Wednesday Recap #12 26.06.24 When I think of an agent, I think of a secret agent: James Bond, George Smiley, Johnny English, you get the idea. Or less excitingly an estate agent. But the arts also have agents. So what is an agent? Or what does it mean? In Latin, where we get the word … Continue reading Agent – Secret, Estate, Literary???
Blog
No hacks, No gimmicks, No 10 point plans
Wednesday Recap #11 19.06.24 Every time I think I’ve found something new, I realise I’ve just rediscovered something old! And that’s what has happened, I’ve rediscovered the things that make me better. The elements of this rediscovery are simple, boring, uncomfortable and highly rewarding. So what are these mystical things? Hard cardio, weights (resistance training), … Continue reading No hacks, No gimmicks, No 10 point plans
The Metric Mentality
Wednesday Recap #9 12.06.24 Thought: the metric mentality I’d actually written a recap for last week but didn’t post it. Though I’m not sure why! Well I actually do, there were two reasons, the first was the big reason, while the second was the real reason. The big reason was an accidentally defrosted freezer. We … Continue reading The Metric Mentality
Nothing steals your time – you give it away
Wednesday Recap #7 29.05.24 Thought Hiking is tremendous fun. Well if you like walking up hills, crossing streams and rivers, trying to work out where you are, carrying everything you need, ringing the water out of your socks, and being on the go for nearly five hours. One of my happiest formative memories was going … Continue reading Nothing steals your time – you give it away
Doing is more than doing
There is doing in the moment, preparation in the run up, and working towards your goal in the long term. Doing isn’t just the moment, doing is everything that makes the doing possible.
Wednesday Update (01.05.24)
https://youtu.be/HJKuM0VAlRc?si=BMB3oRFFslQnJsYm Wednesday Recap (#3 01/05/24) Whoa the year is flying in…May already! 1. The latest draft of George and the Elephant is now finished. The next part of the process is very easy…leave it for a few weeks, get it out of my mind, and then come back to it fresh. A better way of … Continue reading Wednesday Update (01.05.24)
Don’t let ideas feaster…Have a plan!
What is the worst thing you can do to an idea? Do nothing with it! Now, I don’t mean a passing thought or a daydream, I mean an actual idea. I’ve done that, I’ve an idea, a plan, a structure, an objective, and I did nothing with it! The idea would be better dying in the light than festering in the dark! #writer #author #authorhelps #hardtruthsforwriters #wordsmith #dyslexicwordsmith #dyslexia #dyslexic #dyslexicwriter #dyslexicauthor
Magic, Mystery, CS Lewis and to Much Christmas
“I am not a trained author, I do not possess GCSE English Lit never mind the thingy majiggy you get from a university. Therefore my writing has been a process. Normally a very simple process: write good sentences. At the start that was good sentences that were understandable and not full of repetition…” #Writing #Author #WritingTips #CSLewis #Narnia #GeorgeandtheElephant #Creativity #Imagination
What is my mission? Not worrying about it and doing!
Years ago I used to wrestle with ‘what is my mission’, now I just do! I am a writer and creative therefore I must write and create. My mission is to do what I am. I’m other things too - so I do them. Please don’t read this as passivity through life - it is actually the opposite. It is intentional and mindful activity. You find yourself in your doing. You discover in doing. You discover that you weren’t that, or you weren’t that in the way you thought you were. You discover that you need to grind, or develop, or study. So no matter what doing is your teacher. So if you don’t know your life’s mission…then mindfully and purposefully do. But my final thought is to repeat myself, when you do something and serendipity tells you, this is not the thing, you’d be very wise to listen, as there is only so much you can do, and that your time upon this spinning orb is limited!
Secret New Project
Last week I emailed in a proposal for a poetry / spoken word project. At this point I’ve no idea if it will be successful or not (but then how could you know, they probably haven’t look at it yet!) The actual proposal is something I really want to do. It would be much better … Continue reading Secret New Project
The Wonder and Woes of Dyslexia
dyslexia is the perception of reality through connection. It isn’t connection through colour or size or make or type. It is much deeper than that, more esoteric, subliminal. It is connection through connection. A myriad of connections.
I wasn’t a fit kid but I could have been.
What do you do when you get injured?
My mother’s typewriter
Last year I produced a poetry exhibition. The exhibiting bit took a lot of thought. Outside of books and spirited performances the exhibition of poetry can be tricky. Anyhow one of my tricks was to use my mother’s typewriter, it gave so much - authenticity, hand production, aesthetic beauty, and familial bounds to my long … Continue reading My mother’s typewriter
Dyslexia ain’t no superpower!
…things have changed thankfully, dyslexia is associated with brilliance, just go onto your search engine of choice and type in famous dyslexic people. It’s nearly as if dyslexia is a superpower, some sort of mystical and magical skill! I’m sorry to tell you that it isn’t. Dyslexic children still leave the educational system worse off than their none dyslexic peers.
Name five problems dyslexia causes you?
I got an F in English, but I’ve also written books. I know my dyslexia played a huge roll in me getting an F. But my dyslexic thinking also played a huge roll in me being able to write my books (having a vivid / silly imagination, easily seeing connections, the ability to bounce ideas around in bizarre ways in my mind). But when you’ve always done this its hard to see this as a unique talent.
“Shall I think, or write, or speak?” New poem
“Prose it dances in my mind; Grips the soul with precious rhyme. So shall I think, or write, or speak? Hauld my wheesht, forbear, or weep?”
Learning from the 90s
Recently, YouTube’s algorithm kindly suggested a 1994 documentary on selection for officer training in the Royal Marines! It wouldn’t have been my first pick, but there you go. My first shock was the 1990s, the coolest decade ever, looking like a dim, distant far off world, but there you go. The next shock was the … Continue reading Learning from the 90s
(Huge) Marketing Trouble [Hard Truths for Writers]
I’m in (huge) marketing trouble and for the first time I really don’t know what to do! Or maybe that’s the problem, maybe this is the first time I’ve realised that I don’t really know what to do. Anyhow here are some of the problems that have brought me to this point. Lastly firstly I … Continue reading (Huge) Marketing Trouble [Hard Truths for Writers]
Yes – I can say no.
How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals? Yes I can say no, because I’ve learnt to say no, bitter experience has been my teacher. I’m happy to say yes to the time limited, the specific, the clearly defined. I used to believe saying no, or placing limits, was … Continue reading Yes – I can say no.
The Art of Comedy
…the refinement process for public performance is remarkable! The comedian comes up with an idea that might work as a joke, so they think it through and write it down, they tell it to the four walls, they note the changes and do it again, repeatedly, then and only then is it performed to a tiny audience at an obscure venue, and in the full knowledge this must be repeated over and over again, constantly refining, constantly changing, constantly adapting, constantly cutting and dissecting, and constantly being prepared to drop it altogether!
Learning from losing
In January I managed to achieve a big win! But February had other ideas, it reminded me of life’s realities, by kindly handing me a huge loss! In January I set a lowish bar, and straddled it easily. So in February I assumed, that with equal ease, I would stroke the next hard thing to … Continue reading Learning from losing
14 days and 6746 words.
I love numbers, connections and patterns. So today after two weeks I am where I should be in one month. I’d better explain that last sentence. As my New Year’s resolution I decided to write 200 words each day through January. This was towards a story I promised to write for my children in the … Continue reading 14 days and 6746 words.
Facile Caverns – Peep Frae Your Mind
Peep Frae Your Mind "Apprehensive trepidations go hand in hand with thy privations." Facile Cavern, Peep Frae Your Mind. https://amazon.co.uk/Peep-Frae-Your-Robert-Campbell/dp/B0BN62H8P3… #Poety #Quote #Quotes #PeepFraeYourMind #FacileCaverns #Graphic
If you quit, falter or stop…
“if you quit, if you falter, if you stop, all the pain will be for nothing.”
Starting the year well
New Year New Opportunities! The 1st of January is just another day, a turn of the calendars page, and in this electronic age it’s not even that! But none the less it does give us the opportunity to re-set or re-focus. It is more mental than actual, but in this case a mental change is … Continue reading Starting the year well
RobertCampbell.me 