I watched my new desk as its surface got covered with more and more piles of paper and books, and…

I watched my new desk as its surface got covered with more and more piles of paper and books, and found myself using it almost… never. I watched my new desk from my bed as its surface got covered with more and more piles of paper and books, and of course, I found myself using it almost… never. Eventually, I ditched the fantasy that the desk would make me more professional.

The post Juliet Clare Bell – How I Write appeared first on Royal Literary Fund.

' Can I even dare to hope that somewhere out there are readers with all my volumes, from the very first in 1988 to the most recent?'

Can I even dare to hope that somewhere out there are readers with all my volumes, from the very first…

Can I even dare to hope that somewhere out there are readers with all my volumes, from the very first in 1988 to the most recent? Can I even dare to hope that somewhere out there are readers with all my volumes, from the very first in 1988 to the most recent, five years ago, on their bookshelves? That having got something out of the one you read first, you were drawn by the next?

The post Alan Jenkins – Letter To My Readers appeared first on Royal Literary Fund.

'The Scillies are the place my imagination retreats to when I’m grappling with a plot, or a new set of characters. I return there every year.'

The Scillies are the place my imagination retreats to when I’m grappling with a plot, or a new set of…

The Scillies are the place my imagination retreats to when I’m grappling with a plot, or a new set of characters. I return there every year. The Scillies are the place my imagination retreats to when I’m grappling with a plot, or a new set of characters. The uncluttered beauty of the landscape triggers my creativity, which could explain why I return there every year.

The post Kate Rhodes – The Perfect Place To Write appeared first on Royal Literary Fund.

'We didn’t know that the ‘Firaq’ in Ghulam Nabi Firaq was a takhalus, a pen name that poets in the subcontinent adopt early in their poetic lives. '

We didn’t know that the ‘Firaq’ in Ghulam Nabi Firaq was a takhalus, a pen name that poets in the…

We didn’t know that the ‘Firaq’ in Ghulam Nabi Firaq was a takhalus, a pen name that poets in the subcontinent adopt early in their poetic lives. For years, we didn’t even know that the ‘Firaq’ in Ghulam Nabi Firaq was a takhalus, a pen name that poets in the subcontinent adopt early in their poetic lives. He was simply Firaq Sir. A serious-looking, large man who was always immaculately dressed.

The post Mirza Waheed – Letter To My Teachers appeared first on Royal Literary Fund.

'I mentally wander. I encourage that same delicious distractibility which makes me such a poor listener at lectures.'

I mentally wander. I encourage that same delicious distractibility which makes me such a poor listener at lectures. We dream…

I mentally wander. I encourage that same delicious distractibility which makes me such a poor listener at lectures. We dream up situations and conundra and resolutions for people who have never quite existed. To try to achieve that ‘flow’ state of deep concentration, I encourage that same delicious distractibility which makes me such a poor listener at lectures.

The post Penny Boxall – Dreams And The Writer appeared first on Royal Literary Fund.

'Hugo William’s advice is that voice when I need it. My job isn’t to get better as a writer. My job is only to do what I can.'