Emma Fletcher is a creative and talented (and very modest) soul. She has her own copywriting business where she creates ‘creative copy for small businesses and solopreneurs that their clients and Google love’.
She also is writing a manuscript, which she has mentioned below, and having had quite a few chats about it, I know it will be incredible and can’t wait to read it — totally worth the wait! She has had so many exciting jobs, from taking Nicole Kidman to the bathroom (am I allowed to say that?), to helping rooming house residents in the City of Port Phillip (Victoria, Australia) find their creative voices and fulfilling their dreams of being heard.
She is one of a kind.
Where are you working from today?
This is where I am most days, at my desk in the study, which I share with my partner though we’re rarely in here at the same time. I’m the night owl and he’s the early bird so we each get this room to ourselves at opposite ends of the day for our own creative stuff. It has a lovely view out across the back garden. Over the fence is a school, so during the day I can hear laughter and happy chatter floating across the trees, and the occasional chime of the school bell. It’s a peaceful spot that gets the sun in the afternoon. About the exact same time I crave salted chocolate and start googling cat memes.
What are you working on?
Right now, I’m mainly writing for other people. But there is a first draft of a novel that I’m trying to avoid as well as some writing for my own site and blog. I need a few different things on the boil that I can switch between to keep the hysteria at bay me in the zone.
How’s it going?
This particular first draft…ridiculously slowly. I think I just have to accept that this is a part of the creative process I can’t hurry. It comes when it comes. I mean, I am enjoying the way this character and her strange tale are emerging. I just wish she’d pick up the pace a little.
When you get stuck, what do you do?
I try to do something else. When I get stuck it’s usually a sign to take a break and change my perspective. Allow time for some fresh, new thinking to arrive. That might be going for a long walk and listening to a podcast, reading or even just tackling a different problem that uses another part of the brain. Failing that, a stiff drink and call it a day.
Who sees your earliest version / draft & at what stage?
My partner. He’s a writer as well and an absurdly talented one at that, which is a bit annoying but does come in handy. We’re pretty honest with each other’s work but not unkindly so. I have enormous respect for his opinion and besides, that kind of insightful feedback is so invaluable, you can’t be too precious about it. But I have to have a piece at least 80% there before I can show him. It’s usually at the point where I need a fresh pair of eyes on it or I’m going to chuck my laptop in the neighbour’s pool and become an air hostess. This is often a daily occurrence.
