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"Yes, the ending was as I planned it." Stephen Poliakoff explained the writing process behind his new thriller, Glorious 39, at his recent Waterstone's signing.
Read the interview with Stephen Poliakoff » -
"One of the most satisfying things about blogging is the immediacy. You think it up, type it out on your keyboard and then publish."
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New interview with Kathy Lette
Our new ‘insider interview’ is with the very successful, very funny and very frank, novelist Kathy Lette.
Kathy talks about her route to getting published and her writing life now as well as offering her own brand of advice to aspiring writers, including the odd word of warning.
She talks about her experience of literary agents and Read more
Rule 2: Establish your goals
Filed under: Writing Advice
Many of you had lots to say on the subject of writing groups and how to find readers in response to my founding rule number one: every writer needs readers.
This month we’ll focus on rule number two, which many of you have already hinted at: establish the writing group’s goals Read more
A fantastic collection of advice
Filed under: Writing Advice
The Guardian has just published a collection of Ten rules for writing fiction from some amazing writers. They are funny, apt, and useful. I’ll have this article to hand whenever I need a pointer – and I suggest you do too.
Cressida
(Editorial consultant)
When do you become a writer?
This guest post from author Thomas E. Kennedy is the first of four, each focusing on a question that has empowered him – and could also empower you – as a writer.
Q: When do you become a writer?
Thomas E. Kennedy: When you’re starting out and have published little, maybe nothing at all yet, it is hard to believe in yourself as a writer. Back when I’d only published two or three stories, although I had been at it for years, when someone asked me what I did, I felt funny claiming to be a writer.
Did I really have to identify myself with the day job that paid my bills even though I considered writing the most important thing I did?
I asked a Read more
What inspires your writing?
Mary Hooper writes for children and young adults. Her historical novels including At the House of the Magician and The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose have a huge fan base, as do her contemporary novels for teenagers.
In my last post, A writer with nothing to write about, I explained how, after writing 20 or so books for young adults, I’d run out of ideas.
Eventually (I already had a book commission to fulfil) my editor suggested a historical book, but I had absolutely no background in history and only a vague idea of what had happened when. I took myself along to Read more
Pacing your plot
Filed under: Writing Advice
Do you find yourself 90% of the way through writing your novel, but with a lot of action left to cram in? Or have you galloped through your main ideas, only to find there’s another 40,000 words left to write?
Pace is one of the trickiest things to get right, and one of the most important things to Read more
Whatever the weather
There’s been so much snow recently and more is forecast for parts of the UK today, but the nice thing for writers is that you can continue regardless of such extremes.
We’ve been lucky and haven’t had any power cuts, so my work carries on largely as usual. (The only slight flaw was when the children didn’t make it into school – it can be tricky to think about the history of Islam with Spongebob Squarepants in the background!)
As a nation we spend an incredible amount of time talking about the weather, complaining about the weather, changing our plans for the weather. It’s easy to forget Read more
Books every writer should read
I’ve just spotted a post which lists 75 books every writer should read, and I felt the urge to share. It’s a great list, one which any aspiring writer would do well to investigate – take a look, it’s here: 75 Books Every Writer Should Read.
What do you think? Are there books there that you’ve read already, and would rate to other users of our site? Or is there one that really piques your curiosity? Perhaps there’s Read more
Warning – this post contains expletives!
Filed under: Writing Advice
Have you been following the recent fight for the Christmas number one? The ’surefire’ winner – Joe McElderry, winner of The X Factor – has been beaten by an internet campaign to get the anarchic (and expletive-filled) ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine to the top.
Despite being asked very nicely, the band couldn’t resist letting fly with their not-safe-for-radio version when they performed on BBC Radio 5 last week. The clue might be in the lyrics: ‘F*ck You, I won’t do what you tell me’…
But what does this have to do with writing? Well, two things really. One is that the public are not always catered for and Read more
Tell us about your writing zone
Filed under: Authors and Books, Writing Advice
Where do you write? You’ve probably seen those articles in the newspapers about ‘writers’ rooms’. It’s almost as if there’s a magic to the physical space where a writer writes.
Pictures of a writer’s room usually feature personal items: photos pinned to the wall, objects collected on travels, gifts from other writers. Perhaps even, at this time of year, we can imagine a sprig of holly on top of that meaningful ethnic carving that sits shyly on the desk.
All those things are important. I enjoy Read more
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Buy the 2010 Yearbook
The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is available at a discounted price from our online bookshop. Get all the info, contacts and advice you could need.On camera: Jon McGregor
"Being longlisted for the Booker Prize changed everything - it was the launchpad for my writing career." Click to view our video with novelist Jon McGregor »
On camera: Justin Cartwright
"Just write... If you're any good you may not know it, but certainly someone else will." Click to view our video with novelist Justin Cartwright »
On camera: Julie Myerson
The novelist and journalist Julie Myerson on how she got that all-important first publishing deal. Click here to view our video exclusive »