Companion Pieces

Some particularly lovely sounds this week as spring springs round here (bees, lambs, all kinds of birds). Otherwise, me talking about a difficult writing week and giving myself (and you, if you need it) a pep-talk. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about quiet moments in books (scenes of lower conflict), my experience of re-reading a favourite childhood author, and making lists. But most importantly, I give you 15 minutes of gentle sound to do some creative work to.Book mentioned: The Magicians of Caprona, by Diana Wynne Jones.Podcast mentioned: Death of 1000 Cuts, hosted by Tim Clare.Sound for the 15 minutes: the burn (stream) beside my studio. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about books I’ve been reading that have multiple main characters, and things I’ve learned from them - or haven’t. But mostly, as usual, this is 15 minutes of quiet time to get some work done. Books mentioned: The Night Watch, by Sarah Waters, and The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker.Sound for the 15 minutes: noises from the garden (including common gulls, sheep, and farm traffic). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

As always, this is a podcast to ease you into doing 15 minutes of focused work, and then pat you on the back (aurally) once you’ve done it. In this episode, I talk briefly about what needs to happen in acts I and II of a novel in the three-act structure, and spend a little time figuring out what to do with my 15 minutes. This episode is especially for you if you know you’d like to do some kind of creative work today, but haven’t quite figured out what.Sound for the 15 minutes of focusing time: the stream beside my studio. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about diversity of mood, action, and setting. Then I go into more detail than you need on my research. I make a good start on a new scene. And finally I sum up.Sound for the 15 minutes: wind in the trees, with common gulls, oystercatchers, linnets and chaffinches. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I discuss the success and failure of different ways of getting myself to write, spend 15 minutes thinking of possible answers to a plot question (while you also work), then come back with a quick summing-up and a book recommendation.Sound for the 15 minutes: birds in the breeze in the cherry tree (mostly linnets and chaffinches, I think).Books mentioned: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman, and The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

You know the drill: I talk while you prepare, I write while you write/draw/whatever, then I sum up and you pat yourself on the back for having done 15 minutes’ good work.Sound in this episode: Sound in this episode: wind and birds in the beech hedge, including coal tits, a very assertive tree sparrow, and some passing jackdaws. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about linking plot and character. Then I write a first draft of my opening scene (!), while you have 15 minutes to do your own work. Afterwards, I discuss writing in the first person, and ways of cursing and wishing in Roman Britain.Book mentioned: The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr.Sound for the 15 minutes: birds in the cherry tree. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I have only 15 minutes to write, so I do 15 minutes of writing. (And invite you to spend 15 minutes on your own creative work.)People and things mentioned:Charlotte Durance, and her play sketchbook.Poetry Unbound, with Pádraig Ó Tuama.Maria Dahvana Headley’s translation of Beowulf.Sound for the 15 minutes: the burn under the bridge. You may also hear a dipper (the UK’s only aquatic songbird!). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about writing up to a word limit, versus cutting down to it, and spend 15 minutes writing some words that I can cut.Sound for the 15 minutes: SUNSHINE!! (Wind and birds in the branches.) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

In which: I feel I’ve been having too much fun and ought to do the boring but essential work of figuring out what happens in my book; I have doubts about how essential that really is, but spend 15 minutes on it anyway; and I come back feeling more cheerful.Sound: the wind in the trees, with very occasional bird noises.Book mentioned: Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

If you’re finding this series helpful or interesting, please would you recommend it, and maybe even review it? It’s available through most podcast platforms (but not Spotify), and also on Substack.I talk for a little under three minutes at the beginning of this episode, so please be prepared to be prepared to do your creative work. A longer summing-up, though, so you can look forward to a break during that.Book mentioned: How to be Both by Ali Smith.Sound: more water, of course. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about Beowulf for five minutes (while you get yourself geared up to work), set myself a slightly-too-difficult task, find it is slightly-too-difficult, pick myself up, dust myself down, misquote some poetry, and decide to do something easier next time.Referred to in this episode: Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf translation, The Song of Hiawatha (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), and Night Mail (W.H. Auden).Today’s sound: sleet dripping off the cherry tree (with the noise of the stream, and a passing tractor, in the background). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

Another episode where I make time and space for me - and you - to do some creative work. Topics touched on: the importance of fun, the weather in South-East England in 479 CE, and the weather in Scotland right now.To let me know if there’s anything you’d like more of in Companion Pieces, please take this survey: https://drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com/survey/5956457It has been very sweet to hear from people about the bits of work they’ve got done while listening to Companion Pieces. If you’ve found it helpful, please recommend it to a friend. They can find it through Substack and most podcast platforms (but not Spotify). Thank you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

1. I chat.2. I go quiet.3. I write and you write (or draw, or anything else you need 15 minutes of focus on).4. I sum up.More specifically: I find that the more I read over my notes, the more notes I make, without ever quite starting writing this book. I set off to describe Grendel’s mother and find that the language of Beowulf is too fresh in my brain. I ponder what listeners might like more of.Book mentioned: Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf.Sound for the 15 minutes: the noise of the stream by my studio, recorded in the rain (with the mic on top of a birdbox tucked under the eaves).Tell me what you'd like from Companion Pieces at https://drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com/survey/5956457 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I spend five minutes having a quiet crisis about having written a lot on the book without actually having written any of the book, spend 15 minutes writing, and cheer up. Please use the 15 minutes to do your own creative work.Books mentioned: The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White, and The Tree that Sat Down by Beverly Nichols.The 15 minutes of quiet sound in this episode is the rain on the roof of the woodshed. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I congratulate you on sticking around for a fourth episode. I talk briefly about how the writing’s going, then spend 15 minutes grappling with the ethics of drinking from a talking skull, and report back. Feel free to use the 15 minutes in the same way, or to work on some other creative project.The quiet minutes in this episode are soundtracked by the crackling of my studio fire (and the wind in the chimney). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

In this episode, I continue to pursue the voice of one of my main characters and make some discoveries about the otherworld. As usual, you get a bit of chat from me, fifteen minutes of quiet to concentrate on your own work, and a little bit more chat.The sound for the fifteen minutes was recorded under the elder trees in a field near my house. Contains funny partridge noises and a little farm traffic. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

Five-ish minutes of talking, fifteen minutes of quiet working time, and five-ish minutes of summing up.I talk about my plans for this creative session, spend fifteen minutes writing something different, and then explain why I’m OK with what I wrote anyway. Including references to Elen Caldecott’s book for young people, The Short Knife, the Radiolab episode Brain Balls and the book Londinium: A Biography by Richard Hingley.The sound for the quiet quarter-hour here is the noise of the burn (stream) behind my studio, which, after our long snows, is in spate. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk briefly about the book I’m writing (and why I haven’t written any of it so far this year). I suggest some options for you to get a little bit of writing done even if you’ve come as unprepared to the page as I have. Then there’s 15 minutes of quiet while I write (and fervently wish that you do some form of creative work or play), and a brief summing up.The podcast I mention is Death of 1000 Cuts, by Tim Clare.The sound during the 15 minutes of quiet in today’s episode is the noise of the wind in my woodshed. I’ve left the microphone outside recording the sound of the burn (stream) for the next episode, but if you’d prefer 15 minutes of absolute silence, just let me know. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

Introducing Companion Pieces. I propose that I keep you company while we each do a little bit of creative work/play. For anyone who: * wants to do a creative activity, but needs company (in audio form);* is interested in the day-to-day process of writing a novel.In each Piece, I’ll talk to you for about five minutes about the work I’m about to do on writing my novel. Meanwhile, you get ready to do something creative.Then I'll set us a timer, and do a bit of creative work. Hopefully, you'll be inspired to do the same.Finally, I'll come back, reflect on what I’ve done and plan what I’ll do next. That's it!Please subscribe and come back for the first real episode. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com