A gem of a find – London Writers’ Salon

One of the biggest challenges I had pre-publication, whilst juggling the ‘day job’ with the ‘dream job’ was finding the ideal writing slot for my craft. The habit I developed was to write each day, but I would ‘pinch’ bits of time from sections of my day in order to write. In a typical day, I might have five writing sessions: one before work, breaktime at school, lunch time at school, on arriving home and then a late night session. I wrote in chunks of pinched time whilst others were drinking coffee, chatting in staffrooms, watching TV and sometimes, sleeping – I was writing. The daily time would amount to several hours and several thousand words which got me to my goal: publication.

I’m not complaining, it was necessary for me to do what I was doing. Yes, it meant I was always thinking about my novel, always had the next time slot in mind, always carried my note pad/laptop where ever I went, but it worked for me. I reached my goal on 1st August 2017 when my debut novel was published. Many authors have similar stories to tell; the bottom line is you need to do, what you need to do in order to reach your goal.

What would have made my life a little easier back then if it had existed is ‘the gem’ that I was introduced to in November 2021. In November, I attended a writing retreat and another participant mentioned The London Writers’ Salon – a Zoom session that occurs four times a day chasing the ‘8am time slots’ around the globe. It’s completely free to attend, there are memberships should you wish to become more involved, but the basic four times a day Zoom sessions are totally free.

The four daily sessions, Monday to Friday, are Zoom connections in which ‘writers’ of any nature – be it published, unpublished, students with study, poets, playwrights, office workers, bloggers, reviewers, even those simply catching up on a backlog of emails can attend and work in a silent, but dedicated community for one hour. Now, that probably sounds the strangest thing you’ve ever heard, but I swear it is magic. If these sessions had been available to me prior to being published, I would have attended! Seriously, it would have made my journey easier. I’ve been attending each day since November and I do love it! You have screen after screen of people busily writing/studying/working but to me it feels like turning up for a study session in a global classroom of two hundred! Each one hour session has two LWS hosts a leading the format; the first five minutes are setting your intentions, followed by 50 minutes of dedicated work and then a few minutes wrapping up the session and hearing what two chosen people have been working on. I keep my camera on as it provides a sense  of accountability that this is my writing time amongst friends, but many choose not to, so have blank screens. 

Now that I’m writing full-time at home, I have a schedule for each day and it’s one I stick to as if I were working outside the home. For me, these daily Zoom sessions enable me to alternate between ‘lone’ writing and a sense of ‘community’ writing where I get to see other faces each day. I get to hear of other’s progress, challenges, success and disappointments which provides a new aspect to my daily work.

Last week, I introduced a friend to the sessions as he hadn’t completed any writing in recent months – he’s attended every day since and like me, loves it too. It’s definitely worth a visit for anyone completing any form of writing or study.

Here’s the link to London Writers’ Salon – free sessions (press the red font) – I’ll see you there!

8am – London
1pm – New York
4pm – Los Angeles
9pm – Melbourne