'Every. Unnecessary. Word. There were thousands. I could cross out 'and' and use the semi-colon; all the stuff that was there just because I'd spent so long in writing it.'

Every. Unnecessary. Word. And there were thousands. I could cross out 'and' and use the semi-colon; I could leave out all the stuff that was there just because I'd spent so long in writing it.

The post Linda Hoy appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'This purpose, that landed inside me at eleven years old, in the wildest part of Wales, has never left. I write first and foremost to keep things safe.'

This purpose, that landed inside me at eleven years old, in the wildest part of Wales, has never left. I write first and foremost to keep things safe. Life moves so quickly; we are immersed in something briefly and then it is lost.

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

'In making the chaos of experience into something with shape, structure, perhaps even beauty, you can find a resolution for the unresolvable.'

In making the chaos of experience into something with shape, structure, perhaps even beauty, you can find a resolution for the unresolvable; closure for unfinished business.

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

'Asked to deliver four hundred and fifty words by four pm on a social workers' strike in Barnsley; four hundred and seventy-five words... was simply not acceptable.'

One was asked to deliver four hundred and fifty words by four pm on a social workers' strike in Barnsley; four hundred and seventy-five words by five pm was simply not acceptable.

The post Nicholas Murray appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'I suppose my novels so far stand at this intersection; where memory, imagination, and the books that made me, collide. '

I suppose my novels so far stand at this intersection; where memory, imagination, and the books that made me, collide. It's simple, see? And is this why I write?

The post Tiffany Murray appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'I'm inspired by novelists who reveal the extraordinary in what are patronisingly called 'everyday people'; that refusal to confine interest to life's winners.'

I'm inspired by novelists who reveal the extraordinary in what are patronisingly called 'everyday people'; that refusal to confine interest to life's winners... in Carter's work, and in Mantel's.

The post Maria McCann appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'I've spent a lot of my life reading on buses and trains; I read Moby Dick on a seventy-two hour bus journey from London to Athens.'

Never having driven a car, I've spent a lot of my life reading on buses and trains; I read Moby Dick on a seventy-two hour bus journey from London to Athens.

The post Geoff Hattersley appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Just as Walter Farley made me a jockey and a horse trainer, under Arthur Ransome's tutelage I became an explorer and an able seawoman.'

Just as Walter Farley made me a jockey and a horse trainer, under Arthur Ransome's tutelage I became an explorer and an able seawoman.

The post Emylia Hall appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Writing began as a way of escaping solitude. I was also a compulsive reader, especially of adventure stories, and fascinated by other worlds.'

Writing began as a way of escaping solitude. I was also a compulsive reader, especially of adventure stories, and I was fascinated by the other worlds that writers could create.

The post Morgen Witzel appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.

'Plot theorists say you must send your characters 'into the woods', but if you have vivid characters they will go into the woods.'

The plot theorists say you must send your characters 'on a journey', or 'into the woods', but if you have vivid characters they will go into the woods of their own accord.

The post Andrew Martin appeared first on The Royal Literary Fund.