Scrolling through Facebook in the dead of night, something piqued my interest: Catherine Deveney: Gunna’s Writing Masterclass. “Pull your finger out and get your shit together. No excuses.”
I hadn’t written in months. Half-finished projects crowded out my thoughts and littered my computer’s desktop. I clicked the link and booked it.
A few days later, scribbling furiously on my notepad as “Dev” hurled random sentences at us and demanded words, I knew I was in the right place. Surrounded by other writers, their stories almost tangible as they ricocheted inside their heads, before bursting out onto their notepads or keyboard.
Part stand-up comedian, teacher, mother, friend and kick-ass author, Catherine Deveney is just the tonic for stuck writers. Going to a Gunna’s Writing Masterclass is part-therapy, part-writing class, part-kick up the backside.
It’s like being at a party where everyone in the room is having some kind of epiphany about their lives. You will witness moments of self-realisations and watch as creative explosions splatter onto paper and words tumble out onto keyboards. One way or the other, the ideas and writing are hurling themselves out.
Here’s what I learnt at Catherine Deveney’s Gunnas Writing Masterclass:
5 ways to get your writing started and actually finish it.
1. Make it happen.
Forget the day job. Fuck the feedback. Drown out all the negativity and noise.
What do you want to do? What do you want to write about? Figure that out and you are onto a winner.
Do it for you. The saddest project is an unwritten or incomplete one.
2. Just fucking get on with it.
Don’t procrastinate, procrastin-eat or make excuses. Only you can do this.
Start writing, now. Not after the dishes, the school-run, later, tomorrow, or at the “fag-end” of the day. Right now.
But… I don’t have enough time to write? What about the kids? I’m too busy at work… Press the No button and start right now.
3. Make a commitment to yourself and your writing.
One brick at a time. It doesn’t have to start big. But make a fucking commitment and stick to it.
Whether it’s 10 minutes 4 times a week, or an hour a day. Choose you goal, commit to it and get on with it.
Starting, right now.
4. Do whatever it takes to get into your writing zone.
A writer may need a special outfit, a few gadgets or tools. But don’t get too hung up on perfection.
Whether it’s writing with a lovely pen and feely notepad. Or pounding out words on the latest laptop. Sitting in your writing space at home, or a special go to place like a favourite art gallery or coffee shop.
Find your feel good. Make sure you have the tools to help you get into the zone to write.
5. Just keep going.
This one is a biggie. According to Dev, the majority of writers bail out either 30% or 70% of the way through a project. Don’t be that person.
I shudder thinking of all my started but never finished writing projects. Don’t listen to the no’s. Forget about feedback.
Type like your life depended on and just keep going.
The best thing about Catherine Deveney’s Gunna’s Writing Masterclass for me is that I was writing again. By the end of the session I had written a short story and a poem.
Read them here: http://www.catherinedeveny.com/a-box-of-possibilities-cassandra-zoro/
The creative enema is just beginning.
Gunna’s Writing Masterclasses
Always saying you are going to write but don’t? Can’t get past the first chapter of your novel? Searching for inspiration? Want to meet other writers and get fired up by a published author?
Then I’d highly recommend booking onto a Gunna’s Writing Masterclass.