In Haste

Can a writer ever meaningfully take a break? And what’s it like to get the call saying you’ve been longlisted for the Booker Prize?

Today on In Haste, writers Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie are joined by the novelist Sophie Mackintosh. Sophie is the Booker-longlisted author of The Water Cure, Blue Ticket, and Cursed Bread, and was named one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists of 2023.

Sophie takes us behind the scenes into her writing process and life as an author, including discussing the myths and folk tales where she finds literary inspiration. Alice and Charlotte couldn’t help but notice that Sophie is also a particularly well-travelled novelist, so they had to ask: do you write when you’re on holiday? And does a writing brain ever really take time off?

Each episode of In Haste is accompanied by an original essay on Substack by Alice Vincent or Charlotte Runcie exploring its wider themes. New episodes are released weekly, but paid subscribers can access more episodes instantly at inhaste.substack.com, where there's a very welcoming literary community sharing our writing progress. Come and join in with the conversation! Ask us questions and tell us what stopped you writing this week - and what kept you going.

In Haste is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions, with original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes.

You’d write a great book if only you had the time. Well, there are all sort of things we’d do if we had enough time. But what if you never have enough time? Would you try, anyway? What if, in fact, right now is the most time you’ll ever have?

In this episode of In Haste, authors Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie speak to Oliver Burkeman, the journalist and internationally bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.

Oliver joins Alice and Charlotte in the writing hut to discuss how authors find time to write and the strange ways that our perception of time shifts when we have lots of things we really want to do. Why is it that, when we’re sitting down to write something juicy and interesting, we have a strange urge to go and empty the dishwasher? And is it ever possible to feel as if we’re spending enough time with family, with work, with friends and with ourselves?

Each episode of In Haste is accompanied by an original essay on Substack by Alice Vincent or Charlotte Runcie, exploring its wider themes. New episodes are released weekly, but paid subscribers can access the first six episodes instantly at inhaste.substack.com, where there's a very welcoming literary community sharing our writing progress. Come and join in with the conversation! Ask us questions and tell us what stopped you writing this week - and what kept you going.

In Haste is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions, with original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes.

It sounds like a dream: you write a diary, and one day it suddenly becomes a prize-winning Sunday Times Bestseller. It worked for Amy Liptrot. Could it work for us, too?

This is episode one of In Haste, with authors Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie in conversation with Amy Liptrot. Amy is the author of two exquisite and prize-winning memoirs that have resonated with readers across the world: The Outrun and The Instant. The Outrun, Amy's account of her recovery from addiction while immersed in the vivid natural landscape of her native Orkney, has just been made into a critically acclaimed film starring Saoirse Ronan.

Amy explains to Alice and Charlotte how writing is a connecting thread throughout her life, and discusses the challenges of turning real people and events into narrative, and writing through motherhood.

Each episode of In Haste is accompanied by an original essay on Substack, by Alice Vincent or Charlotte Runcie, exploring its wider themes. New episodes are released weekly, but paid subscribers can access the first six episodes instantly at inhaste.substack.com, where there's a very welcoming literary community sharing our writing progress. Come and join in with the conversation! Ask us questions and tell us what stopped you writing this week - and what kept you going.

In Haste is produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions, with original music by Maria Chiara Argiró and graphic design by Alicia Fernandes.

In Haste is a new podcast about how great books really get written, from writers Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie. We’ll be asking award-winning and bestselling authors how they write, what gets in their way, how they overcome that, and what keeps them going. The first episode is released Tuesday January 30th, 2024.

Subscribe to catch the first episode when it launches. Our first guest is the wonderful Amy Liptrot, who’ll be discussing her books The Instant and The Outrun – which has just been made into a film starring Saoirse Ronan. 

We’ll also be finding out about time and mortality with Oliver Burkeman, taking inspiration from folklore with Sophie Mackintosh, and speaking to other extraordinary writers including Cathy Rentzenbrink, Thomas Morris, Emilia Hart, and lots more.

We can’t wait to share these inspiring, warm, funny and poignant literary conversations with you. Stay tuned!

In Haste is presented by Alice Vincent and Charlotte Runcie and produced by Holly Fisher for Hasty Productions. Music is by Maria Chiara Argirò with design by Alicia Fernandes.