Category: The writer’s life

Taking Care of the Talent

Jericho Writers Member Takeover How are you taking care of yourself? It’s hard to force creativity, so it’s important to create an environment where you…

Esther 29 March 2022

0 Comments

The ballad of Molly McGhee

I’ve complained often enough in these emails about the shabby treatment experienced by too many writers at the hands of agents and publishers. And I’m…

Harry 25 March 2022

12 Comments

Showing and telling, a middle route

It’s weird. No matter how many of these darn emails I write, I never quite know in advance which ones that are going to get…

Harry 18 March 2022

6 Comments

Immerse yourself in a summer of festivals

A Summer of Festivals | Sarah Linley Takeover  Some people go to concerts, I go to literary festivals.   Authors are my rock stars and…

Esther 15 March 2022

0 Comments

Showing, telling, and a truckload of nonsense

Showing and telling is probably the topic on which more nonsense is spoken than anything else – but is also an area where, if you…

Harry 11 March 2022

11 Comments

The power of narrative

That phrase ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ is mostly horse-dung, right? Right now, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, isn’t asking the west for…

Harry 4 March 2022

18 Comments

A hundred ways to fall over

Last week, I got an email which said, in effect, “I want to write, but …” I get a load of these emails, maybe dozens…

Harry 25 February 2022

3 Comments

The Power of Coming Back Stronger | Natali Juste Simmonds

Ask any writer the number one thing you need to become a published author and they won’t answer with ‘a writing degree’, ‘a fancy computer’,…

N J 22 February 2022

4 Comments

How many words

The length of your manuscript matters. Partly, there’s just a crude commercial standard, varying somewhat by genre, as to how long a book needs to…

Harry 18 February 2022

2 Comments

One Small Thing

I happened to see a clip of Amazon’s Reacher TV series, based on Lee Child’s bestselling thrillers. And the clip I saw, had Jack Reacher…

Harry 11 February 2022

20 Comments