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Why being creative makes us happy(ish)
Creative people – and especially writers – aren’t famed for their boundless joy. Being creative can make us happy, but not normally in a wave-your-arms-in-the-air-like-you-just-don’t-care way....
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8 steps to finding a writing routine that works for you
You’re desperate to write but your life is crammed full of things you want to do – plus a bunch of tedious tasks you have to do. So how do you find the time and what else is going to give? According...
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Are you afraid of success?
We tell ourselves many reasons why we’re not writing – or not writing as much or as often as we would like. Pick your reasons from the following list: work, family, social life, duties, distractions....
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6 ways to become more accountable to others (and write more)
Everyone knows that the best way to make progress on a writing project is to buckle down and write. But before you retreat to your lonely writing garret, it’s worth knowing that creativity and...
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How to be a writer with David Quantick
David Quanitick courtesy of Kiran Ridley David Quantick is an Emmy-winning television writer, a radio broadcaster, novelist, journalist and author of the best-selling writing manual How To Write...
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5 steps to finding the perfect writing reward
Often a mixture of hard graft, personal sacrifice, soul searching, general indifference and frequent rejection – writing can be tough. That’s why having your own reward system to keep you writing can...
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5 ways to get off the starting blocks and write
Facing the blank page, getting started, overcoming fear of failure and getting into a writing rhythm are some of the biggest hurdles a novice writer can face. But there are some surefire ways to help...
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Why mastery matters and creativity shouldn’t be easy
Being creative makes us happy – that’s true – but not just because we just enjoy dreaming up new ideas and having flights of fancy. In fact, research tells us that what we really love about creativity...
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Targets and teamwork: how to complete a daily writing challenge
What keeps us going as writers? Staring alone at the blank page doesn’t always work; sometimes it’s about targets and teamwork. Christine Cochrane and Divyam Chaya Bernstein are two writers who...
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Writing with productivity coach Grace Marshall
Productivity is about more than getting stuff done – it’s about doing your best work, living your best life, and defining success based on what matters most to you. So says productivity coach and...
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Grit: perseverance and passion make you a better writer (& how to develop it)
Starting a new creative project is such a buzz, but sticking with it sucks. Some people seem blessed with marathon-level endurance needed to complete long-term goals while the rest of us flit from...
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5 ways to beat your creative distractions (and keep focused)
Distractions like social media are enemy number one for the writer determined to finish. But distractions are only distracting because we let them – because they interrupt us when we’d rather be...
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Who are your ‘plus-minus-equals’?
When your long term creative passion is an unpaid side-project, it’s tough to know if you’re moving forwards, treading water or just going round in circles headless-chicken style and never getting any...
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The Hellie Ogden interview: “The 1st pitch to an agent is all important”
Indie authors might be revolutionising the publishing industry but bagging yourself a top agent can still make all the difference to your writing career. And that means you need to know to approach...
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How to be 86% (precisely) more likely to keep writing
You’ll never get something written if you don’t start writing it. At this point you’ll be so awe-struck by this razor-sharp nugget of writing wisdom that you’ll have to make yourself a cup of really...
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How to write like Man Booker Prize longlister Wyl Menmuir
Wyl Menmuir The last few weeks for first-time novelist Wyl Menmuir have been a blur. Since finding out his book The Many had been longlisted for the Man Booker – the most prestigious literary prize in...
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You don’t need more willpower you need a better writing system
Like Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg’s wardrobe is stuffed to the gills with exactly the same clobber so he doesn’t have to think about what to wear in the morning. He does this because even the...
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Stop trying to ‘be original’ and be prolific instead
Should we be rethinking the definition of originality? Being a highly prolific writer is sneered at in some circles. Some people think there’s a trade-off between quality and quantity. To do truly...
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How to master the art of deliberate procrastination
Chalk drawing – Do it now Research proves that procrastination isn’t always bad for the creative process. If you procrastinate right, you can use it to solve the thickest of thorny creative problems...
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What do editors do? Understanding the author–editor relationship
There is an industry tale about a novelist (no longer with us) who fought tooth and nail with her publisher if they dared to alter a single punctuation mark in her manuscripts. The situation was – how...
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