ellekirks

starting a writers club

Recently I had a post on Instagram go viral (well, viral for me, at least). In the post, I talked about my experience of moving to New York City and finding fellow writing friends, and joining a writers club. The post seemed to resonate with a bunch of people, namely fellow writers who were looking for that type of community, or fellow brave souls who have moved to a brand new city with no friends. And I got so many comments and also private messages about moving to a new city, making friends, and finding a writer’s community.

I’ve actually moved to a new city three times! When I was 21, I moved from Australia to London. A few years later I moved to Berlin. And now, as you know, I live in New York City. Because I’ve made that huge leap across oceans a few times now, I’m pretty confident about landing in a new place and connecting with others. But I know for someone who hasn’t done it, they might find it incredibly challenging or terrifying. A bunch of the comments I received has inspired me to share some of my experiences with anyone who would find that helpful.

But the thing about New York City is that it’s a place where you can find anything you could possibly want, including a group of likeminded writers who want to drink prosecco and chat about books. So of course it’s been easy for me, but I know around the world you might be more isolated without any similar writers nearby. So I thought at the very least we could try to connect online.

If that kind of thing resonates with you, I’d love for you to join the Discord group I’ve just set up (completely free), where we can all connect with fellow writers and feel free to discuss the highs and lows of writing together.

I’m actually in Mexico right now, but I’m so excited about the potential of this group that even when I was sitting on a beach sipping margaritas, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I just had to get it started. So here it is! Anyone can join the Discord chat, but there will be private rooms available for my Patreon supporters. We’ll talk about writing, and I’d especially love to create a space where we’re comfortable chatting about what it’s like to be a writer, including the toughest and most isolating parts of the journey.

Here’s the link to the Discord if you’d like to join:

Join me on Discord

Launching Patreon for my fantasy books.

I may have a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, but a lot of what I’ve learned about writing I can credit to Wattpad. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and I’ve always been serious about it. I don’t remember a time that I haven’t wanted to be a writer. I wrote my first novel-length book when I was about fifteen, and I wrote another one when I was sixteen. When I was seventeen I started a degree in Arts, majoring in Creative Writing, and I wrote another book. That one was workshopped to death in my writing classes and it turned into something I’m really proud of. It was also the first book I ever posted on Wattpad.

The books I read in 2020.

In 2020 I read 43 books, which was a little short of my goal of 50, but still more than I read last year. The Goodreads app does some analysis of your reading list, but it’s never quite enough for me, so I always through the data into a spreadsheet to extrapolate those sweet sweet graphs (insert nerd emoji). If you want to do the same with your books, you can head down to the very bottom of this post where you’ll find a link to download the blank template for this. Books and data is such a great combo!

The books I read in 2019.

In 2018 I read 40 books, which was short of my goal of 50. I’ve seen a few other book bloggers do some analysis of figures of their reading lists and I thought I’d take a look at my own list and crunch the numbers. If you’re a numbers person, this one’s for you.

Autumn in Bruges.

Colourful buildings on the main market square of Bruges. They look like gingerbread houses.

Welcome to Bruges, Belgium, a little town of bridges, gingerbread houses overlooking the canals, colourful buildings and brilliantly vibrant orange trees in late autumn.

I visited a friend in her very ‘grammable new home, where I spent the lovely last glimpse of warm weather wandering the cobblestone streets, crossing bridges and stepping out of the way of hundreds of tourists and too many horse-drawn carriages.

A view of houses across the canal. The water is so still that the houses are perfectly reflected in the water.

Seriously, look at that reflection on the water! The whole town is cute little houses perched onto canals, and you can just imagine sitting in a window like that, reading a book and watching as the canal boats drift by.

A canal with a bridge crossing it, and an orange tree shading over it. Across the canal there is a garden full of greens and reds of autumn.

Lovely tall old buildings looking over the canal.

I quite like the look of this tall pale blue building above, with its huge gothic-style door and arched window frames.

Very cute chocolate shop and gift store in beautiful old buildings.

Thanks for having me, Bruges!

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Girl sitting on a wall in front of the main canal of Bruges.

How to celebrate International Women’s Day in Berlin (2019)

March 8 is International Women’s Day, or Frauen*kampftag in Germany, a day to commemorate the fight for women’s rights, and to celebrate how far we’ve come. This year, for the very first time, Berlin is getting a public holiday to mark the occasion. Which means you’ll be looking for something to do, right?

The books I read in 2018.

In 2018 I read 51 books, after pledging to read 50 in my Goodreads challenge. I’ve seen a few other book bloggers do some analysis of figures of their reading lists and I thought I’d take a look at my own list and crunch the numbers. If you’re a numbers person, this one’s for you.

My 2018 highlights.

Okay so I know we’re more than a week into the New Year but I let it go by without really taking a moment to be proud of myself for my little accomplishments within the inconsequential social construct of the calendar year, so here you go. I know everyone hates these self-congratulatory posts, but as I use my blog mostly for future-me to look back on (like a public, creative, diary), I’ll share this here.

How to edit your novel using Fictionary.

When I finished writing my novel, Brew Books, I knew there was a HUGE task of editing in front of me. Honestly, where do you even start? When you’re staring at that big, messy manuscript, I bet you’re wondering, how do you possibly edit a novel? Are there any secret tips and tricks for editing your manuscript?

Editing a novel is definitely a big job, but let’s remember, you’ve already written it, so you’ve already done an amazing thing! So now that you’re ready to edit, I’ll let you in on the secret of how I edited my novel, using a tool called Fictionary.

Continue reading “How to edit your novel using Fictionary.”

How I got picked up by Wattpad.

Most people know I’ve always wanted to be an author, for as long as I can remember. I’ve written stories my whole life and it’s always been my dream to make a living from the words I write. But making money from writing is a gruelling business. So while I’m still working towards the goal of traditional publishing (paperbacks printed by a big publishing house), I’m also exploring ways to make money online writing, and how to make money writing on Wattpad.

Continue reading “How I got picked up by Wattpad.”

New York, New York.

Sometimes I just use this blog as a way to look back on my trips and keep track of my photos, so here are some snaps from my time in NYC.Continue reading “New York, New York.”

Meet the characters in my novel.

If you’ve been around this blog for a moment, you might have heard me going on about this novel I’ve written. While I was writing, I found it pretty helpful to visualise the characters I was writing about. I found some inspirational images on Pinterest to help me imagine the characters in the book.

The novel is about seven young adults living in the flat above a café and bookstore in London. Each of them loves books and coffee, naturally, and they spend their day serving customers and sneaking in some reading time. With seven people working and living so close together, you can imagine tensions run high. But they do love each other… mostly.

Meet the characters below (and let me know, just judging by these inspo pics, which one is your favourite!)

JANE RUTH THOMAS