Naomi Marklew is originally from Bristol but is now based in Durham in the North East of England. She lives with her husband and two boys, aged 4 and 6. Before having children she taught English Literature to undergraduates at Durham University where she did her MA and PhD in Poetry Studies, but these days she is working on her own poetry and prose for publication. She is also enthusiastic about forming communities with fellow creative people. Her work has recently featured in Amethyst Review, -algia, streetcake, Selcouth Station, Second Chance Lit, The Aesthetic Directory and is forthcoming in other journals.

Who and what inspires you?
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I often find myself writing about people. Not always people I know well – I just had a poem published about our old window cleaner – but most of my early attempts at poetry were written for family birthdays, weddings or anniversaries. Since becoming a mum, my existence has mostly been centred around home and the kids and my own mental health, so these themes have come up a lot over recent years, but as my kids get older I’m starting to write about other things too. My PhD was on elegy, so I’m quite drawn to writing about grief in its various forms. Anne Lamott talks about writing every bit of inspiration down on index cards and I similarly try to keep notes on my phone. Last week I was coming out of the little supermarket near our house and noticed that the pet foodbank bin was overflowing with donations while the foodbank bin for humans was nearly empty. I’m not sure what point I want to make about that yet, but it seemed like something to make a note of for later. I also write down all my 6 year old’s ideas for stories, they’re much better than my own!

How do you find time to write as a parent?

I didn’t really write for the first few years of parenting. I started making notes on my phone when my youngest was about one, mainly to try to claw back a bit of sanity and selfhood. When he started nursery, I tried to use that time to write, but often sat in front of a blank screen crying with frustration. I was completely disconnected from other writers and didn’t know where to start. When lockdown started in 2020, my youngest had been doing half a week at nursery for about 2 months, I’d just had my first few pieces accepted for publication, and suddenly that precious writing time seemed like it was lost again… but a miraculous thing to come out of lockdown was that an online writing community seemed to spring up almost straight away. I applied for MumWrite which had a massive impact for me. I started to see myself as a writer and a mum, rather than just a mum attempting to be a writer. The sense of community helped my confidence and the practical techniques learned in the workshops have vastly improved my writing. I have a much better idea of how and where I should submit work, and I feel more familiar with the contemporary poetry community. Having said that, it’s still been really hard to find time to write, especially during the recent lockdowns. I basically write when the kids are at school/nursery, and I’m trying not to count down until they’re both at school full time! One essential thing has been online writing sessions with friends. Booking a time to write with other people has given me permission to take time away from the family that I normally wouldn’t give myself.

Which writing activities kickstart your writing when you're struggling?
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I now have notebooks full of prompts and exercises from the workshops I’ve attended online over the last year. I especially like tools like Stick Bucket, Google Translate, using found texts and Oulipo-style dictionary work. I also love Kate Clanchy’s book ‘How To Grow Your Own Poem’, and always find it helpful to try one of her exercises if I’m struggling. Currently though, after the recent lockdown, I have a backlog of ideas, I just need the discipline to sit and work on them.

Social Media:
Twitter: @NaomiMarklew
Website: https://naomimarklew.wixsite.com/website

JP Seabright writes, reads and listens to a lot of records. Their work can be found in Babel Tower Notice Board, Fugitives & Futurists, Full House, Untitled Voices and elsewhere, as well as published in three anthologies. Allegedly, JP is still trying to complete novel-length fiction and non-fiction that has been work in progress for longer than most marriages. In 2018 they set themselves the task of listening to every LP in their record collection and writing a blog about it. Three years later, they’re not even halfway, but refuse to give it up. This tells you as much about JP’s stubbornness, as it does their love of music. https://randomrecordreview.wordpress.com

​Who and what inspires you?

I’m inspired by everything and anything. Other writing – nonfiction as much as fiction, a great deal by music, visual art, people I pass in the street, things I overhear, my own life and experiences. It tends to strike at random and frequently inconvenient moments, and often in the middle of the night when I’m trying to get to sleep.

How do you find time to write as a parent?

With difficulty, some guilt (though I’m working on that), and a certain amount of sacrifice or at least brutal prioritisation. I am the ‘other mother’, my partner is the birth mother so she’s done all the really hard work, though we share all other parenting duties. She could only get 6 months maternity leave, unpaid, so I was the breadwinner for most of last year, despite only working part-time due to health constraints. So there was really no time or energy to write during that first year. Our daughter is now 16 months and in nursery, so I have a few hours each week to write when I’m not working. But it is an ongoing struggle to carve out time, and it’s never enough!

Which writing activities kickstart your writing when you're struggling?

​I’m not suffering from writer’s block currently – quite the opposite. Perhaps due to not being able to write for a while, there’s now a backlog of ideas and projects to work on so I often feel mentally deluged. This can be just as much of a blocker: what to spend your creative time on when you have so little of it? As a result, I’ve gone back to poetry and flash fiction and reworking a lot of older pieces with a fresh perspective. I keep lists and have endless ideas and phrases in Notes on my phone. If I’m not able to pick up a longer writing project, I might work on something shorter, often more experimental. Being able to actually finish something, in the short bursts of time available, is very satisfying creatively.

Find JP on twitter: https://twitter.com/errormessage
Or read more on their site:
https://jpseabright.wordpress.com/

Sascha A. Akhtar is a solo parent and the author of a collection of novellas + a long 'short' and 6 poetry collections. She also works as a Poetry School London Tutor and poetry mentor. She has been at it for 20 years. Her daughter is now 8 years old. After a spell of being completely unable to do anything writing related, in the first year her L.O. went to school she managed to do the groundwork to get five books published. Sascha also created a course for the Literary Consultancy to help writers work through writer's block under the Being A Writer umbrella. 

Of Necessity And Wanting - Fiction   
Astra Inclinant - Poetry 
How I Write A Poem - Article

Who and what inspires you? 
I find myself inspired by paintings often. Yesterday, I felt inspired by an author's photo. Their confidence gave me hope.  Human behaviour inspires me too. Especially since I spent most of my life surrounded by people who behaved cruelly. I also find animal behaviour fascinating. I'm pretty sure that my first story that was published was about two dogs at the seaside. 

How do you find time to write as a parent? 

What I learnt from those early years when I had a baby 24/7 with no respite was to identify that the idea that I needed a special place and time was erroneous. At least for me, at that time & in that space. What ended up happening in conjunction with my meditation teacher training was an identification of those moments between moments. In poetry we talk of the liminal space. In meditation we talk of this same space, in a different context. Same is true for life with children. 10 minutes of intense focus where you get all  you need to out in a mad frenzy is better than 30 minutes of lo-focus writing. Now the writing begins in my head, I allow if to develop & then when I am able ( now she is older it is somewhat 'easier') I put it all down. In the last few years, I have got it down to a 3 day system. So for big projects, I do parts here & parts there but when it comes down to the final push, I can now tell her father that I have to have three days (& nights) uninterrupted. Because he refuses to take her to his place ( it's too small), I leave. I set up a desk in a hotel & those three days are how the finished product gets done. I would love to know what would happen if I got more then these three days...

Which writing activities kickstart your writing when you're struggling to write?

Due to my autism, I am never struggling to write. My struggle is the opposite. It is a constant deluge of information. I struggle to not-write, but with mentees, students I prescribe a) walks - anywhere. Not necessarily in nature. I have in the past found urban walks to be really inspiring b) baths ( with a way to write available) c) in regards to this I will say never stop seeking out art that blows your mind - this will keep you inspired and wanting to keep going on. Also, don't struggle too hard. Walking away is just as good at staring at a page. The writing begins in the mind. In my Writer's Block course, I have likened the writer's practice to a garden, where overgrowth is coaxed into shape, 'seeds' are sourced, seeds are sown - I don't see the creative process like any other. It is a mysterious, holistic thing. Treat it as such. Whatever works for you is what works.
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You can follow Sascha on Twitter: @AkhtarSascha

Laura Besley writes short and very short fiction in the precious moments that her children (two boys aged six and three) are asleep. She has been listed by TSS Publishing as one of the top 50 British and Irish Flash Fiction writers with her story ‘On Repeat’ (Reflex Fiction) and her story ‘Silenced’ has been nominated for Best Microfiction by Emerge Literary Journal. Her flash fiction collection, The Almost Mothers, was published in March 2020 and her collection of micro fiction, 100neHundred, is available to pre-order and will be published in May 2021. 

Who and what inspires you?

Inspiration is one of those intangible magical things that I find so hard to define. When writing is going well, inspiration seems to be everywhere, and when it’s not going well, it’s elusive. Like with the theory for children that sleep begets sleep, I try to practise writing begets writing. I find the more I write, the more I want to write and therefore can write.
 
How do you find time to write as a parent?

The first year of motherhood I didn’t write anything. I was too tired, too overwhelmed, too anxious. Slowly, I started writing again when my son was napping. Then he stopped napping, I was pregnant again, we moved, we moved again, and writing didn’t happen for quite some time.

When my second son was 3 months old, I started writing when he was napping and this became my writing time consistently for about 2 years. I would wheel him to the local supermarket, buy myself a coffee in the café and write. Some days it went well, on other days it didn’t, but I found that this time was precious to me, more than sleep and certainly more than tidying my house!

When he stopped napping, I started getting up at 5am to write. This works for me because I’m a morning person and I can get up and immediately my brain is switched on. It does mean that by the evening, I’m quite tired, but I do ‘easier’ writing tasks then, like editing, or critiquing, or writing book reviews.  
 
Which writing activities kickstart your writing when you're struggling?

I start each writing session by writing my form of morning pages, which basically consists of me writing about anything that comes into my head about my life or my writing. I use this to warm up a little and usually, I can get started with writing fiction straight after that. However, there are days when it doesn’t go well and I can’t think of anything to write, or everything I write seems wrong. Then, I just stop, and do something else writing-related, either editing, critiquing, or reading a few pieces by other writers. I actually do a lot of my thinking-writing while I’m away from the desk, either doing chores around the house (I have notebooks in nearly every room) or out walking, driving or shopping (I have a notebook in my handbag too). I find this helps because then when I sit down to write, I have enough notes to get me started.    

Find Laura on Twitter: @laurabesley
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