“To err is human, to forgive is divine.”

It’s hardly breaking news that writers make mistakes — a lot of them. You’ll probably find some in here (I’m OK with you not pointing them out to me though). We are only human after all. Just because writing is our job, or, at the very least, our passion, doesn’t mean we are going to get it right all the time. Just as footballers sometimes miss really easy goals or singers hit a bum note, or the government makes a decision that sees our country plummet to almost farcical levels of disorder, writers can misplace a comma, go off on a tangent or even write a whole book that’s not very good.

The problem for writers is that forgiveness is often hard to come by. Our readers expect perfection. Even if you’ve tried your best, and worked as hard as you can, and edited until the cows came home and grew up and had tiny baby cows all of their own you could still make a mistake. If you misspell a word, overlook an inconsistency or haven’t quite made your story as good as it could be, your readers will let you know about it.

Of course, there is nothing quite like the brutal wrath of a writer upon themselves when they realise they’ve made a mistake, especially if it’s too late to change it. Even during the writing process, we can be particularly inventive in our self-torture. If you’ve ever spent so much time agonising over synonyms that you start to question whether you might have gone mad and perhaps only ‘think’ you are typing on your computer but are, in reality, sitting in a padded cell somewhere just mashing a banana into the floor, you’ll know what I mean.

So how can we learn to forgive our mistakes and perhaps encourage our readers to do the same?

Common writer mistakes

Striving for perfection

Tying to make your writing perfect is pointless. An editor friend once told me “editors write books.” What she meant (though vaguely insulting) was that any book that’s been through a traditional publisher would have been changed so much by the editor that they might as well have just written it themselves in the first place (OK, perhaps a lot insulting). While I would argue with this, there is at least some truth to it. No manuscript that’s ever been sent to a publisher is published as is. They aren’t going to think much of a book that’s riddled with errors. However,  if you’ve written a clunky paragraph, made an egg-on-your-face grammatical faux pax or even spelt one of your own characters names wrong (why did I think it was a good idea to name my protagonist Azariah Cholomondley?), they’ll be OK with it – if what you’ve presented them with is a riveting tale full of compelling characters that’s well-written to boot.

Not taking your time

Sometimes we writers can be in somewhat of a rush. We’re sort of like the tortoise in ‘the tortoise and the hare’, we’re racing, but also getting nowhere, quite slowly. It can, therefore, be difficult not to become rather impatient when one finishes one’s novel.

It takes a long time to write a book, so when we finally type THE END, (as all good novels end), trying not to send our manuscript off to every publisher we might think could publish it, or whacking it up on Amazon and shouting about it to the world takes a fair bit of restraint. It’s somewhat contradictory – we can’t quite make up our minds whether we are perfectionists who would rather let our hard work gather dust as we um and ah over every word, or we are reckless and impulsive chancers who just think ‘to hell with it’ and throw our hats in the ring and see what happens. The problem of course, with either, is that you are doing yourself a disservice. Writers should take their time to edit their books and make sure they are in as good a shape as they can be – not perfect, but edited, reworked, checked, edited and rechecked – that ought to do it! Knowing when to hang on is as important as knowing when to let go, after all.

Being too hard on yourself

I’ve said it time and time again, but writers really need to give themselves a break, for their own and everyone else’s sake. Constantly being down on your writing is the equivalent of asking ‘does my bum look big in this?’ every 5 seconds to your coworkers who don’t want to look at your bum, nor do they care either way. Having confidence in your writing is the biggest favour you can do for yourself. It really doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad. If you are going to do it, choosing to believe the former will make it a far more positive and productive experience for you. If you really can’t stop being negative about your writing, maybe you should ask yourself why you continue to struggle with something that doesn’t bring you that much enjoyment in life?

Not learning from your writing mistakes

No mistakes are as big as the ones we don’t learn from. Instead of wallowing in self-pity or shame, or fluttering nervously around your readers in obsequious self-deprecation trying to explain your mistakes before they’ve even had a chance to notice them, just acknowledge them, think ‘whoopsy’ and then figure out the steps you need to take to make sure you don’t do it again.

We’ve got to accept that while it is frustrating when we make mistakes it also probably doesn’t matter almost half as much as we think it does. Of course, it’s annoying if you are two-thirds of the way through your book and you realise that you’ve made a mistake which the whole plot sorta kinda relies upon. Of course, it’s hide-your-face-in-a-pillowcase-and-weep kind of cringey when you realise your self-published novel has an elementary spelling mistake on the first page. Being a conscientious writer, being thorough, doing proper research,  re-reading, and hiring an editor can help avoid any grave errors from slipping through the net when you go to publish, but there are no guarantees, and while it is possible to get your manuscript error-free, it is impossible to make it flawless. So embrace your writing mistakes, be kind to yourself, learn from them and move on – you’ll end up a better writer if you do.

Bethany Cadman is a freelance writer and author of Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers

Receiving rejections is part and parcel of any writer’s life. You know the old saying, if you haven’t been rejected, you can’t call yourself a real writer. Just like you’ll never know pain until you’ve gone through childbirth/been kicked in the nuts. Or, you’ll never understand what hard work is like unless you’ve been down the mines, gone to war, or stood for 12 hours weighing raw fish on a factory line while listening to the same Christmas mixtape on repeat for the entire duration (true story).

Rejection is a rite of passage, so much so that we are almost taught to celebrate it. Wear it like a badge of honour. Yes, apparently I should be happy that someone told me that my book wasn’t publishable in an impersonal (dear writer) one line email that does not explain as to why the project I’ve poured my heart and soul into for the past year and a half is not worth reading. That’s wonderful! Thanks for letting me know in the coldest, most brutal way ever.

Rejection is ‘subjective.’

We cheer ourselves up with tales of how Harry Potter got rejected 800 billion times, or how a publisher told Ernest Hemingway that his efforts were “both tedious and offensive.” We revel in the fact that quite a lot of people think 50 Shades of Grey is a giant bag of garbage, and yet who’s sitting on a big pile of cash feeling probably a bit smug? Not them. We remind ourselves that writing is subjective, that it’s only one person’s opinion. We comfort ourselves in the knowledge that just because this one person doesn’t like it, doesn’t mean that someone who is more aligned with our sensibilities and has a much better nose for true talent won’t find our work the charming, engaging, entertaining piece of magic that it so obviously is.

But isn’t it time we were brutally honest with ourselves? More often than not if we get rejected it isn’t because the book wasn’t ‘quite right for their list’ it’s because the book wasn’t good enough. Editors and agents have one job, and that’s to spot a brilliant piece of writing, a story that will sell. OK, they might have their preferences, but if you’ve written something incredible, they aren’t going to reject it outright just because it might be a little different to the titles they usually publish.

I received what might be considered a ‘positive’ rejection the other day. A publisher had kindly taken the time to tell me that they very much ‘enjoyed’ reading my manuscript, that they thought it was ‘engaging’ and ‘well-written.’ At first, I was delirious, over the moon. I told anyone who would listen (such is the life of an attention-starved writer where even a slight compliment is something I’ll print out and frame like I’ve won some sort of important award). But then, the more I thought about it I realised it didn’t make any difference. I asked my fellow writers what they thought, some said I should be encouraged, others said it was probably still a generic response, in the end, we all agreed, it didn’t matter. The outcome was still the same, and my story wouldn’t be hitting the bookshelves any time soon.

The fact of the matter is, I want them to be brutal. I’d prefer it. It would be far more helpful if an agent thought my manuscript was a pile of old drivel to actually say that, use those exact words, tear me down, laugh at me if they must, but at least then I’d know the truth.

How helpful would it be if terrible writers were told how awful they were? For a start if you were a good one it means that you’d eliminate half the competition, agents and publishers would have more time to consider your work carefully, and perhaps be more willing to take a punt on an unknown author. If you decided to self-publish, your book would be more visible. Readers also may be more willing to trust that it was worth risking the devastating sum of $1.99 for the Kindle edition. This is because they wouldn’t have ever suffered the disappointment of doing so only to be faced with a story so terrible, so poorly written, so offensively boring that they wished they’d bought the paper copy so at least they could have used the pages as emergency loo roll.

Imagine if we were treated like contestants on the X factor. We’d nervously have to read out our work to a panel of literary experts, a live audience sitting behind them who’d just as much love us to be talented as to see our dreams crushed in as vicious and unsparing a way as possible. As the lights dim, we begin to read, falteringly at first, but then we find our feet, our confidence soaring, mum was right, we are amazing! We carry on, the ebb and flow of our lyrical voice filling the auditorium with our carefully crafted words, we’d be so carried away, so into it that…we don’t hear the boos. We see one of the judges, hand in the air to silence us, the other two hiding their faces behind their cue cards, sniggering. We stop. Then they let rip while the audience laughs and boos some more. Our hearts break, perhaps we shout an obscenity, then mic drop, and we’re out, never to write again.

Dealing with rejection – honesty is the best policy

Seriously though, if you are not good at writing wouldn’t you rather just know? I’ve got loads of other things I could be doing with my time, things that, you know, might actually make some money or could mean I spend more time with my family and friends in the sunshine rather than hunched over a desk refusing to speak to anyone until the sun goes down like some sort of cantankerous vampire?

Of course, this is never going to happen. Agents and publishers don’t have the time to give you actual feedback, nor the inclination to tell you to give up. Until they do, the problem with trying to become a published author is that there is always a chance. There is always the carrot dangling, just out of reach, but still ever present, above our heads. With any other job, there is usually a point where you’d say ‘enough is enough.’ If you’ve applied to be an [insert job title here] ten times and never even got an interview, you might think about switching up your career ambitions. With writing, however, it is possible to be rejected 800 billion times, just like Harry Potter was, and then go on to become about 800 billion times richer than any other author just like J.K. Rowling is. If you do get rejected over and over again, you can still self-publish, and it might even be considered by most to be a big bag of garbage, yet you can still make a fortune, entertain and delight people and basically feel pretty pleased with yourself.

So, perhaps, when it comes to rejection, it is time we stopped romanticising it, but also time we stopped paying much attention to it at all. After all, it is what it is, the result is still the same, and all we can do is try, try again.

Bethany Cadman is a freelance writer and author of Doctor Vanilla’s Sunflowers

In the years before I became a full-time writer, I used to dreamily imagine what it would be like. I’d stare out of my dreary office window and fantasise about afternoons spent in arty cafes, chewing wistfully on a biro, wearing trendy glasses and an outfit that subtly hinted at my artistic nature. I imagined myself getting up early to go for walks on the beach, barefoot probably.

Mornings would be spent in dusty libraries, and evenings sipping wine at book readings and chatting about my projects to my fascinated contemporaries. I assumed my partner and friends would be wonderfully supportive, clamouring ‘more, more!’ every time I gave them a sneak preview at what I’d been working on, and of course, without really trying that hard (but after a few rejections so I could feel like I’d paid my dues) I’d be published and go on to become really witty but also totally humble on daytime chat shows, while wearing trendy glasses and an outfit that subtly hinted at my artistic nature – of course.

So when the time came for me to finally take the plunge, give up my day job and start working as a writer full-time, it was, to say the least, something of a shock.

I think I did, in fact, spend my first few days on the job sitting in cafe’s, until I realised that my back was killing me, I was becoming dangerously addicted to caffeine, and my productivity was somewhat curbed by involuntary eavesdropping on people having conversations or eating too noisily all around me.

I was also somewhat surprised to find that despite no longer having a day job to eat into my writing time, there was suddenly rather a lot of other distractions rearing their ugly heads. Who knew how all-consuming my urges to clean the bathroom and do the ironing would become until faced with the choice of doing that or trying to force myself to be creative?

This lack of productivity naturally had a knock-on effect when it came to getting published. The inability to actually finish anything proving a rather severe obstacle, and of course, even the politest and timidest inquiry from my nearest and dearest about my work was met with at best, ingenious deflection – have you SEEN how clean the bathroom is?’ and at worst, grave hostility – ‘I don’t remember YOU writing any books lately!’

The sacrifices writers have to make to be successful are plentiful and drastic. Long gone are the days where being a successful writer meant you just had to be good at writing. Now writers must wear many hats and perform many dances if they are to fulfil all the requirements of the job description.

To become successful, writing sacrifices must be made!

Your time

Writer’s have to find time to write. It’s as simple as that, and time is precious, and it’s essential to make the most of it. Procrastination can be an issue for many writers and if you feel as though you aren’t using your time as productively as you could, try to adjust your schedule and experiment with what works for you.

You might find you cannot write without your house being tidy – that’s fine, but make sure the tidying happens the night before or get up a bit earlier to get it done so it doesn’t eat into your writing day. You might find you are much more productive in the evenings with a glass of wine to loosen those creative cockles in hand, in which case you need to manoeuvre things in your day so you are free to have this time to work.

Then there are those heroes that manage to write while holding down a day job at the same time – the sacrifice is felt even more intensely here. Whether it’s getting up an hour earlier, writing during your commute or your lunch break, if you know that writing is your passion, finding time to do it – and not letting anything else get in the way – is the most important thing you can do.

Your relationships

Your scrawny children look up at you with unblinking eyes as you serve hastily cooked fish and chips for the fourth evening in a row. Don’t try to kid yourself, they are judging you. Your partner suggests a romantic evening in and is met yet again with your unwavering mirth. Your friends start creating WhatsApp groups without you and slowly but surely, everyone you’ve ever loved disap…

OK, so it doesn’t have to get this bad. However, the point is that if you want to be successful as a writer, there are going to be times where, as tempting as it is to head down to the pub quiz with your friends, you’ll instead stay in because you’re at a turning point in your book. Or they’ll be evenings where you miss the kid’s bedtime because you are so in the writing zone even their dreamy little faces can’t snap you out of it. Or perhaps you’ll get an earful from your partner from time to time because they feel a bit like you’re having multiple affairs with your characters -but that’s a sacrifice you have to make.

It can be tough to think that your relationships are suffering because of your writing, and the key is to find a balance. It’s OK for there to be times when you can’t as good a friend/parent/partner as you want to be, just don’t let the frequency change from ‘occasionally’, to ‘most of the time.’

Your Ego

Being a successful writer isn’t something that will just fall into your lap, at least not for 99.9% of writers anyway. Just because you have written something doesn’t mean that people should read it, particularly if you are thinking of charging them money for the privilege. In this busy modern world, people are inundated with choice, and you have to work tirelessly to get them to choose you. Always think about what your reader wants, and continue to have them at the forefront of your mind as you write. As soon as you can get into the mindset that it’s all about them and that it’s all for them, the faster you’ll journey down the path to success.

You’ve also got to deal with rejections, unhappy editors, changing deadlines and the fact that most of your family and friends have got their own stuff going on and can’t be there to give you compliments and tell you how great and talented you are every single second of the day. You’ve got to accept that the one thing all successful writers have in common is that they never gave up – so keep knocking on that door, and eventually, someone will hear you!

Let go of your romantic ideals

Writing is cathartic and creative, and it can feel fantastic to be doing something you love, to be following your dreams. There is nothing wrong with indulging in that, but at the same time, writers should try to keep both feet firmly on the ground, even if their heads do pop into the clouds from time to time, and remember that writing sacrifices must be made to give yourself the best chance of success.

Remember readers want to read something compelling, moving and entertaining. Does your book deliver? You can write any book you want and if it’s crucial for you to stay true to your creative integrity that’s fine, but be realistic in your expectations of how broad an audience you can reach. If you are looking for mass appeal and great success you need to write for an audience that you know is out there, ready and waiting and hungry for more.

Remember, no one is going to discover your writing through the power of thought, nor are masses of interested readers going to ‘stumble’ upon your novel because the universe is just that kind. However, that doesn’t mean that success is not yours for the taking. So get out there, make the necessary sacrifices, and it will all be worth it in the end.

Making New Year’s resolutions has always been a bit of an oddity to me.

You come out of the festive season in a blur. Too many late nights, too many lunchtime drinks, too many handfuls of peanuts on the way to the fridge to get more cheese. You eat, drink and be merry, you forget about your troubles, your work, your diet, and yes, even your writing.

Then the clock strikes midnight on December the 31st and suddenly, like a bunch of pork-pie laden Cinderella’s we are supposed to scuttle off to bed and wake up in the morning full of motivation, determination, and inspiration to make this year the greatest one yet.

It’s a pretty big ask.

That’s not to say that New Year’s resolutions don’t have their place. Particularly for writers who need goals and structure and something to keep them on the right track. However, expecting to suddenly be a whole new person just because the date changed is unrealistic, and that’s why so many people fail at their New Year’s resolutions before they’ve even got started.

You wanted to go vegetarian, not drink alcohol and write at least 500 words every day but on the first of January when you find yourself clutching a bacon sandwich, drinking a Bloody Mary and snoozing in front of Disney films all day while scoffing the last of the mince pies it feels as though you’ve started the new year on something of a back foot.

Setting New Year’s resolutions should be fun. They should be positive and motivational and make you want to do them. Too restrictive, too painful, too sudden and you are just setting yourself up for failure.

With that in mind here are some 2019 New Year’s writing resolutions that might tick those boxes:

To learn about writing in better ways

Writers are often told that writing is a skill. It can be studied; it is something you can get better at. However, there is nothing worse than forcing yourself to learn about something that doesn’t interest you.

We’re all grownups, we’ve left our school days behind, so studying only works if you do it right. Writers already find it challenging enough to fit in getting words on the page let alone giving themselves lessons in the art of writing on top of this.

However, learning can be fun, and there are ways to trick yourself into studying the craft without making it feel like studying at all. Reading, for a start, is an excellent way to learn about writing and is one of the most pleasurable, relaxing, exciting and inspiring hobbies imaginable.

Talking of hobbies, why don’t you get out there and learn some cool new stuff? Experiences make writer’s writing better. Life is a brilliant and utterly insane source of inspiration – so if you don’t want to spend your days scowling over a textbook trying to perfect your grammar then don’t. Make your writing brilliant because you’ve lived an adventurous life. Get Grammarly to correct your work, or hire an editor, or just don’t bother because life is too short.

To be more specific and goal-orientated when you write

Writers often get nowhere with their goals because they make them too damn hard, or too damn large not to feel massively overwhelmed by them.

Goals aren’t supposed to make you feel depressed or swamped or panicky. They are meant to be exciting and energising and realistic and achievable. So don’t make your writing goal to ‘finish your book.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Instead, try something else. ‘To get a short story published in the New Yorker by 2020.’ Then work out the steps that are necessary to make it happen, and go for it hell-for-leather.

To write while wearing a cape!

Have you heard of the power pose? Well, it’s been proven (mostly) that if you stand or sit in a power pose for as little as two minutes, you could feel more powerful, more motivated and generally do better in life (I might be paraphrasing here). The study conducted by Amy Cuddy suggested that those who took on high-power poses showed an increase in testosterone (the sexy power hormone) and a decrease in cortisol (the horrible stressy hormone).

OK so you don’t actually have to write while wearing a cape, but adopting your own version of the power pose (or just doing it) means you are looking inward to find your own superhero.

Writers should be proud of themselves for the example they are setting – to their kids, their friends, the world. The stuff it takes to be a writer, whether a massively celebrated and successful one or a struggling but determined slightly crappy one is remarkable and it’s well worth remembering that.

To be a kinder writer

Kindness is rarely talked about in writing, but being a kinder writer can bring with it lots of benefits. For a start, make a promise to be kinder to yourself. Be strong and healthy, be courageous and determined, go easy on yourself when things don’t go your way. Allow yourself time to grieve and heal and rest. Allow yourself time to do other things. Reevaluate regularly and make sure that whatever you are doing – writing or otherwise – is making you happy. Because there is nothing more important than that.

But kindness can also be extended beyond the realm of your writing room. Why not make a promise to be kinder to your fellow writers too? Make some writing friends (be that virtual or fleshy), be encouraging, share your work, get feedback, buy their books, leave positive reviews, start discussions, have fun.

You know how great it is when someone bothers to get in touch with you, when they buy your book or when they leave you a helpful review. If you want that to happen for you why not start the ball rolling? Pay it forward.

Buy one book a month from an unknown author – that’s a writing resolution we all could do with sticking to.

To talk about your writing more

Don’t be afraid to talk about your writing. It’s all too easy to feel like we are hassling people (even our nearest and dearest) when we ask them to read what we have written, to buy our book, even just to tell them about our day. But this year, let’s make an effort to talk about our and others writing as often and as eagerly and as passionately as we can.

If you truly love writing then share that enthusiasm with everyone – writing, creativity, reading, imagination – they are all gifts, and so let’s celebrate them accordingly.

These writing resolutions are ones that every writer can stick to.

Do you have any you’d like to add? I’d love to hear from you!

Oh, Christmas! The big day is right around the corner, and if you are anything like me you have failed to get a Christmas tree, do any present shopping, or buy your turkey – yet have managed to attend at least three slightly boozy Christmas lunches, watch Elf twice and eat about 17 million mince pies.

However, it’s best not to panic. It is the season to be merry after all, not the season to run around like a headless chicken (or turkey) panic purchasing terrible, generic or just insanely expensive Christmas gifts to make up for your lack of organisation.

If you are feeling a bit guilty about not getting the most thoughtful of gifts for your loved ones this Christmas,  one way you can still redeem yourself is by writing excellent Christmas cards.

I know this may be an unpopular idea.

It seems that sending and receiving Christmas cards isn’t as prevalent as it once was. Many people nowadays prefer to smugly announce on Facebook that they won’t be sending Christmas cards this year because they want to save the planet or donate the funds they would have spent buying and posting cards to charity instead (aka – they can’t be bothered).

Now I’m not belittling giving money to a good cause, but out of all the consumerist wizardry that manages to turn us into glazed-eyed, pot-bellied, Christmas jumper wearing zombies who happily hand over wads of cash for giant shining piles of rubbish that we don’t need, the humble and recyclable Christmas card is one of the least offensive customs.

But I get it, I do. Sending Christmas cards does seem like rather an expensive waste of time. But perhaps that’s because we don’t put any effort into writing them.

The sending of Christmas cards is a tradition that dates all the way back to 1843 when old Sir Henry Cole (I’m just assuming he was old, he’s definitely old now) came up with the idea to promote the use of the Post-Office to more ordinary folk. So together with his artist friend John Horsley, he designed the very first Christmas card and sold it for the highly reasonable sum of 1 shilling.

Before this time only rich people were able to use the Post Office (known then as the Public Record Office). However, with the development of the new railways meaning post could be sent in bulk, and further, the Post Office was able to offer a 1 penny stamp, and suddenly sending cards and letters to one’s far-flung family and friends became imminently more affordable.

Anyway, I digress. The point is that sending Christmas cards to your nearest and dearest is worth it if you view it as an opportunity, at the end of the year, to tell them how much they mean to you.

I know, I know -it’s easy to say, but when you’ve got 50 cards to send out to everyone from the boss you don’t really like to your great aunt Sally, or is it Susan?*[texts mum who responds with an admonishing ‘you ask me this question every year'] to do anything more than just hastily scribble ‘Merry Christmas!’ is asking too much. Then when you hit card number 23, and your wrists are beginning to burn it becomes just ‘Love, [name]’ then by number 38 – a scribbled hasty signature as if you are at an embarrassing book signing where only ghosts showed up.

However, taking the time, at least for the people you love, to actually write something meaningful, something personal, something that will make them laugh, maybe cry poignantly, and feel all warm and fuzzy inside, is undoubtedly worth more than unwrapping yet another set of ‘posh’ scented candles or some ‘hilarious’ novelty socks, and isn’t that is what Christmas is all about?

Christmas Cards – A Writers Time to Shine!

Writers particularly have no excuse for a poorly written Christmas card. In fact, they should use Christmas card writing to show off their talents. If you consider writing Christmas cards as a writing exercise, you suddenly have greater motivation to go deep, use your imagination and really think about what you are saying in them.

You don’t have to get all gooey if you don’t want to, but you do have to get creative. Write the shortest of short stories, include a fabulously wintery poem, jot down a haiku, tell a joke -is it a Christmas cracker? Is it a Christmas card? – Who knows?!

Oh, the fun you could have.

The thing that makes Christmas cards pointless and wasteful is by not bothering to write anything meaningful in them. I don’t know about you, but I could do without pieces of card adorned with the signatures of my family and friends littered about my home, even if some of them do have pictures of puppies wearing Santa hats on them. However, receiving cards from those I love, or those I work with, or even my distant relatives (hi great aunt Sally/Susan!) full of words of love or laughter or something silly or witty or fun to read – well then I’d happily receive Christmas cards every day of the year.

Top Tips For Writing Christmas Cards

Ready to write your Christmas cards? Here are some things to think about:

Write more than a swift one-liner – make it worth the effort of loosening their grip on the tv remote/mince pie to open the envelope.

Make it personal – no generic sweeping statements, say what you really mean!

Tell a story – everybody loves a good yarn at Christmas time.

Make them laugh – laughter is the best medicine (except when in a turkey-induced food coma, then you just need to lie really, really still and let the meat sweats wash over you – they will pass, eventually).

Share a memory – take a gander down memory lane.

Tell them why you think they are great – give them the gift of a fabulous compliment!

Make a promise to them for the new year – I’ll definitely call you every week next year mum.
Definitely.

Never Write A Boring Christmas Card Again!

The end of the year is nearly upon us, and whatever has unfolded in 2018 there is still a few days left where you could make an effort to bring a smile to someone’s face. So, writers, why not put those creative talents to good use, pick up a pen and crack the art of writing the perfect Christmas cards this year?  I can’t think of a better way to spread a little festive cheer.