http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.janebissellwriting.com en-us Mon, 18 May 2026 09:57:49 +1200 Rocketspark http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/164365/the-value-of-the-writing-prompt/ Ah yes, the blank page, how it taunts us with its empty whiteness and smartly ruled lines, smug and judgemental, intimidating and unforgiving, saying to us, 'Call yourself a writer? You can't even make a start!'Don't listen to it.Look up my page of prompts and start scribbling all over that paper. I also post them daily on my Facebook page.A writing prompt can be as simple as 'I remember ...' , as way-out as 'Tell me everything you know about sausage casings ...'  or as evocative as 'The sm... Fri, 08 May 2026 10:10:29 +1200 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post164365 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/163795/what-stops-you-from-writing-your-story/ 'Just sit down and write' is a phrase we may hear as writers, like,  we can sit down, turn on the creative tap, and words pour forth. I'll admit that sometimes happens, words tumble out in such a rush to be seen, acknowledged, there's no time to waste. However, the usual scenario is somewhat different. It's not easy, this writing gig, and 'making a start' is one of the main reasons we stop, right there, go no further. It's just too hard. It is definitely one of the reasons I hear most ... Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:49:29 +1200 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post163795 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/163578/the-old-school-typewriter/ I don't mind you knowing that I'm old enough to remember working on a typewriter. The photo above is of my old Olympia, still looking comfortable in its hard, protective case.  Mom had an Olympia manual typewriter too, one she used for writing letters, typing up recipes, and Dad's specifcations for getting council consents for his various building projects on our houses.When I was about 12 years old, I started writing my 'books', fabulous adventure stories featuring me, of course,... Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:34:49 +1200 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post163578 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/post/163408/going-to-the-donut-shop-in-your-pjs/ Our writing can often be 'triggered' by something. That might be a smell or sound, the sight of something long forgotten that brings back a flash of memory, or words we read in our daily trawling through social media and internet platforms. Such 'triggers' can provide us with good prompts for a bit of five or ten minute writing. We have a neighbourhood chat group that I check now and then, and this morning my eye was caught by someone taking a poll: is it OK to grocery shop in your pyjamas?... Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:03:17 +1200 http://www.janebissellwriting.com/blog/#post163408 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