🪚 From Timber to Text: Why Writing a Novel is Pure Carpentry
By D.C. Salmon ⏱️ Reading Time: 5 minutes In this post: Late-deadline panic, life as an apprentice joiner, why writing a thriller mirrors building bespoke kitchens, and why editing is just fine sanding Full disclosure: for the second week running, I found myself staring down the barrel of a Wednesday publishing deadline with practically a blank page. Usually, my best ideas strike when I’m out walking the dog. There is something about the steady rhythm of putting one boot in front of the other that clears the cobwebs, kick-starts the imagination, and untangles plot knots. But this week? Total radio silence. I paced across the fields drawing a complete blank. Then, halfway through our usual loop, the penny finally dropped. People frequently ask debut authors where their discipline comes from or how they manage to construct an entire 90,000-word manuscript out of thin air. For me, the answer doesn’t lie in academic creative writing courses or highbrow lit...
