'Start reading Wodehouse. I don't understand why you're holding out against the greatest humorist writer of the twentieth century.'

Start reading Wodehouse; I don't understand why you're holding out against him. It is no betrayal of your feminist principles to embrace the greatest humorist writer of the twentieth century.

The post Lucy Flannery appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'The wolf must be kept from the door and there is nothing inspiring about lupine breath on the back of the neck.'

The hours I spend writing are squeezed around full-time work. The wolf must be kept from the door and there is nothing inspiring about lupine breath on the back of the neck.

The post Ros Barber appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'I wrote a grovelingly polite letter to the editor, suggesting amendments, and then I tore up the script and started again. '

I wrote a grovelingly polite letter to the editor, suggesting amendments, and then I tore up the script and started again. I could see what the problem was; I'd got so bogged down in the detail I'd lost sight of the narrative.

The post Kathleen Jones appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'It is my habit to circle a piece of writing warily for as long as possible, looking for the entry point, a way in, the lever which will bring on the flood.'

It is my habit to circle a piece of writing warily for as long as possible, looking for the entry point, a way in, the lever, which will bring on the flood; this can take hours, days or weeks.

The post Deborah Bosley appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'It's good when that moment finally arrives, but it doesn't make you any better as a writer and it certainly doesn't make those years of rejection any easier.'

It's good when that moment finally arrives, but it doesn't make you any better as a writer and it certainly doesn't make those years of rejection any easier to make light of.

The post Rob Chapman appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'The singer-songwriter Matt Johnson and his band The The has probably inspired my work the most. I was amazed to hear how this inspiration is so prominent in my early work.'

The singer-songwriter Matt Johnson and his band The The has probably inspired my work the most; when I was reunited with Johnson's music I was amazed to hear how this inspiration is so prominent in my early work.

The post Rhiannon Tise appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Fluidity is freedom, and for a writer, freedom is key. While crime was fun, I found industry and academic ideals limiting'

Fluidity is freedom, and for a writer, freedom is key. While crime was fun, I found industry and academic ideals around what a crime novel is, and is not, limiting in their own way.

The post Courttia Newland appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Solutions will be found, even if they are found in a skip. Your first proper typewriter will definitely need a bit of TLC.'

Solutions will be found, even if they are found in a skip. Your first proper typewriter will definitely need a bit of TLC, but you'll write your first novel on this poor old skip rescue.

The post Jane Adams appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'In jazz, there's no criticism of beginners. You have to start somewhere, the thinking goes, and be prepared to experiment, live. '

In jazz, there's no criticism of beginners. You have to start somewhere, the thinking goes, and be prepared to experiment, live. There isn't an equivalent with writers.

The post Elanor Dymott appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Perhaps, above all, this is the aspect of the writing life that I was most surprised by, and had never really imagined; that the worry never goes. '

Perhaps, above all, this is the aspect of the writing life that I was most surprised by, and had never really imagined; that the worry never goes. Imposter syndrome breathes down my neck all the time.

The post Susan Fletcher appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.