. I have found a number of great Etsy shops from blogs, and I like and understand the items more because I feel like I know a bit more about how they were made… the person who made them… the environment in which they were made… the vibe and energy they have… they are what they marinate in… does that make sense? It makes the whole process of buying something handmade more special… to me anyway.

How does my writing process work?

I don’t know if I have a process as such, apart from the above mentioned word, sentence, flow thing I do… sometimes! I can think of something I’d like to write about in my head for a while. Sometimes I’ll use the notes in my phone to jot down a line, sentence, paragraph. (This can be convenient if you’re out and inspiration hits and equally convenient you are too lazy to get up and walk to the computer… I’m looking at me!)

But mostly when I blog, to be really honest, I start with the blank page and some photos, maybe a loose idea of what I’m going to say and just transfer my thoughts via the keyboard. The chatterbox inside my head just loves the instant keyboard outlet and once I start the rest seems to just follow. I seriously started typing this post not knowing what the hell I was going to say… but once I start… it’s a bit like the dam wall breaks and my fingers just have to keep up.

How does it differ from others in your genre?

I’m not sure… I like my writing to feel natural like a conversation but I do self edit. A lot. When I said waffle before I meant it. I’m not great at keeping it short naturally. I need to get the whole long winded thing out and then go back, cutting, editing and removing all the unwanted unnecessary fluff. I struggle to read really long posts on other blogs, it’s nothing personal, just a time factor thing really. So I consider that a bit when I write a post. I don’t always achieve a short post though, there’s always a bit of waffle somewhere! And this post feels quite enormous… maybe I’m just proving my consistency with being inconsistent to you?

I guess I would like YOU DEAR READER to feel like you’ve had a cuppa and a catchup with me. Granted, it’s a bit one sided with me doing most of the talking, but that’s where the comments come in handy, it feels more like a conversation when there’s a few of them. So feel free to jump in any time!  

Well that’s my lot. I don’t think I answered the last question properly but hey, who’s marking this?

Now it’s my turn to ask another blogger to join in. I am absolutely thrilled to introduce you to the super lovely Kate Forster. Not only does Kate write her blog with great wit and humour, she is also an author of eleven novels! Kate’s blog What Party is a favourite of mine, I’m guaranteed to leave it feeling better than when I arrived at it… and usually with a smile!

Kate is the author of eleven novels for adults and young adults, and blogs at http://kateforster.wordpress.com. She lives with her family in Melbourne, Australia.

Pop over to Kate’s wonderful blog and learn about her writing process… and join in the conversation below… leave me a comment and let me know – do you have a writing process? Do you like to write? Do you self express via other means? What are they?

Wishing you happy reading, writing and daydreaming my friends…

* Except here… I know the photographs are irrelevant to the writing, but I simply couldn’t write to you without including any pretty pictures!
**These pictures came after the writing (just to keep being inconsistent) and the flowers are all blooming at Dove Cottage right now.