The Writing Process

While indulging in my procrastinating habit on Youtube, I stumbled onto a brilliant BBC Maestro video of the writer Alan Moore urging aspiring scribes to “not only read good books, read terrible books as well.” He says the big reason for doing that is to have your...

Typing "The End" when you finish writing a story is as satisfying as running into the surf when you've just crossed a beach's burning hot sand. It's only natural to think "what's next?"once the pain and pleasure have worn off, Sure, you've finished the story. But you...

The spine of a book carries the story of its readers. Looking at my bookcases at home, it’s obvious to tell which books have been read over and over – just look for the cracked spines and ripped covers. I give my books a hard life, particularly if I love them. Three...

The end of a story should be straightforward. You tie up all the loose ends, make sure everyone’s accounted for (if they survived!) and ride off into the sunset. Only it’s never that straightforward, at least in my experience. This is on my mind for two reasons: I’m...

The definition of a bad writing day to me is when you have all the words in your head but can’t get them onto the page. Just like I explored in the blog Should you write every day? there are plenty of ways that life can interfere with your art, from simple...

One of the most vexed questions in writing is “should you write every day?” The answer is yes, no, maybe… I distrust anything definitive in the discussion of writing. So, instead let me to offer some observations from experience. Because I hate being stuck between the...

Time and space to write is a precious thing for every writer, which is why a writing residency is so damn powerful. Above and beyond the daily time you’re able to carve out of your busy schedule, going to a writing residency offers a beautiful pause for you to focus...

Writing drafts of a story is akin to dressing for winter; best to add another layer. But when I wrote my first novel (the one before Locust Summer that is still in a drawer!), my initial instinct was to resist doing multiple drafts. Finishing the first draft was a big...

If you need a writing tip, picture this: A jumble of square roofed houses painted pink and yellow and blue, all watching over a brilliantly blue sea. This image was on the box of the 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle that a writer named Penny brought along to a weekend writing...

Whether he's crafting a three-star Michelin menu or cooking up his mum's comfort pasta at home, Marco Pierre White infuses his food with emotion. It's designed to make you feel something, whether it's wonder at the perfection, joy with a happy memory, or delight with...

Unsolicited advice raises my hackles. But when writing Locust Summer, I struggled with many questions that I wish someone had simply told me the answer to unprompted. So here is some unsolicited advice from my experience, which I hope doesn’t grate. Aside from “is...