Hello and welcome to A Lens Unclouded

I’ve been meaning to start a blog for some time. Probably about eighteen months actually, but when I woke up this morning I figured now seems like as good a time as any. There’s that old saying - the second best time to start anything is now*. So here goes.

Hi, I’m Helen and I’ve been writing since the start of 2023. No, not at the start of the pandemic, like so many people did, but quite literally the 1st January 2023. In 2022, I quit the job I’d been doing for the last 12-ish years and decided to take some time out. After a few months spent landscaping the back garden and generally making a nuisance of myself around the house, my Mum suggested that I start writing again, since I’d been keen on it as a child and seemed to have some skill in that area.

So just after Christmas 2019, I found an awesome writing group online who had a writing challenge starting on 1st January and I signed up. I haven’t looked back. Since then, I’ve written so much that I have a space on my bookshelf dedicated to actual books that my words appear in, plus a few of my favourite short pieces printed and framed on the wall.

I don’t say that to (not-so-humbly) brag, but to show that with just a few years and a whole load of sheer bloody-mindedness, anyone can go from zero to something in what now feels like the blink of an eye.

So what’s this blog all about?

This blog will be an honest view - a lens unclouded, if you will - into the life of a (mostly) full-time writer. I spend a lot of time writing novels these days, but I hope to share my thoughts on my writing process, books I’ve enjoyed reading (the second best way to learn how to be a writer) and all things writing adjacent.

But you’ll also see a few snippets about my life outside of writing. The things I care about. Serious stuff like mental health, equality and invisible illnesses, right through to why my dog is awesome, why my favourite food is almost certainly Japanese and why my favourite dinosaur is a Stegosaurus.

Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash

What you won’t see from me are details about my personal life, political commentary, religious commentary or anything that’s likely to incite hatred towards any group of people. Silence on any topic does not mean I condone or approve of that topic - it simply means I’m keeping my opinions to myself because there are enough opinions out there already and I’d just like to focus on my writing, thanks very much.

What’s coming up and when?

I’m aiming to write a blog every fortnight, publishing roughly at the start of the month and mid-month. This might vary a little bit from time to time, and you might even get a bonus blog now and then if there’s something I want to write about that has a limited time-window to be relevant. Or if I get very excitable about something and have to write about it before I burst. It’s been known to happen. The writing, that is, not the bursting. I suspect the latter wouldn’t help me write at all.

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be writing about:

• How, when and where I write

• My DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice grant) experience

• Disability representation in literature

• First drafting a process - to edit or not to edit as you’re writing

And a whole load of other topics that I haven’t thought of yet. But no fear, I’ll keep a page updated about what’s coming and when.

Anyway, that’s enough from me. See you back here soon!

* The actual best time is supposedly when you first think of it or, if you’re wanting a specific outcome by a specific time, on a date where you can spend the time you want achieving said outcome without busting a gut.