In this episode: How to grip your readers, with crime and noir writer Julia Crouch.

Julia is a crime and noir novelist so she really knows how to grip readers, and this episode has dozens of great tips for writers of all genres. 

Julia explains how characters and their development can grip readers; she explains how we can build narrative tension; and how conflict is a key driver of a reader’s attention. 

We also discuss the role of dead bodies, how to create and use twists as well as lots of great technical tips on how to sow seeds of intrigue.

Julia Crouch - the queen of domestic noir - has written seven novels, including Cuckoo, The Long Fall, her new novel The Daughters, and Tarnished.

Julia is also the tutor for our Start Writing Crime Fiction course, which starts in January. So, if you want to kickstart your crime novel, why not head to the website to explore the course modules?

In this episode, Isabelle King speaks to our recent writer-in-residence, Els Beerten. Els is an award-winning Belgian writer, and, in this wide-reaching conversation, she discusses how she develops characters as well as uses the senses to bring places and people to life.

Els is part of our residency programme in which writers and translators from around the world stay in our cottage, here at Dragon Hall - or work remotely on a virtual residence.

Isabelle King writes historical fiction and works in museums in Norfolk. Her work focuses on helping communities to tell their stories inspired by local history.

This month, we explore the short story: what makes a great short story and how the format differs from longer forms such as the novel. Lots of writers and teachers extol the virtues of short stories as a training ground for novels, and while this might be true, short stories are a great medium in their own right - doing many things that novels can’t. 

To help us delve into this topic, we spoke to writer and teacher Jenn Ashworth. Jenn is probably best known for her novels, which include A Kind Of Intimacy, Cold Light and Notes Made While Falling - and her most recent novel, Ghosted. But, as you will hear, Jenn is also a writer and lover of short stories - including Misummer Eve, which we discuss in this episode.

Incidentally, if you’d like to read Midsummer Eve you will find it in the collection of the same name, published by Black Shuck Books. Head to blackshuckbooks.co.uk/midsummer-eve and you can buy the paperback for £12 or an ebook for £2.

How to write about love in its various forms with Maddie Mortimer. 

Maddie is the author of Maps Of Our Spectacular Bodies which won her a 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize. 

The first part of our conversation was about her Desmond Elliott Prize win, but we soon started talking about the novel, writing craft and writing love. This episode features the section of the conversation about writing love, from the intimate and tender to the physical and visceral, from the romantic to the familial. 

As part of the Early Career Awards, we regularly publish our free EC Packs - bundles of advice, interviews, audio and video to help writers tackle particular areas of writing. We have packs on Editing, Beginnings, Structure, Plot, World Building and lots more. Access them for free on our website. This podcast forms a part of our new Early Career Pack - on the subject of love. It includes exercises, articles and indeed, this episode of the Writing Life.

This episode is a Writing Life special to celebrate Noirwich, the 2022 Norwich Crime Writing Festival here in our fine city. The festival featured Ukrainian-born American and French artist and writer, Yelena Moskovich.

Yelena has written for Vogue, The Times Literary Supplement, Paris Review and many more. She has also just released her third novel, A Door Behind a Door, an exploration of the post-Soviet diaspora.

We invited our friend, creative writing tutor and the godmother of domestic noir, Julia Crouch whose 7th novel The Daughters came out earlier this year, to interview Yelena. Strap in for a lively discussion about routes to becoming a writer, identity as a writer, ownership of your art, reading, what is crime writing, ideas of Hell and much much more.

Image copyright Beth Moseley

This month, we discuss revision. To help us understand how, when and why writers should revise, rewrite and redraft our work, we speak to writer and NCW course tutor, Lynne Bryan. We discuss the importance of revising one’s work, how revision is different for different types writer, when to do what kind of revision, and the role of third-party feedback.

This is a great discussion for anyone doing creative writing.

Lynne received her MA in Creative Writing in 1985. Her first book - Envy At The Cheese Handout - was a collection of short stories back in 1995. Two novels, Gorgeous and Like Rabbits followed in 1999 and 2002.  She’s co-edited six anthologies of short prose, her work has been broadcast on Radio 4 and her story – ‘A Regular Thing’ – was made into an award-winning short film in Denmark. Needless to say, Lynne knows her stuff, so this is an invaluable discussion for anyone who writes.

We talk to international bestselling writer Mohsin Hamid about his new book, The Last White Man.

The conversation covers the key themes of his new novel: race, transformation, freedom, loss - as well as his journey into writing fiction, and, how a story is only ever half-told, until it finds a reader…

Many will know his Booker shortlisted novels The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West. And some may also know his other novels Moth Smoke and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia - and a non-fiction book, Discontent and its Civilizations. He writes regularly for The New York Times, the Guardian and the New York Review of Books. Born and mostly raised in Lahore, Pakistan, he has since lived between Lahore, London and New York.

In this episode, we speak to novelist, teacher and doctor of letters, Ashley Hickson-Lovence to explore story and plot. Ashley is the author of The 392 and the prize-nominated novel Your Show (which he talks a little about in our chat). We also discuss the difference between story and plot, key plot devices and how you can ensure your story has a plot that keeps people turning pages. 

Ashley is also the tutor for our Start Writing Fiction course. We also have courses on fiction, crime, memoir, historical fiction creative non-fiction and poetry. You can read more about the modules and see which course would help you in your writing.

Novelist and creative writing lecturer Ian Nettleton explains how to structure a novel - the devices and structural elements that can keep readers engaged, and how to ensure your story becomes a page-turner. 

The episode covers characters’ wants and needs, conflict, obstacles, narrative tension and building a compelling story scene by scene, chapter by chapter. We also discuss quests, commitments, reversals and resolutions.

Ian has been shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards including those for his novels The Last Migration and Out of Nowhere. He is also an associate lecturer in creative writing courses at the Open University and works with the National Centre For Writing on a number of our own creative writing courses.

This is a special episode to celebrate our City of Literature programme at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. As part of the festival, we organised, curated and hosted a series of events at the legendary spiegeltent as well as talks and our publishing fair, here at Dragon Hall.

Called Wandering Words, we commissioned five poets and five sound designers to create an interactive digital experience. This episode hosts the poems and the soundscapes.