I was invited to participate in the “My Writing Process” Blog Tour by Rosemary. She is a British born author and an English teacher by profession. Since leaving university she has lived and worked in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and twice in Denmark. Her husband works in biodiversity informatics (cataloguing all living species on earth) and this has entailed many moves. They have five children so the moves have been extra challenging. Her real love has always been writing and she has written several novels, variously set in the countries in which she has lived. She also writes for children. All her novels are available on Amazon. Her recent novels, a set of four, all take the theme of British women who move, by choice or circumstance, to one of the four countries mentioned above. The Cinnamon Snail is set in Denmark, where Rosemary currently lives.
The writing tour is a great way to connect bloggers and writers. Each participant is asked to answer four questions and then pass the torch to a few more writers. I should mention that, unlike many other participants, I might not fully qualify as a writer in the sense that I am not a published author and haven’t written a novel, book or anything like that. But I’ve always been eager to express myself through writing, and this blog is an outlet of that. So here it goes!
1) What are you working on?
Currently, my blog is my main writing project. I’m doing some freelancing on the side mostly on travel and expat topics around Denmark and Copenhagen.
2) How does your work differ from others of its genre?
I think blogs, especially personal blogs such as the one I’m writing, are always highly individual. I like to think that people become regular readers of my blog because it has an authentic voice. I also try to provide interesting and quality information, mixed with some personal stories. In short, I try to write a blog I myself would like to read!
3) Why do you write what you do?
This is closely related to the point before. I write because I love to (and feel a need to) express myself. I always like to share, and if what I experienced, learned, and know can help others, I’m glad to put myself out there. If I experience something great, or discover a new restaurant, bar, or place in Copenhagen, I want to share it with others. That’s the main purpose of my blog, and also of the freelancing I do.
4) How does your writing process work?
I wish there was a structured answer here, as I’m normally a very organized person! But my writing process is somewhat chaotic, at least for my blog. For my freelance work, I usually make detailed, daily plans of what I want to accomplish, and I’m good at sticking to those (mostly!). But for my blog, the process is different. I get inspired by a lot of stuff, something I see on the bus to work, a review of a new restaurant, a great post on another blog that gives me a new idea. I’ve started to take a notebook wherever I go, and I put down those ideas in a few bullet points so I don’t forget them. Sometimes I will start to draft a new post and then leave it in Draft status to add to it later. I also try to balance my posts a little bit so that there will be a good mix of things and I don’t post, let’s say, three recipes in a row. I also have some regular posts, like the weekend tips for Copenhagen, and my new series of expat portraits.
Meet more writers! I’ve invited Camilla and Melanie to join the blog hop. Both of them are Copenhagen-based bloggers and writers, and I highly encourage you to check out their work!
Camilla Kyndesen writes stories in genres like fantasy, crime, or paranormal, usually for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and June Novel Writing Month (JuNoWriMo).
When she’s not writing or busy with her day job as a web editor, she spends her time with her boyfriend and their three cats in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Camilla blogs about her writing and about food, books, and life in general at apopcornaddict.wordpress.com.
Melanie Haynes is a freelance writer, concentrating mainly on travel writing and expat life, Melanie lives in Copenhagen with her husband and young son. She shares her love of life in the city via her popular blog, Dejlige Days and is working on a number of new writing projects extending the offering of her blog to a wider audience.
Camilla Kyndesen says
Great post! It’s always interesting to learn more about the people behind the blogs you follow :) I think your idea of writing a blog that you yourself would like to read is the best approach to writing! And thank you so much for adding me to this blog hop - I’ll write a post about it soon ;)