This week Ellen's telling us all about Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott to see what writing advice lies between the pages and what can (maybe) be ignored. Is it worth picking up, or can Ellen give us the highlights and let us move on with our lives?

This episode we touch base on the writing progress we've made (spoilers not much) and get into the first exercise we tried. Turns out the Powerpuff Girls method that we made up last minute was harder than anticipated but diving into some of our favourite books did reveal a few interesting things.

We're delving into one of the first steps for writing a book which is researching our chosen themes and topics. With Ellen looking into mythology and Maddie picking apart heists, trying to find the right technique is hard. So together we've looked at other writers to see how they tackle research from Neil Gaiman to Madeline Miller and work out what is actually achievable for two lazy writers.

Ellen and Maddie are two friends and sometimes writers. The only problem is, they've never actually finished a book. Writing for them can be hard, is often scary, and is never smooth process. So they've teamed up to share the struggles of writing and to embark on the journey to finally finishing a novel (good, or otherwise).