Time management wizard, Amanda Butland, teaches moms to live by their priorities. I interviewed Amanda Butland, founder of Momtasking Masters, last December, peak holiday crunch season. She calmly assured me that she had ample time to talk and a “flexible” schedule — This, while juggling a job, family, multiple businesses, a real estate portfolio and […]
About Joanna Norland
Writing instructor, playwright and mother of two
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Why Writers Need Terrifyingly Attainable Goals Writers dream big but how often do we set clear goals and plan for them? In early January, I put this question to participants gathered for my webinar on “Planning Your Writing Year.” Most replied that they operated on intuition, rather than a ten-point plan. Or any plan. There […]
A Book For My Mix & Match Girl
The tradition was set a few years back, when I made my daughter a birthday card with an “Isla word” for every letter of the alphabet. “Are you going to make me a card every year?” she asked, expectantly. Which was like asking an eager chef for second helpings of her latest scratch: How could […]
Envisioning a Writing Life: Notes from a Writers’ Workshop
When early stage writers join me for a workshop, I want them to leave with the renewed clarity and self belief they need to Keep. On. Writing. Especially when the writers are mums who performed heroic feats of scheduling Tetris and resolved multiple early morning domestic emergencies, ninja style, just to show up . . […]
Why Sign Up for a Writing Workshop . . . Especially if You’re Not a Writer?!
On September 18, I will offer a workshop on Can I Be a Writer Mother at the idyllic Starcroft Farm Cabin in Battle, East Sussex. No experience necessary — this one is for any mum, at any age and stage, who is ready to bring writing into her life this fall. Why sign up for […]
What Do Writing Coaches Do?
Fair question. On a good day, I reply: Pure magic. Of course, that isn’t exactly true. My students are the magicians. For my part, I serve as catalyst, cheerleader, and occasional way marker to help them lift off, accelerate and stay the course. Writers and writers-to-be find me when they are blocked, confused or discouraged […]
Bombed Out!
Again and again, I tell kids their writing can make a difference in the world. My daughter’s schoolmate, 11 year old Tymofii Ladnyi, needs to believe it. A refugee from Ukraine, he is adapting resiliantly to life in England, but longs for a hug with his mother and little brother, back in Kyiv, and his […]
Ollie Alpaca Goes to School: An Animal Story Workshop
“Hmmm,” sang the students in unison, as Nicki reached the final page of her debut picure book, “Take a Look in the Nook.” The alpacas in her story were humming the farm to sleep but the students were wide awake. Nicki Fisher and I were leading a workshop with Year 1s and 2s at Vinehall […]
Sharing the Joy of the Animals
How a Picture Book Enriches the World of Fisherwood Farm This year, I was honoured to serve as Nicki Fisher’s writing coach (a.k.a. book midwife), on her first picture book, “Take a Look in the Nook”. What particularly struck me about the process was the impact that the book has had on her farm – […]
Smart Writers Use Dummies . . . And Other Lessons my Mentee Taught Me
You never really know something until you teach it to someone else. I always thought this adage meant that you prove your mastery by teaching. Now I know that you groove your mastery by teaching – learning in real time, as you go. I owe the discovery to Nicki Fisher, a local alpaca farmer with […]