Writing Shows Me Myself Clearer Than a Mirror

Meet Rachel Guilford in the first of this new blog series, where members of The Writers Workshop share their writing lives and their thoughts about creativity, community, craft and careers.

Rachel Guilford is writing a young adult fantasy novel and regularly posts on her wellbeing and creativity blog, wellspringwriter.com.

As someone who works full time, Rachel talked to us about how she manages to fit writing into a busy day and what her hopes are for her writing future.

My Writing Inspiration

I started journaling daily when I was nine. It was just after my dad died, and mum told me he had kept a diary when he was younger. Maybe it was a way to try and follow in his footsteps in some form.

Often my writing originates from something of my own experience in the world; it can be my way of trying to make sense of stuff. Several years ago I started writing fiction, and this has helped me look beyond myself. It was a massive revelation to have a whole world and set of characters to explore important themes, emotions and adventures. I draw on anything I can: nature, the different people I meet in life, films and books, conversations. I’m always inspired by people’s real-life stories, the ups and the downs. There’s something very powerful about being able to map our own story.

My Writing Community

I’m a massive introvert but also very collaborative, and I love bouncing ideas around. I joined The Writers Workshop primarily for the sense of community. I see being a writer as a lifetime journey, one I’m not very far into yet, so being able to learn from more experienced writers is great. There have also been some great workshops with excellent content and takeaways.

My Writing Challenges

The biggest challenges I face in my writing are knowing when something is finished and being confident in what I want to say and how I want to say it. But within two years, I’d like to have finished my novel and had a go at publishing or self-publishing it.

I work full time, so fitting writing into my day is a challenge. I try to set writing goals for the month, then also a few goals for each week. When life is more challenging, I tend to keep up the journaling and relax with the other writing to keep the pressure low.

My Writing Practices

I have a few quick writing practices I do consistently. One is checking in with myself each morning and rambling on the page. I set a time limit of ten minutes or so, or I could go on for a long time! This helps clear my head and feels quite freeing. Often in the evening I’ll think about the day and jot down anything notable or inspiring that happened. Sometimes these sparks of inspiration find their way into a story or blog.

My Writing Passion

I write because it gives me a space where no one is judging or criticising. I write because it makes me take more notice of my life and keeps me grounded. I write because it shows me myself, clearer than a mirror, layer after layer, laid bare on the page, which can be a bit scary at times, but it’s much better than hiding.