The Right Way to Write | Elsie Granthier

When I say the word writer, what comes to mind? For me, it’s Colin Firth in Love, Actually, writing his novel on a typewriter from his lakeside French cottage. I’m a writer that doesn’t own a typewriter or a holiday home, and I don’t fancy jumping into an eel-ridden lake to recover the only copy of my manuscript, but this is still the image that sticks in my head. I’d wager that, for most of us, the word ‘writer’ conjures up an image of a person sat at a desk, working on the next Great Novel.  

There are a lot of preconceptions attached to the word ‘writer’, which is a problem. They limit us. And we’re writers for a reason – we don’t do limits.  

Yet writing for a lot of us still means being sat in our offices/bedrooms/trains to work, typing or scribbling alone. This May, we’re stepping away from the desk with our Writing for Hire month, to shine a light on the parts of writing that we’re curious about – because we think you just might be curious too.  

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to write comics? Or ghost write a celebrity memoir? What do you know about the people who write for games, podcasts, the radio, and the stage? We’ll be learning from experts across the writing industry about their world of writing and how it can change yours.  

Fancy visiting a galaxy far, far away? We’ll be speaking to franchise tie-in writer Daniel Jose Older, with questions approved by the big Star Wars bosses, so that no franchise secrets or spoilers are revealed! Isn’t that an interesting contrast as someone writing alone – imagining a day where you’re no longer accountable to just yourself, but a huge global franchise?  

How about turning a writing desk into a round table? Susan Soon He Stanton will be taking us behind the scenes of Succession and into the writers’ room. Maybe this will take you towards your dream of writing for TV, or perhaps her insight on ‘breaking’ stories will help with the beats of your novel.  

And of course, we couldn’t talk about writing for hire without teaching you the skills you need to get paid for your writing. We’re so excited to have Sian Meades-Williams (who is the voice on freelance writing) talking all about what success means as a freelance writer.  

Writing might be a solo project, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. This month, learn all about the influence that others can have on your writing, find out if there’s a writing medium you never knew was for you, and lean from the best what it means to them to be a writer. Come along, open your mind, and join us on a journey to see where writing can take us.