http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.janebissellwriting.com en-us Wed, 08 Apr 2026 05:28:22 +1200 Rocketspark http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/162431/when-you-dont-know-what-to-write-about-write-about-the-weather/ Many are the times I've sat down to write, feeling all geared up and creative, inspiration infusing my nerve endings ... and then ... paralysis. That blank page or screen stares back, waiting, reflecting what I increasingly perceive to be my hopeless inability as a writer to write anything.   The ideas I thought I had dissipate like wisps of cloud, or they crowd together in a huge lump, all pushing to get through a portal the size of a needle's eye, a kind of creative constipation.Some... Tue, 24 Mar 2026 10:27:28 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post162431 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/159028/learn-by-doing/ I've often heard the words, 'I can't write' and 'I'm not a writer'.I have always believed that where there is will, there is way. We learn by doing.It's true that our craft can be learned, the nuts and bolts like punctuation, sentence structure, vocabulary, and reading alot of books by a variety of authors in genres we like can offer valuable insights into how all of that comes together to create good writing.But I suspect there is one aspect of our craft that, as apprentices, we cannot learn in... Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:27:31 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post159028 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/158862/poppy-the-scaffolding-cat/ My neighbour's cat Miss Poppy has a new vocation.So taken is she with the scaffolding surrounding the house (while they replace the roof), that she is now considering a career change. This morning I looked up from the kitchen counter to see her balancing along the metal pipes like a high-wire artiste, enjoying the view whilst inspecting the quality of the work being done. The work has been going on for so long now that I am considering leaving it up as installation art. The weather has... Fri, 16 Jan 2026 11:58:37 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post158862 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/158532/the-new-year-hydrangeas/ Every summer the hydrangeas do whatever they want.Sometimes they are blue, or white, purple or this divine red-wine coloured bloom. I never know what I'm going to get and it's always a delight. These lovely ones are growing next to the steps into the Writing Place, providing such a cheery welcome to visitors this summer season. We always had hydrangeas growing around our homes when I was growing up, probably because Mom did most of the gardening and she loved them.I often think the New Yea... Wed, 07 Jan 2026 10:52:47 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post158532 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/158406/the-old-farmhouse/ Since posting a Blog about the Christmas revellers passed out on the back yard of the old farmhouse, I've had a couple of readers wanting to know more about the place that my parents bought in Torbay, north of Auckland. The photo shows the house tucked away in the bush with a long right of way drive that served two other properties, and then two concrete ribbons disappearing up the incline to our place.  The ribbons were a trap for the unwary, rough and buckled as they were. Several vi... Mon, 29 Dec 2025 07:34:10 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post158406 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/158392/twas-the-day-after-christmas/ .... and all across the lawn,  revellers were strewn,  exhausted and wan. There was a notable Christmas one year when we had overseas visitors staying.  The event was celebrated with much festive cheer of the liquid sort.We were living in Torbay at the time, north of Auckland city, my parents having just bought a 150+ year old 'farmhouse' (that's what we called it) from the artist Dick Frizzell. The place needed work, which was duly completed over the following year... Sat, 27 Dec 2025 11:21:58 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post158392 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/158322/the-christmas-of-the-guitar/ I was 13 years old when I expressed my wish for a guitar. I was relentless. It was one of my trademark superpowers, to nag and remind and declare my desires over and over until I wore my parents down.Well, it was approaching Christmas that year, and I was holding out high hopes of getting this much coveted item. I had dropped continual hints for months, saying how much this guitar would mean to me, how it would make me a fabulous folk singer (Peter, Paul and Mary and The Seekers where big a... Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:47:41 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post158322 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/158231/christmas-was-moms-favourite/ Mom loved Christmas. This photo was taken one Christmas morning. My sister had given her this hat. In her later years, Mom delighted in just opening gifts, didn't really  matter what was inside (as evident from the hat ...). It was the opening, the reveal, the 'oh goodness!' before that one was set aside and the next was placed on her lap, shedding its wrapping in short order. Soon her chair would be surrounded by piles of gaudy Christmas wrap and little gifts. My first six Christmases... Thu, 18 Dec 2025 11:45:15 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post158231 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/158224/a-challenge-for-santa-this-christmas/ Santa may have a hard time finding his way into my Writing Place this Christmas, thwarted by miles of scaffolding as they work to replace the roof. Navigating one's way through the maze is a daily challenge, being careful not to bump heads and elbows, and carrying groceries and drums, weaving between poles and clamps and pieces of wood.It's quite a job as the house is on poles, and the roof is very high and steeply pitched. As my neighbour said this week, 'It'll be nice when it's finished.'It is... Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:15:41 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post158224 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/156388/dealing-with-rejection/ This painting by Edgar Degas, L'Absinthe, resonates with me. After receiving a rejection note from an editor, 'Thanks but no thanks', how often do we put on our fancy hats, go out for a drink, and sit, slump shouldered, as we ponder our perceived failure?I had my first rejection note from the wonderful publisher, writer, and teacher Phoebe Meikle (1910 - 1998) who was the editorial director at the time for publisher Longman Paul (1969 - 1990s). I was probably 13 years old and had written what I ... Fri, 21 Nov 2025 07:58:55 +1300 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post156388