Good morning, writer-buddy!
You may or may not have worked it out yet but Writers’ HQ is, in fact, a thinly veiled front for Witches’ HQ.
It’s in the name, see, with the W and i and the e the s’ and the HQ. We just do a little spell on the other letters and hey presto, Writers’ HQ. See? Headology, that.
Tomorrow may be the big pumpkiny-trick-or-treat hooha but really it is Samhain and that’s our day. The day when the thin gauze between the worlds shifts and quivers and we honour the dead and if they don’t give us sweets we TP their houses. Wait. Not the last bit.
Of course, Halloween, Samhain, witches, all those things are real and true, but they’re also metaphors for the stories we tell each other, the stories that bind us together, that define our communities and societies, that keep us moving forwards. That keep us living.
So, it’s a special time, not just for witches but for writers, too.
On this day, the fine line between the world we see and the world we write is at its most porous. We can, with just a few deep breaths and a little bit of focus, touch easily that liminal space from which all special stories flow, from the other world to this world.
It is a day to respect the dead and pay homage to what came before. Raise a toast to all our deceased, rotting drafts and thank them for getting us to this point and for propelling us towards the future.
It is a day to find your tribe, join a coven (Witches’ HQ!), and cast a mystical spell over your stories.
A day to light a candle. A small fire. A huge bonfire. To burn the whole goddamn world down, and keep a spark of hope in the darkness of your WIP.
A day, perhaps, to make a pact with the other side. Help me to finish my story, and in exchange I will keep you alive in my words for as long as I remain.
(Also a day to secretly scarf your children’s trick or treat haul because we all know sugar and caffeine is legit writer fuel.)
The veil is thin.
The time is here.
Go write.
Sarah and Team WHQ
