“There are many opportunities out there…why shouldn’t your book be noticed?” Author Eleni Kyriacou why you shouldn’t give up on sending out your work She Came To Stay – the story of Dina who arrives in smoggy 1950s London from Cyprus – took me around eight years to write. I know, right? That’s from the […]
Yes, but is it helping?
How to calm your mind and nurture your creativity Hello there. How are you doing? Every day feels like a week at the moment and every week a month. I was remembering just now that I held a creative writing class in Manchester on 1 March. WHAT? Now that seems about as likely as walking […]
How to become Unstoppable: author Nikki Smith
“I thought a few rejections of a first draft of a novel meant I wasn’t good enough to be a writer.” Nikki Smith tells how a chance Facebook message reunited her with her passion and led to her debut novel All In Her Head. A few years after I left University, I wrote a novel, tried […]
How to become Unstoppable: author Rebecca Thornton
“I had been overthinking everything…all the pressure was coming from myself” Novelist Rebecca Thornton on how she learned to stop panicking and let her ideas flow. It was a sunny Thursday when Nelle, my agent, rang to tell me I had been offered a two-book deal. I wept; it was a dream come true. I […]
How to become Unstoppable: Author Anne Coates
“When I’m in this situation I try to remind myself that I’ve been here before – and survived.” Novelist Anne Coates on how she tackled first draft despondency to write her best book yet. Like many authors I get totally despondent at various stages of my work in progress – predictably after I complete a […]
How to become Unstoppable: Author Sarah Tierney
“The idea of starting afresh was very tempting.” Novelist Sarah Tierney tells how she resists the lure of the shiny new thing. “When I read through the first draft of Making Space, after taking a couple of months off from it, I was overwhelmed by how much of it didn’t work, or wasn’t quite right. […]
Five books that will make you a stronger writer
There are so many writing books out there, it can easily become overwhelming. Here are five core books that can help you become a stronger, more tenacious writer. 1 – Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott Anne Lamott is a wise woman and her book, Bird by Bird, is a wonderful resource, filled with humour […]
How to balance writing with working for a living
Work sucking your creativity? Creativity bleeding your bank balance? It’s your life’s mission to find a balance that works for you. I have three beloved writer friends who I met in my twenties. At the time we were all aspiring authors, working as journalists for a Manchester magazine. Over the years we’ve all gone on […]
How to become Unstoppable: Author Andrea Mara
“I am a plotter – I absolutely have to know what’s going to happen in the next chapter…” Novelist Andrea Mara tells how switching her schedule solved her productivity problem “I write in the morning when my kids are at school, and again at night when they’re in bed, but I found I was struggling […]
Why are you so demotivated? Meet your Creative Gremlins
Wondering why you’re having difficulty starting, sticking with or completing a writing project? Your Creative Gremlins could be to blame. Look, you’re here so the chances are you love to write. Or, at the very least, you’d like to write. So why is it sometimes so damn difficult to get to the page and just […]