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Now, the more astute among you might have noticed that I missed phases 6 and 7 â€� and you would be right! I did. I’m truly sorry. Life got in the way â€� in a very, very big way.Ìý

But we’re onto the Dark Moon phase, and it’s all about tying up the last of the loose ends.Ìý

This stage is all about reflection and replenishing.Ìý

For the waning part of the moon (everything that came after Full) I was busy re-evaluating my story in the wake of a couple of (MAJOR) revelations. I realised that it’s not a story for a younger audience (as I initially suspected) but it’s part of a larger adult story I am already working on. Working that out was like finding the puzzle piece I hadn’t realised was missing.Ìý

Yes, it was frustrating. Yes, it made me doubt myself. Particularly because I had been so sure about the story to begin with. But this process is about ebb and flow. I’ve learned the hard way that trying to force a story to be a shape that it isn’t never ends well.Ìý

I’ve had to reassess and rethink my story. I have re-written things from this new perspective.Ìý

But let’s stick to this phase: the Dark Moon phase. It applies until the new moon on the night of the 13th March.Ìý

I’ve had some people mention to me that they don’t like dark moons. I think that’s some kind of residual superstition. I actually love dark moons. More than that, by the end of the cycle, I seem to crave them.Ìý

In a story sense, the Dark Moon phase is where you sign off. Get your story to a point where you are happy to set it aside and let it settle. Even just for a day. Your aim is to have resolved at least enough for you to have new writing to complete during the next moon cycle. There might be a lot more planning needed, as well, and there’ll be time for that, but it’s really important you have new work you can push forward with.ÌýÌý

Reflect

The other thing you can spend some time doing is having a think about how you went. It wasn’t the best writing cycle I’ve ever had. In my case, a lot of the issues that hijacked my attention just couldn’t be avoided. Hopefully, next time will be easier. But I have thought about a couple of things I’ll do differently. For example, I now have a spot on my desk for my current story’s notepad. I am going to clean everything off at the end of the day, so it’s the only thing left, and the first thing I see each morning. A secret hijack of my own planning: story before the real world stuff. No matter what.Ìý

The other thing I have to do is become a lot more stringent with social media (as in, being distracted by it). I was very disciplined for the first week and a half, then things gradually slipped. In the same way that I’ve found a spot for my notepad, I’ve made space in the cupboard for my phone. I’ve reminded myself I’ve got Cold Turkey on my laptop for a reason.Ìý

Always room for improvement.Ìý

Replenish

If I had to describe the Dark Moon phase in one word, it would be: COCOON.Ìý

It’s a time-out where you rest up, get some sleep, eat well, and replenish your creative energy and resolve.Ìý

For me, it means reading! Screen stories just scatter my head at this point. I’m looking for stories by great writers that inspire me to want to write. I might even tackle something on the craft of storytelling, as long as it’s nourishing rather than a formulaic secrets-of-success type thing. This time around, I’m going to dip into The Practice by Seth Godin.Ìý

Most importantly of all, have faith, don’t beat yourself up, the point of a cycle is that you get to start again.Ìý

Until then, rest �

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I have to start with an apology. I said that this Moon Writing Cycle would be a loose affair, and I was right â€� I completely forgot to post on the Waxing Gibbous phase! So if you are collecting these writing phases like trading cards, you’ll notice you’re missing Phase 4. I’ll rectify that the next time around.Ìý

Because we can’t stop now and go back for it, we’ve reached the FULL MOON. Well done on working so hard! If you haven’t worked as hard as you would have liked, or you became distracted on the way, please don’t worry. Nothing is unsalvageable. That’s the beautiful thing about moon cycles. You get the chance to try again.Ìý

As to what this phase is about, well â€� I live near the sea and I surf too much. My life is tidal. I think that’s why writing by the moon makes a lot of sense to me. I like to think of this moon phase as the weirdly tense transition that takes place between the incoming tide and the outgoing tide.Ìý

The waxing part of the cycle is an incoming tide (the part we’ve just completed â€� Phases 1 to 4). A push of ideas and words. And we’re about to embark on the waning part of the cycle.ÌýÌý

But this phase right now, the full moon, is the in-between. It’s high energy and possibly frustrating. The wheel is making whirring sounds, but not actually turning. Get me?

You might be feeling revved up. Maybe you’re not sleeping very well. If you’re like me, you’re feeling incredibly impatient with yourself. In the new moon phase, your project was a priority, never far from your thoughts. But since then, life has come charging back in. There are many other things that need your attention.Ìý

And that is okay.Ìý

Go do them.Ìý

But don’t neglect your project altogether. Think of this phase as a timeout, where you take stock of what you now know; what you’ve learned about the story you’re undertaking.Ìý

In my case, what I’ve learned is a biggie. It’s kind of freaked me out, to be honest. I thought I was writing something middle grade. But after a discussion with my youngest, I now realise that I’m writing something adult. And that’s not all. It’s the missing part of an adult story that I was already working on. The themes, the characters even, will make that adult story richer.Ìý

So, yeah â€� I’m a bit thrown.Ìý

I need to absorb what that all means, and it won’t be quick. However, I can use pent-up energy to get rid of the To Do list. That way, slow work on my project won’t get me down. I’ll be moving ahead in other areas.Ìý

Right. Enough from me. Hopefully there was something above that spoke to your own experience. More soon.ÌýÌý

Onward! (By being still and patient in this case :)

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I’ve been preoccupied with this over the last month or so, because it’s the funnest and most exciting step of re-releasing my first three novels, , and .ÌýÌý

So, in this case, we’re talking about a re-jacket, as they say in the biz.Ìý

The person who is doing all the exciting stuff for me is . Debra did the cover for � which knocked my socks off the first time I saw it. My lovely editor at involved me in the briefing process for that novel. It was great � I learned firsthand that what I thought would work, did not work anywhere near as well as the thing Debra came up with off her own bat. (An aside, I also love Debra’s cover for Ellie Marney’s ).

I want to describe Debra for you in the briefest way possible. Debra does the work. That’s my big litmus test these days. I only want to work with people who do the work. (I also want to be a person who does the work â€� not easy!)Ìý

Anyway, we are really close. I can’t wait to share the new covers with you.Ìý In terms of learning, I’d suggest that if you are ever in the position to hire a designer, do your homework, find a designer doing work you love, and then TRUSTÌý YOUR DESIGNER.Ìý

I don’t know why I shouted that last bit â€� I am sure you will. Especially if you are confident you’ve got someone who knows their stuff.Ìý

Three real life examples of what I mean:Ìý

For RAW BLUE, I had mucked around with an approach that I liked. Right down to the photo I wanted to use. I sent it through when I sent the brief. Debra really liked it. I wasn’t sure, because I know nothing about design. She ended up designing several other concepts, but in the end we circled back to our starting point. She then refined and improved my original ideas, and I absolutely love what she’s done with it. I also know I couldn’t have ever done what she’s done with it myself. (I feel like cover design is kind of like going to a really good restaurant. When I eat out, I don’t want to be served up something I could have made at home. You’re paying for EXPERTISE.) Here’s the thing: I love the fact that Debra was open to using it. But if she had said she wasn’t, I would have been cool with that, too. Point is, I trusted her.ÌýFor NIGHT BEACH and SALTWATER VAMPIRES â€� I didn’t have starting concepts. I tried and it was all too hard. I had a couple of ideas â€� a font treatment and some elements I thought might work. What Debra has done is so much more. She’s somehow captured the mood of each story. She did a great job with my starting points and has taken both covers somewhere better.ÌýÌýDon’t drive yourself, or your designer, mad. It’s like over-drafting your work â€� beyond a certain point, you are just pressing the humanity out of the thing.Ìý What you’re hoping to capture is an energy. Trying 45 different tiny tweaks to your title isn’t really make or break.Ìý

Okay! Onward :)

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Well, I’m in Central Queensland right now, and the internet connection is sketchy, so this will be short and sweet.Ìý

Keep pushing forward with your new story.The moon is in Gemini at the moment. If you’re like me, that means you have a sudden urge to talk to someone about what it is you’re trying to do. I’m a talker â€� I tend to sort it out in my own brain when I have to articulate it to someone else. BUT! Choose your listener well! Someone who won’t crush your idea because it’s still fairly skinless. Someone who won’t try and solve things.ÌýÌýEnergy is outward! So be careful you don’t spend all your time just talking. You actually need to make marks on a page. If you’ll remember, I spent my crescent moon phase sketching out the scenes I intended to write in full. I now have to commit and actually do them.ÌýIt will not necessarily be comfortable! You may at this point be wondering whether this is a viable project or not. Or perhaps thinking about some other great idea that you have, and whether you should in fact be working on that instead.ÌýI have had to remind myself that I have been thinking of this story for well over a year. It has not faded away into obscurity, it has fleshed itself out, become more insistent about being written.ÌýI also have had to remind myself that I am very much in the early part of the first draft stage, which means the work I am doing isn’t up to scratch. And that’s okay. It’s raising more questions for me than answers, things I still have to work out story-wise, gaps in the timeline, gaps in my characterisation.ÌýThese are all things we will come back to â€� BUT ONLY AFTER THE FULL MOON.ÌýOkay, that’s it from me. Push forward. Get the work out. It’s only 7 more days. You can do it. The first push on the first cycle of any new work is always really, really difficult. Don’t expect too much. Just turn up. When you doubt yourself, remember to breathe and clear your head. Stay in your right brain. Build, baby, build. Nobody is going to stop you, except you.Ìý

This phase: 16th February to the first quarter moon on the 20th February. That said, we’re setting up for a bigger push through until the full moon on the 27th. I generally like to start this phase when I SEE the crescent in the sky, but Sydney has been overcast and cloudy and it’s not happening. You should know, as well, that these don’t have to be hardline “pencils down, hands away� changeovers. They’re transitions. So you might still want to spend some of your daily working time on your new moon idea and intent. But not all of it, okay? We can catch up on the other side of the full moon, or in the next cycle. We do have to push a bit. As we start, the moon is in Aries. That means: Go! Do! Channel it.

In terms of the doing, we’re focused on two things:

Using the left side of the brain in our working practice. Committing to a full moon writing goal.

And before I forget! I meant to include a quick explanation of why I am so insistent on pen and paper in the early stages.

Just to break things up, I’m going to do it via a video extract of my course because includes a nice drawing of the brain.

You can also take the word of , who also works this way.

Not a shampooing demonstration, but firm science-based stuff.Right, let’s start with our .

Right now, the new moon is not even visible in the sky.ÌýI’m giving us 3 days for this phase (by then we should be able to see the waxing crescent).ÌýIt’s an Aquarius new moon. The takeaway themes are Bring Yourself to the Story and Creative Freedom.In terms of the doing, there are three things that matter for this phase:ÌýYour working practiceÌýYour ideaYour intent

This is a GENTLE time of quiet exploration and building your resolve.

Your energy is INWARD. More yin than yang, okay? This means you are sharing with YOURSELF � you are LISTENING to yourself, you are SOLVING yourself.

You are putting parameters around your idea for a story, helping it develop SKIN and SHAPE.

Protect it � don’t share it; don’t doubt it.

To do this, you will need to be PATIENT and STILL, and put time aside to SIT WITH IT.Ìý

Now, onto what this means in terms of

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Everything around us seems to be built on the premise of a linear, go, go, go, push forward kind of thinking, but after years of writing, and some bad years of not writing, I really don’t think that’s helpful. At least to me.

I need a way of writing that is more of a rhythm, one that allows for ebbs and flows. I think it will be kinder to the creator, and also more process orientated (rather than outcome orientated).

So. Being moon mad in pretty much every other department (life, exercise, goals, general sky gazing) I’ve decided to apply the same cycle to my own writing practice.

I will be starting a new writing project on the next new moon. That’s Friday 12 Feb, 2021.

(Oddly enough, that date is also the Chinese New Year. Feels lucky, if you ask me.)

Is there something you’ve always wanted to write? Or, have you always wanted to write and just don’t know the thing?

Either way �

Why don’t you join me?

I’ll be posting at each stage of the cycle â€� a guide map to those couple of days. To be notified, subscribe to the Library (see the sidebar on the right) by entering your email, and follow me on Instagram.Ìý

I don’t want to spend all day explaining â€� it’ll become clear as we go along. Just consider yourself invited :)Ìý

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