I had an interesting question from a reader recently – possibly the million dollar question! Denise, a playwright and short story writer, got in touch to ask how she can get to the next level with her writing. I’m going to share an edited version of her question here, as well as my answer. Later…
Tips
How the Pomodoro Technique can Help you Focus
Do you ever have days when you just can’t focus? You might have a deadline or just want to meet your daily word count, but no matter what you try to do, your mind keeps straying. Perhaps you can’t stop checking your emails, or maybe you keep reading the news, or drifting into your favourite…
What’s the best ‘day job’ if you want to keep writing?
I had an interesting question from a reader recently, so I thought I would share it with you all, as it’s worth some consideration. Matus, a writer-director, wrote… Hi Katy, Thanks for sharing your experience. The more I’m working in the industry (writer/director), the more I’m convinced that people should do screenwriting or directing as a side…
How to increase your chances of writing every single day
Do you ever find that day after day you talk yourself out of sitting down to write, I have a quick tip: Write first thing in the morning. Willpower Research shows that we have a finite amount of willpower which wears off over the course of each day with all the decisions we have to…
How to forge ahead without an agent
I want to tell you a bit more about my writer’s journey, especially in regards to agents. I hope it will give you some food for thought. When I started out I was convinced that the key to success was having an agent, because that’s what everyone talked about. It seemed to be the one…
How to develop a daily writing habit
At a recent London Writers’ Meetup session we discussed how tough it can be to make yourself sit down to write. You might have loads of time on your hands and no excuses not to write. You might desperately want to write. And yet, time and again you find yourself not actually writing. Sound familiar?…
Just finished your draft? Here’s how to get valuable feedback.
Today I want to talk about feedback – why it’s important, where to get it, what to ask for and how to take it on board without having your feelings crushed. Whatever you’re writing, in my opinion, it’s essential to get some feedback along the way. OK, we all secretly hope that we’re geniuses and…
Ten Approaches to Creating Compelling Characters
Today I want to talk about creating characters – the heart of all great storytelling. As with all parts of the writing process, your characters are likely to undergo multiple rewrites along the way, and you’ll probably kill a few of them off too. But where do you start when bringing them to life? There…
How my writing career was held back by a lack of confidence
Today, I’m going to tell you a bit about the journey I’ve been on as a writer. If you’re going through something similar, you might find it helpful to know someone who’s come out the other side. My Journey For almost as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a writer. But for…
The screenwriting lesson it took me years to learn
I want to share a little tip for the screenwriters out there. This is something I learnt the hard way, after years of very slow progress. I’ve been writing for a really long time now and I’ve had lots of ups and downs along the way. When I started out, all I really wanted to…