Every writer comes up with their ideas in different ways and takes a different approach to planning their next book, script, poem or article. But what are those ways? How can you ensure that the spark of the idea you've had can be transformed into a fully-fledged piece of writerly work? Well, you may be [...]
I've been flying up to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival for around ten years now. The festival and I have had a great, healthy, happy and productive relationship. We've laughed together, cried together, been awed by people's imaginations and felt cheated by others'. Witnessed brilliant ideas and winced at terrible ones. We've eaten lots of [...]
Now, either I'm becoming impatient when I read books or scripts or I've consumed a lot of stories lately that start well and then go off on a massive tangent. A tangent so far away from the clear thrust of the story that I'm suddenly sitting in a cafe on a busy, bustling High Street [...]
I hate editing. Okay, I don't hate it...but I don't love it as much as writing. And perhaps you feel the same way? But, if you're a writer and you want to succeed at being one, you need to know how to edit as well as write. The Mariana Trench-like difference between writing and editing [...]
For the past year I’ve been living a secret life. As a tour guide at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. Well, it hasn’t really been that much of a secret. In fact, pretty much everyone I know knew I was working there. And so did the thousands of people I met who visited the [...]
Writers, publishers, agents and readers always go on about having your own, unique voice when you write. It appears to be this elusive, un-pin-downable communication technique where the words you write seem to creatively, wholeheartedly, magically present you on a page (or screen) as well as effortlessly, uniquely and quirkily describing the characters and story [...]
All writers have triggers to help them work; they need them because writers are private, purposeful and professional procrastinators. Try saying that with your mouth full of salt n' vinegar crisps. I know many writers who have to go through a routine - or more like a ritual - before they can begin writing any [...]
In life, it’s important to succeed and fail. At many different things. Whatever they might tell you at school, trust me: failing at something can often be more important than doing well. You often learn a lot more from your mistakes than from your successes. It seems to be the nature of the human condition; [...]
It’s so easy to try out different forms of writing and producing when you’re a creative person. And when you’re first starting out as, say, a journalist, copywriter or freelance book/script writer, you know there is pressure on you to earn regular money. Enough to pay for food, rent and going out. In fact, when [...]
Anthony Burt 