{"id":975357,"date":"2026-06-12T10:47:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/?p=975357"},"modified":"2026-06-12T10:50:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:50:46","slug":"ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Things I&#8217;ve Learnt About Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I like to think that, during my forty-ish&nbsp;years on this planet,&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;picked up some&nbsp;pretty useful&nbsp;lessons for living.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Telling someone you love them is&nbsp;almost always&nbsp;a good idea, so long as you mean it&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Life holds few pleasures more perfect than&nbsp;<em>nice cup of tea + sit down +&nbsp;good book<\/em>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cheap bin liners are an&nbsp;utterly false economy.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five books into what I hope will be a long and happy writing career,&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;acquired&nbsp;a few author-specific insights, too.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m&nbsp;still learning all the time \u2013 but here are the most useful&nbsp;pointers&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;gleaned&nbsp;thus&nbsp;far\u2026&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1.&nbsp;Writing is hard<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The crafting of a novel&nbsp;is&nbsp;difficult.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;a feat of creativity, but also of strategic planning,&nbsp;discipline&nbsp;and determination.&nbsp;At some point during the drafting of every book, I experience a crisis of confidence so profound it leaves me crying into my keyboard.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The task&nbsp;seems&nbsp;harder still when you&nbsp;consider&nbsp;it in the context of real life, where many of us have day jobs, children or other dependents, and&nbsp;homes to run.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But as Miley Cyrus famously said, \u2018It\u2019s the climb\u2019 \u2013 and since when has anything worth doing been easy?&nbsp;I\u2019ll&nbsp;probably always&nbsp;have days when&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;reduced to weeping at my desk.&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;just&nbsp;learned to see them&nbsp;as part of the process:&nbsp;signs that&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;Doing&nbsp;The&nbsp;Work, and that it matters to me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2.&nbsp;Writing is joyful<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider the rush of&nbsp;crafting&nbsp;a conversation between two people who sound and feel real, even though, five minutes ago,&nbsp;they only existed in your head.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remember the kick of satisfaction that comes with making yourself laugh, or sending a&nbsp;shiver&nbsp;down your own spine,&nbsp;as you type.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Think of those moments when&nbsp;you\u2019ve&nbsp;hit upon precisely the right words to describe an emotion \u2013 a sentence that you know, in your bones,&nbsp;rings true.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are your reward for the&nbsp;times when everything seems&nbsp;wrong,&nbsp;and you&nbsp;feel like giving&nbsp;up.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They&nbsp;are beautiful and you must savour them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3.&nbsp;The book in your head will never exist in real life<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t&nbsp;ask me why \u2013 but something happens when you try to extract your lovely, shiny book idea from your brain and commit it to the page.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe it\u2019s&nbsp;that character sketches and plot points are stress-tested when&nbsp;they\u2019re&nbsp;stretched over thousands of words.&nbsp;Perhaps it\u2019s&nbsp;a strange kind of alchemy:&nbsp;the base metal of your book turning&nbsp;into gold, even if it&nbsp;doesn\u2019t&nbsp;feel that way as you work on it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyway,&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;found stories&nbsp;rarely&nbsp;take the shape you initially&nbsp;expected&nbsp;when you&nbsp;actually start&nbsp;writing them.&nbsp;I&nbsp;have&nbsp;come to accept this.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4.&nbsp;Publishing is not a meritocracy\u2026&nbsp;and luck does a lot of heavy lifting<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most talented authors are not always the ones who get the best deals or sell the most books. The vagaries of the market&nbsp;are&nbsp;too mad to make sense of, and the entire business is&nbsp;subjective.&nbsp;One editor\u2019s trash is another\u2019s treasure \u2013 particularly if it seems likely to blow up on&nbsp;BookTok.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my experience,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;liberating to&nbsp;accept that&nbsp;some proportion of the success you&nbsp;find&nbsp;(or keep striving for)&nbsp;will always be down to luck:&nbsp;your book&nbsp;finding its way to the right&nbsp;people&nbsp;at the right time.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sidebar:&nbsp;I cannot stress enough how pointless it is to&nbsp;resent someone else\u2019s achievements&nbsp;or feel bitter that&nbsp;yours&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;match up.&nbsp;Comparison is the thief of joy, but&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;also a total waste of time. Time you could be spending on&nbsp;honing your craft&nbsp;or&nbsp;pushing your own project forward.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5.&nbsp;Fashion fades, style is eternal<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a similar note,&nbsp;I think&nbsp;writing to fit in with a prevailing trend&nbsp;is risky&nbsp;\u2013 unless, of course,&nbsp;you\u2019ve&nbsp;been commissioned to do so by a publisher and paid a tasty advance.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Yves Saint Laurent&nbsp;supposedly said:&nbsp;\u2018Fashion&nbsp;fades, style is eternal.\u2019&nbsp;What\u2019s&nbsp;selling today&nbsp;might seem old hat by the time&nbsp;you\u2019ve&nbsp;got a full manuscript together&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;but&nbsp;a great story, beautifully written&nbsp;in your unique voice, will always have its place.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-woocommerce-memberships-non-member-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Want to read the rest of this article? <a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/my-account\/\">Log in<\/a> or join our free community &#8211; you&#8217;ll get the rest of our top tips, plus a truck-load of other resources. Whoever said you don&#8217;t get anything in this life for free?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I like to think that, during my forty-ish&nbsp;years on this planet,&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;picked up some&nbsp;pretty useful&nbsp;lessons for living.&nbsp;&nbsp; Five books into what I hope will be a long and happy writing career,&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;acquired&nbsp;a few author-specific insights, too.&nbsp;&nbsp; I\u2019m&nbsp;still learning all the time \u2013 but here are the most useful&nbsp;pointers&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;gleaned&nbsp;thus&nbsp;far\u2026&nbsp;&nbsp; 1.&nbsp;Writing is hard&nbsp; The crafting of a novel&nbsp;is&nbsp;difficult.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;a feat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34415,"featured_media":843720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[29211],"class_list":["post-975357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-novel-writing","tag-novel-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jericho Writers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ten Things I&#039;ve Learnt About Writing &#8211; Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I like to think that, during my forty-ish&nbsp;years on this planet,&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;picked up some&nbsp;pretty useful&nbsp;lessons for living.&nbsp;&nbsp; Five books into what I hope will be a long and happy writing career,&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;acquired&nbsp;a few author-specific insights, too.&nbsp;&nbsp; I\u2019m&nbsp;still learning all the time \u2013 but here are the most useful&nbsp;pointers&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;gleaned&nbsp;thus&nbsp;far\u2026&nbsp;&nbsp; 1.&nbsp;Writing is hard&nbsp; The crafting of a novel&nbsp;is&nbsp;difficult.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;a feat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T09:47:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T09:50:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laura-blog-website-header-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"475\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Starkey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JerichoWriters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JerichoWriters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Starkey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Starkey\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/caef72b1bbd4d8abaac9f40c97d18eac\"},\"headline\":\"Ten Things I&#8217;ve Learnt About Writing\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T09:47:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-12T09:50:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1710,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Laura-blog-website-header-1.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Novel writing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Novel writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/ten-things-ive-learnt-about-writing\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ten Things I've Learnt About Writing &#8211; 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