The Writing Desk

Black and white photograph of writing desk at night with two vintage typewriters and a set of library style drawers in the light of a a lamp. Torn bottom edge.

How is a raven like a writing desk?

This is a corner of my website to document the writing process. I’m an artist publisher so I tend to write and publish my own work.

My first book Discover Your Creative Ecosystem is a holistic view of the creative process. I wrote that book (and it’s journal companion) as a new mum.

Photo of Discover Your Creative Ecosystem book by Sarah Shotts. A silhouette of bird in flight shows a landscape beyond. Lays on a table surrounded by autumnal leaves.

Next, I wrote a picture book about sensory processing and neurodivergence called How it Feels to Me. It’s being illustrated by Gracie Klumpp.

Then I curated Entwined & Ember an anthology and art journal about creativity and motherhood.

And now, for something completely different!

I am writing a fantasy novel.

It’s proving to be the hardest thing I’ve written so far. I’m still working out what my creative process is with fiction and I’ll be documenting that here. Here’s a peek at a journal entry musing on why the early process of storytelling is so mysterious.

Writing a story is like casting a spell. An actual enchantment that brings a world full of characters to life. If an author is honest they'll admit this. Even the most fastidious plotter will find the story changes as they write. I suspect this magic is one reason why authors are so reticent to share the early stages of writing. But this leaves neophyte writers without any understanding of how messy and amorphous the first stage of noveling really is. Sure, we hear about an image from a dream. But how does that seed become a story? What is the metamorphic goo before the butterfly emerges? New writers are cautioned that sharing this secret will break the spell. That the muse will run off with another artist if you dare to look them in the eye. And perhaps there is a legitimate fear of being found a fraud. If what emerges is half happenstance half horse manure, what claim to the story do you even have? As I wander deeper into the dark and enchanted forest I find that storytelling is more an art of intuition than intellect. Perhaps better left to mystery. But here I stand, hag stone held to my eye, reporting the from the dark wood of the unconscious. I wonder what we might find.

I don’t often find messy middle stories about the early stages of storytelling.

That’s what I plan to record here.

Novel Writing Process

Here’s a log of posts about my writing process.

From Where You Dream
My Novel’s Mood Board

You can also browse the writing tag to see photos and scraps I’ve collected.

Keep in Touch

I’ve stepped back from social media, but if you want to chat about writing you can always reach me by email. Or reply to one of my newsletters.

Open airmail envelope with blue and green stripes