• About
  • Books
  • Hire Me
  • Podcast
  • YouTube
  • NormalNess In The Media
  • Fine Print/Disclosure
  • Published Elsewhere
Normal Ness

Writing

  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

Not a Secret

Posted on March 1, 2021February 25, 2021by Vanessa Smith
Not A Secret

I’ve done NaNo on and off for most of my adult life. 2019  was the first year I had won. 2020 I won, but it was harder. Then again, what wasn’t harder in 2020? The key that swapped me from failing (though no extra word/creativity are actually a failure) to winning was twofold.   One […]

Read More
8 Comments
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

Shaming Writers

Posted on February 22, 2021February 20, 2021by Vanessa Smith
Shaming Writers

There’s a lot of gatekeeping in writing. Which is weird, as it’s one of the few things you’d think is fairly accessible to many people. Of course there are discrepancies in education and support, but I mean on a wider level – more people can write than can become astronauts. The shame is on a […]

Read More
No comments yet
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

Turn Off Your Brain While You Write A First Draft

Posted on February 8, 2021February 5, 2021by Vanessa Smith
Turn Off Your Brain While You Write A First Draft

During NaNoWriMo 2019, I started writing a sci-fi novel. I got about 6000 words in at the time. I had no real intention to write it, but at the time I needed a mental change from writing my satire series of books, The Secret Ingredient Of. I’ve been slowly adding to it ever since, because […]

Read More
7 Comments
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

You May Write Whenever You Damn Well Please

Posted on January 31, 2021February 4, 2021by Vanessa Smith
You May Write Whenever You Damn Well Please

I saw something on the internet this morning that pissed me off a great deal. It was a long winded “inspo-shame” type statement that said if you don’t write every day, you can’t call yourself a writer. Here is what I wrote back to the person who posted it.   You May Write Whenever You […]

Read More
No comments yet
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

Read Whatever You Want To

Posted on January 25, 2021January 25, 2021by Vanessa Smith

I’ve never read the classics. I’m sure I read some at school, but overall they have never really appealed to me. Or maybe they’ve never been sold to me. It’s a bit like Avatar … people say “it’s good, watch it” but no one has told me why it’s good. Or “go to Melbourne, they […]

Read More
11 Comments
  • Money
  • ...
    • This is my life
    • Writing

Unnecessary Micro Gatekeeping

Posted on January 4, 2021February 25, 2021by Vanessa Smith
Unnecessary Micro Gatekeeping

Unnecessary micro gatekeeping   It’s the best term we have managed to come up with. What am I talking about? Rules. But fake rules. Particularly within the creative fields. There are countless examples of what this might be about, but it’s probably easiest to tell you where I came across it most recently.   I posted a […]

Read More
11 Comments
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

Book Review: A River With A City Problem

Posted on November 25, 2020by Vanessa Smith
A River With A City Problem

A River With A City Problem is a historical account of the Brisbane river flooding, the impacts of the floods, and the political decisions (or lack thereof) that have not prevented subsequent floods.    The important thing to remember throughout this book review is that it is a very good book. It might not sound […]

Read More
10 Comments
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

Losing (And Finding) My “Inspiration”

Posted on August 24, 2020August 24, 2020by Vanessa Smith
Losing (And Finding) My "Inspiration"

Generally speaking, I enjoy working from home. I’ve had a long commute for about a decade, so gaining at least 12 hours per week back into my life is actually life changing. I didn’t feel like there were too many negatives to staying home for months. And overall, the positives win out. But there was […]

Read More
18 Comments
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

Imperfect Writer

Posted on August 10, 2020May 22, 2020by Vanessa Smith
Imperfect Writer

I wanted to share a brief story of how I am a (very) imperfect writer.   But also – perfection doesn’t exist. What I deem perfect isn’t what you might deem perfect.   Imperfect Writer     Having said that, there are generally some accepted standards that we apply to tasks.   My Imperfection My […]

Read More
11 Comments
  • This is my life
  • ...
    • Writing

Using Structure To Get Started

Posted on August 6, 2020August 5, 2020by Vanessa Smith

If writing is something you do on top of a job and the rest of your life, then it’s probably fair to say that you have limited time for it. Which is ok, and very real. Not everyone can do what they want at every moment of their life. What it does mean is that […]

Read More
9 Comments

Posts navigation

Older posts

Meet NormalNess

NormalNess is where I share my life. And books I’ve written. I vlog sometimes. I also podcast occasionally. In the meantime, hang out with me and remember: We’re all normal to ourselves…

Search the blog:

Recent Posts

  • Plastic Cups
  • Not a Secret
  • Attention Spans and Grief
  • Shaming Writers
  • Relating

Archives

Categories

Activello Theme by Colorlib Powered by WordPress