Thank you! 🙂💜
06.03.2026 15:08
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Thank you! 🙂💜
Yesterday, I added 2500 words to my manuscript 🙂
I was at a difficult point in the story, but I fought for every single one of those words, and they ended up halfway decent (helped along by copious caffeine and lots of swear words).
Gen-AI could never.
The best kind! 🙂💜
Don’t worry if your author newsletter is ‘small’!
Mine is too.
The number ‘35’ seems small on-screen.
But when I imagine 35 people gathered in a room - 35 people who (hopefully!) like what I do and who want to hear from me - that’s actually amazing!
And I appreciate every person in that room.
Clothes hanger with a child’s Very Hungry Caterpillar t-shirt hanging from it
It’s World Book Day in the UK tomorrow, and my kids are getting ready to celebrate!
However, I’m also feeling sad. Every child in the world should be living in safety, and having their needs met, and going to school, and getting to dress up as their favourite story characters.
It’s true: real life is stranger and more illogical than fiction.
For example, in fiction, if a group of people wiped out many thousands who happened to be living on land they coveted, and/or were involved in the rape and torture of children, then they would generally be considered the villains.
This might be controversial, but it’s still true:
Books, reading and writing are inherently political.
www.clairebentley.co.uk/post/books-a...
Happy Friday!
I still have editing slots available from June 2026 🙂
I’m trained, CIEP-registered, and an ALLi partner member.
I offer free sample edits.
I have discounts for newsletter subscribers and members of marginalised communities.
Prices are on my website. Please get in touch 🙂
“I used to wait for the explosion, the big crash, the sudden chaos that would destroy the neighborhood. Instead, things are unraveling, disintegrating bit by bit.”
Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower.
It punched me in the gut when I first read it, and it hits even harder now.
Thank you! 🙂
Huge good luck for the poem. I’m cheering for you (as always!) 💜
Got my first short story rejection of 2026 🙂
Yes, I’m smiling about it.
First, because it was a personalised one.
Second, because I don’t see rejections as ‘failures’. They’re necessary and important steps on the long, winding road of fiction writing.
And I’m so happy to be on this road 🙂
I’ve been quiet on here lately (still lurking occasionally).
School holidays plus back-to-back editing deadlines have kept me very busy!
Normal service will resume next week, i.e. writing, editing, reading, parenting, autism, and being Radical Left Scum 🙂
Dear writers
If you’ve written 20k words (or more) in 2026, I’m cheering for you!
If you’ve written 10k words, I’m cheering for you!
If you’ve written 2k words, I’m cheering for you!
If you’ve written 100 words, I’m cheering for you!
If you’ve written 0 words, I’m still cheering for you!
That’s great advice 🙂
I try to follow that too! But yes, a large cast tripped me up 😅
I’ve also done that! 😅
Are you looking for a freelance fiction editor?
I’m a member of CIEP and ALLi, and I have free sample edits 🙂 my rates and other info are on my website.
There is an extra 10% off for newsletter subscribers and members of marginalised communities.
www.clairebentley.co.uk/work-with-me
Don’t worry if your first draft is messy!
I, a writer and freelance fiction editor, just found out that I gave the same first name to two different side characters in my draft.
And I didn’t spot it for weeks.
First drafts are allowed to be messy. Their role is to exist, not to be perfect 😅
As a writer and editor, it’s my professional opinion that humanity would be in a much better position if more people had reading as a hobby.
Seems like a healthier and more enjoyable option than bigotry.
Child’s colourful drawing of a tree with the caption: Protect nature. It allows us to breathe and have yummy fruit. Please protect nature and save us. In the bottom corner there is a picture of a house on a bare island surrounded by water. Caption: Don’t let this happen.
My 9yo made this picture.
He asked me to put it on social media ‘so all the grown-ups will see it and will stop climate change’.
I’m so proud of how kind, smart and creative he is.
I’m also heartbroken that he’s scared of where humanity is heading.
😂
He’s already planning his collection of pets with the ‘wrong’ animal names, so we’ll happily add Rabbit and Bird 🙂 he also wants a cat called Fish.
Maybe a vet annoyed him in a past life?
My 5yo has informed me that when he’s older he’s going to get a dog.
And he’ll name it Cat.
I feel icky making these posts when the world is even more hellish than usual…
But the world needs our stories - now more than ever!
If you’re looking for a freelance fiction editor for your story then please check out my website 🙂
No, MS Word. I do not want to change the sentence to: ‘we don’t has any food’.
Same for ‘I didn’t means it’.
And ‘I don’t wants this’.
I’m not writing Gollum fan fiction.
I’m a UK-based writer and editor with a tiny platform.
I will continue to post about books, writing and editing because they’re my passion and my livelihood.
However, I’m also left-wing and antifascist, and I will not stay quiet about that.
And FYI: books are political.
Presentation slide at the World Economic Forum showing skyscrapers and luxury buildings on Palestine’s seafront
If the phrase ‘money is the root of all evil’ could be summarised in one image… this would be it.
Selfie at my desk with green travel mug and laptop, looking tired but happy
I’m tired, but the kids are at school and I have a small gap between clients’ edits, so I’m taking a couple of hours for my own writing 🙂
If you’re managing to write with all this *gestures at the world* then I see you, and I’m rooting for you!
If you’re not able to write with all this *gestures at the world* then I still see you, and I’m still rooting for you!
Your words matter. Even if you’re not able to put them on the page yet.
Hey #WritingCommunity - I know some of you are looking for an editor.
