Zoe May's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"
Five Ways To Cope With Self-Isolation
So, many of us are self-isolating at the moment because of Coronovirus. I’ve noticed on Twitter that a lot of people are struggling to cope with having to spend so much time indoors.
As a writer who has endured periods of isolation, I feel I’m in a pretty good position to weather this storm! A while ago, I found myself living in a flat in the arse-end of nowhere and I had tight deadlines to meet meaning I could barely go out - I felt pretty damn adrift from society!
It wasn’t pleasant and I didn’t enjoy it, but I got through it. These are my tips for coping with isolation!
Set goals.
Setting goals is one of the best ways to cope with isolation. Goals provide a sense of hope, focus and progress and will stop you wallowing in self-pity or sinking into despair.
Setting goals will help you come out of lock-down in a better position then when I went into it. If you can use this time productively, then you'll be able to enjoy life better on the other side. Setting goals enables you to prepare for the future and stay positive.
Embrace virtual communities .
We all know Twitter can be a bit of a hellsite but I still love it - it's anchored me and provided me with distractions, entertainment and a sense of community during periods of isolation. I’ve often thought of it as the writer’s equivalent of the office water cooler. I’ll take breaks from writing and see what’s happening on Twitter, have a bit of a chat, and then get back on with work. Obviously, it’s not quite the same as face-to-face contact, but it definitely helps! The same can probably be said for Facebook and Instagram and other social networks, but Twitter is my personal favourite.
However, while social media is great for interaction, muting people whose content makes you feel miserable, muting words relating to topics that get you down, or blocking rude people, isn’t snowflake behavior, it’s just sensible. Protecting yourself from influences that make you unhappy is vital if you’re isolated.
Listen to empowering music
When in isolation, I think it’s important to be mindful about what you’re consuming in terms of music, TV, and books as your mood can be affected far more than usual by the content you take in.
I once spend several months writing a very dark book while listening to a lot of Radiohead and spending a lot of time alone and I sank into despair! I can't say I recommend it! These days, if I have to be alone, I’ll listen to music I find inspiring and uplifting. For me, this includes a lot of hip hop, but everyone will have their own favourites.
Escape
Find a book or TV series that offers escapism. I’m finally getting round to reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith. It’s a fairly long book which will keep me occupied for a while and provide some escapism from all this pandemic stuff. I might also get into Breaking Bad, which I’ve been meaning to watch for ages. Now is the perfect time to tackle that TBR list or watch a series – watching the news non-stop will only get us down. Escapism is healthy.
Get help
Isolation is no picnic and despite all the hijinks of celebrities singing into hairbrushes about fried fish (thanks for that, Madonna) or dancing up stairs, it's not just a zany lol-fest.
Isolation can be really awful. Humans are social creatures and it's not easy having to be alone. Sometimes you need a helping hand to get through hard times. I take Propanolol for anxiety. It's a beta blocker that calms your heart rate. I try not to take it too often, but if I feel panicky, it helps. I also find herbal supplement, Kalms, helpful. Admitting that I take something for anxiety makes me a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't. It helps and it's not a sign of weakness, it's a practical measure. If you're struggling, there's no shame in getting some medical help. And if you're really struggling and need someone to talk to, the Samaritans are there too.
I hope my tips help!
If you want to check out my books, click here:
As a writer who has endured periods of isolation, I feel I’m in a pretty good position to weather this storm! A while ago, I found myself living in a flat in the arse-end of nowhere and I had tight deadlines to meet meaning I could barely go out - I felt pretty damn adrift from society!
It wasn’t pleasant and I didn’t enjoy it, but I got through it. These are my tips for coping with isolation!
Set goals.
Setting goals is one of the best ways to cope with isolation. Goals provide a sense of hope, focus and progress and will stop you wallowing in self-pity or sinking into despair.
Setting goals will help you come out of lock-down in a better position then when I went into it. If you can use this time productively, then you'll be able to enjoy life better on the other side. Setting goals enables you to prepare for the future and stay positive.
Embrace virtual communities .
We all know Twitter can be a bit of a hellsite but I still love it - it's anchored me and provided me with distractions, entertainment and a sense of community during periods of isolation. I’ve often thought of it as the writer’s equivalent of the office water cooler. I’ll take breaks from writing and see what’s happening on Twitter, have a bit of a chat, and then get back on with work. Obviously, it’s not quite the same as face-to-face contact, but it definitely helps! The same can probably be said for Facebook and Instagram and other social networks, but Twitter is my personal favourite.
However, while social media is great for interaction, muting people whose content makes you feel miserable, muting words relating to topics that get you down, or blocking rude people, isn’t snowflake behavior, it’s just sensible. Protecting yourself from influences that make you unhappy is vital if you’re isolated.
Listen to empowering music
When in isolation, I think it’s important to be mindful about what you’re consuming in terms of music, TV, and books as your mood can be affected far more than usual by the content you take in.
I once spend several months writing a very dark book while listening to a lot of Radiohead and spending a lot of time alone and I sank into despair! I can't say I recommend it! These days, if I have to be alone, I’ll listen to music I find inspiring and uplifting. For me, this includes a lot of hip hop, but everyone will have their own favourites.
Escape
Find a book or TV series that offers escapism. I’m finally getting round to reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith. It’s a fairly long book which will keep me occupied for a while and provide some escapism from all this pandemic stuff. I might also get into Breaking Bad, which I’ve been meaning to watch for ages. Now is the perfect time to tackle that TBR list or watch a series – watching the news non-stop will only get us down. Escapism is healthy.
Get help
Isolation is no picnic and despite all the hijinks of celebrities singing into hairbrushes about fried fish (thanks for that, Madonna) or dancing up stairs, it's not just a zany lol-fest.
Isolation can be really awful. Humans are social creatures and it's not easy having to be alone. Sometimes you need a helping hand to get through hard times. I take Propanolol for anxiety. It's a beta blocker that calms your heart rate. I try not to take it too often, but if I feel panicky, it helps. I also find herbal supplement, Kalms, helpful. Admitting that I take something for anxiety makes me a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't. It helps and it's not a sign of weakness, it's a practical measure. If you're struggling, there's no shame in getting some medical help. And if you're really struggling and need someone to talk to, the Samaritans are there too.
I hope my tips help!
If you want to check out my books, click here:
Five Unusual Sources of Writing Inspiration
Writers tend to be inspired by their life experiences, the people they meet, and the society they live in, as well as the books and films they consume. But inspiration can come in other from all over the place, including quite unexpected sources.
Here are five unusual sources of inspiration that inspire my writing.
Instagram
This might sound a bit creepy, but I find Instagram really useful for character inspiration. The character of Natalie Jackson in my novel As Luck Would Have It was inspired by someone I follow on Instagram, and a few of the traits of my protagonist, Rachel, in my upcoming novel Flying Solo were also inspired by someone I follow on the gram. (If you don’t want to feature in one of my books, you might want to block me!)
I know a lot of people give an artificial, carefully curated, impression of their lives on Instagram, but I do find it interesting observing details of people’s day-to-day lives and their habits, and these observations often help me develop my characters.
Eavesdropping
I’m not a fan of wearing headphones when I’m out and about and the reason is because I like to eavesdrop on people’s conversations. At the risk of sounding like a creep (again!), I love overhearing phone calls on the train, or ‘reading’ in a café while listening to people chat. It’s so interesting to me to hear what people from all walks of life talk about and how they talk to each other. I remember sitting outside a pub in southeast London once and listening to these two burly guys discussing Theresa May one minute and different brands of shaving blades the next. I find stuff like that so interesting. I feel like it helps me understand people better, which enables me create believable characters.
Real life magazines
I love reading read life magazines.
I’d never really thought to look to these magazines for inspiration until I was sitting in my doctor’s surgery one time, flicking through one of these mags. I read a story that made me think and helped me unravel a plot hole in my book. Since then, I read them regularly and often take details of people’s life stories and apply them to my characters, helping me to develop realistic and interesting backstories.
For example, Rachel in Flying Solo, experienced homelessness as a teenager, and what happened to her was inspired by the circumstances of a story I read in Woman’s Own. You never know where flicking through a magazine will lead!
Events
This is beginning to feel like a distant memory now that we’re in lockdown, but going to random events can provide invaluable inspiration. You can find out about all sorts of events in your local area on sites like EventBrite or Meetup. I’ve been to events that I wouldn’t normally choose to go to, from business workshops to village hall coffee mornings. I like learning about random things and mixing with people and communities I might not otherwise encounter – it helps when crafting characters and coming up with interesting stories.
Twitter
It's so easy to procrastinate and waste time on Twitter, but the site can also be a goldmine of inspiration.
You know those tweets you see that ask people questions about their lives, like ‘What makes you cringe when you look back on it?’ or ‘How did you know your partner was the one for you?’? I LOVE these tweets. I’ll often take details from them to embellish my characters’ backstories or spark an idea for a story-line.
And if you're interested in checking out my books, check them out here.
Here are five unusual sources of inspiration that inspire my writing.
This might sound a bit creepy, but I find Instagram really useful for character inspiration. The character of Natalie Jackson in my novel As Luck Would Have It was inspired by someone I follow on Instagram, and a few of the traits of my protagonist, Rachel, in my upcoming novel Flying Solo were also inspired by someone I follow on the gram. (If you don’t want to feature in one of my books, you might want to block me!)
I know a lot of people give an artificial, carefully curated, impression of their lives on Instagram, but I do find it interesting observing details of people’s day-to-day lives and their habits, and these observations often help me develop my characters.
Eavesdropping
I’m not a fan of wearing headphones when I’m out and about and the reason is because I like to eavesdrop on people’s conversations. At the risk of sounding like a creep (again!), I love overhearing phone calls on the train, or ‘reading’ in a café while listening to people chat. It’s so interesting to me to hear what people from all walks of life talk about and how they talk to each other. I remember sitting outside a pub in southeast London once and listening to these two burly guys discussing Theresa May one minute and different brands of shaving blades the next. I find stuff like that so interesting. I feel like it helps me understand people better, which enables me create believable characters.
Real life magazines
I love reading read life magazines.
I’d never really thought to look to these magazines for inspiration until I was sitting in my doctor’s surgery one time, flicking through one of these mags. I read a story that made me think and helped me unravel a plot hole in my book. Since then, I read them regularly and often take details of people’s life stories and apply them to my characters, helping me to develop realistic and interesting backstories.
For example, Rachel in Flying Solo, experienced homelessness as a teenager, and what happened to her was inspired by the circumstances of a story I read in Woman’s Own. You never know where flicking through a magazine will lead!
Events
This is beginning to feel like a distant memory now that we’re in lockdown, but going to random events can provide invaluable inspiration. You can find out about all sorts of events in your local area on sites like EventBrite or Meetup. I’ve been to events that I wouldn’t normally choose to go to, from business workshops to village hall coffee mornings. I like learning about random things and mixing with people and communities I might not otherwise encounter – it helps when crafting characters and coming up with interesting stories.
It's so easy to procrastinate and waste time on Twitter, but the site can also be a goldmine of inspiration.
You know those tweets you see that ask people questions about their lives, like ‘What makes you cringe when you look back on it?’ or ‘How did you know your partner was the one for you?’? I LOVE these tweets. I’ll often take details from them to embellish my characters’ backstories or spark an idea for a story-line.
And if you're interested in checking out my books, check them out here.
Five Things That Inspired Flying Solo
My new rom com, Flying Solo, comes out very soon and if you hadn’t noticed from my countless social media posts, I’m very excited!
I describe Flying Solo as ‘Bridget Jones meets Legally Blonde in an ashram’. It’s about a 30-year-old London lawyer who winds up in an ashram in an effort to win back her wayward boyfriend, Paul, who has run off to India to find himself.
Here are five things that inspired Flying Solo.
Ashrams
I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert in my early twenties and it made a BIG impression on me. I wanted to go off to an ashram in India and have epiphanies! So I did! I’ve visited two Indian ashrams and find the whole culture around them totally fascinating. They’re pretty bizarre places and unlike Elizabeth Gilbert, I couldn’t get quite on board. I found them a bit odd and realised that despite having hippyish interests, I’m not remotely as spiritual as I thought!
Yet despite not being an ashram convert, I found the experience of staying in ashrams so interesting and completely unforgettable. I used lots of quirky anecdotes in Flying Solo and also touched upon the dark side of ashrams too. They’re not all mantras and meditation – there’s an ominous side to Indian ashrams too with lots of scandalous news stories about gurus being involves in tax scams and even sexual and violent assaults. Beware if you go on YouTube and check out some of the videos from former ashram ‘devotees’ – it’s a rabbit hole of scandal and drama that you can lose hours over!
Travellers I met
I met lots of interesting people during my trips to India, probably more so than any other country I’ve visited. India attracts open-minded people and I found the travellers I met to be warm-hearted, laid-back and kind. The love interest of my book, Seb, is based on a guy I met during my second trip to India. Like my character, the guy I met was staying in a treehouse in the ashram, he was on a year-long celibacy pledge and was very into meditation, reading and self-discovery. Although unlike in my book, in real life, the ‘Seb’ character wasn’t a love interest and he definitely didn’t break his celibacy pledge for me!
Indian people
I met some amazing people in India – people I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I love how open and friendly Indian people can be, how in touch with spirituality many people are, and the endearing mannerisms common to many Indians. The ‘Indian head wobble’ is a classic example – a gesture that isn’t quite a nod and isn’t quite a shake of the head, which sort of means yes and no and okay.
The bad bits
India can be quite a disorientating place to visit as a Westerner and I wanted to capture some of the bad bits in my book too. Through my heroine, Rachel, I relayed a few things I experienced during my trips – from painful mosquito bites to horrible toilets to a minor car crash on a chaotic sprawling road. India can be quite overwhelming and you can feel a bit like you’ve been thrown in at the deep end when you first arrive, but once you get used to it and ‘go with the flow’, you can start to appreciate the wonders of India too.
The food
I love Indian food and this is probably pretty obvious in Flying Solo thanks to the generous descriptions I include of foods I discovered while I was there, like parathas. There was a restaurant near one of the ashrams I stayed at, which I included in Flying Solo. It was just outside the ashram – a roadside, family-run place, that did delicious curries and parathas and had a relaxed, fun atmosphere that was a welcome break to the pious vibe of the ashram!
To read more about India and ashrams, check out my new novel, Flying Solo. Only 99p now!
I describe Flying Solo as ‘Bridget Jones meets Legally Blonde in an ashram’. It’s about a 30-year-old London lawyer who winds up in an ashram in an effort to win back her wayward boyfriend, Paul, who has run off to India to find himself.
Here are five things that inspired Flying Solo.
Ashrams
I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert in my early twenties and it made a BIG impression on me. I wanted to go off to an ashram in India and have epiphanies! So I did! I’ve visited two Indian ashrams and find the whole culture around them totally fascinating. They’re pretty bizarre places and unlike Elizabeth Gilbert, I couldn’t get quite on board. I found them a bit odd and realised that despite having hippyish interests, I’m not remotely as spiritual as I thought!
Yet despite not being an ashram convert, I found the experience of staying in ashrams so interesting and completely unforgettable. I used lots of quirky anecdotes in Flying Solo and also touched upon the dark side of ashrams too. They’re not all mantras and meditation – there’s an ominous side to Indian ashrams too with lots of scandalous news stories about gurus being involves in tax scams and even sexual and violent assaults. Beware if you go on YouTube and check out some of the videos from former ashram ‘devotees’ – it’s a rabbit hole of scandal and drama that you can lose hours over!
Travellers I met
I met lots of interesting people during my trips to India, probably more so than any other country I’ve visited. India attracts open-minded people and I found the travellers I met to be warm-hearted, laid-back and kind. The love interest of my book, Seb, is based on a guy I met during my second trip to India. Like my character, the guy I met was staying in a treehouse in the ashram, he was on a year-long celibacy pledge and was very into meditation, reading and self-discovery. Although unlike in my book, in real life, the ‘Seb’ character wasn’t a love interest and he definitely didn’t break his celibacy pledge for me!
Indian people
I met some amazing people in India – people I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I love how open and friendly Indian people can be, how in touch with spirituality many people are, and the endearing mannerisms common to many Indians. The ‘Indian head wobble’ is a classic example – a gesture that isn’t quite a nod and isn’t quite a shake of the head, which sort of means yes and no and okay.
The bad bits
India can be quite a disorientating place to visit as a Westerner and I wanted to capture some of the bad bits in my book too. Through my heroine, Rachel, I relayed a few things I experienced during my trips – from painful mosquito bites to horrible toilets to a minor car crash on a chaotic sprawling road. India can be quite overwhelming and you can feel a bit like you’ve been thrown in at the deep end when you first arrive, but once you get used to it and ‘go with the flow’, you can start to appreciate the wonders of India too.
The food
I love Indian food and this is probably pretty obvious in Flying Solo thanks to the generous descriptions I include of foods I discovered while I was there, like parathas. There was a restaurant near one of the ashrams I stayed at, which I included in Flying Solo. It was just outside the ashram – a roadside, family-run place, that did delicious curries and parathas and had a relaxed, fun atmosphere that was a welcome break to the pious vibe of the ashram!
To read more about India and ashrams, check out my new novel, Flying Solo. Only 99p now!
