Writer's Routine – Details, episodes & analysis

Catherine Gray is an award-winning journalist who has written for The Guardian, Stylist, The Telegraph, Grazia, and many more. She's published 4 non-fiction books, which have sold over a million copies and been translated into 9 languages.

She's best known for her book, 'The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober', which takes you through the benefits of going alcohol-free, and how it can positively impact your creativity.

Her debut novel is 'Versions of a Girl'. It's a classic sliding doors story, which tells the tale of Fern, whose mother is a former ballet dancer and formidable social climber, while her father is a layabout who lives hand to mouth in Californian motels. When Fern is 14 she needs to chose who she is living with... and we follow both of those narratives. It's the ultimate nature v nurture questions - do we become who we are because of our parents, or in spite of them?

We talk about avoiding stereotypes when writing characters, also why working as a journalist has helped her write on cue, and why it's vital to be critical of your own work.

This week's episode is sponsored by Faber Academy's 'Writing a Novel' course. Submissions for their October 24 programme finish on the 15th and 16th September. Be quick, and find out more at faberacademy.com/writing-a-novel

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This week's guest is J.M. Hall, who has worked as a playwright, a primary school teacher, and is now a published novelist.

Through lockdown he wrote 'A Spoonful of Murder', as a way to deal with a traumatic family situation, that was published in 2021. He's gone on to publish, 'A Brush with Death', and his most recent book 'A Clock Stopped Dead'. They tell the story of Pat, Liz and Thelma, retired teachers who turn to sleuthing.

We talk about how, after recently retiring, Jonathan's routine has changed, also what he needed to have when designing his ideal writing space, and why he insists on writing long-hand... and is frankly bemused by people who don't.

You can hear how working as a primary school teacher helped him refine storytelling, whether writing without a view of publication affected the process, and what authors your kids should be reading.

This episode is sponsored by Faber Academy. Their flagship, 'Writing a Novel' course is taking applicants for its new course starting in october. Find out more at faberacademy.com/writing-a-novel

Support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine

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Jonny Sweet won the 'Best Newcomer' Prize at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, created a sketch group with 'The Inbetweeners' Simon Bird and Joe Thomas, and appeared in many TV Comedies, including 'Chickens' and 'Him and Her'. He wrote the movie 'Wicked Little Letters' starring Olivia Colman, which was released this year.

He has also just published one of the most acclaimed novels of the year. 'The Kellerby Code' tells the story of Edward, living in a world he can't afford and to which he doesn't belong. Getting by doing odd jobs for friends, he falls in love with one of them, and after a little act of kindness in the group takes a sinister turn, it unleashes the unspeakable brutality at Edward's core.

We talk about why he's been lying to people about the plot, and how the writing process changes depending on what he's working on. You can hear how much he thinks like a director when writing, and why he prefers not to hear himself think.

This novel has been highly recommended by some of the best authors around, and we discuss how he deals with such praise.

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Mary Adkins is the author of critically acclaimed novels, 'Palm Beach', 'When You Read This', and 'Privilege'. She has used her experience of writing, publishing and also teaching, to become a writing coach. Her 'Book Incubator' programme looks to help you on the difficult journey to publishing. It uses how creative you are, how outgoing you are, and what your day is like, to plan the perfect method for your writing, and helps you write, revise and pitch your novel.

We talk about why she sets up her writing space to make her think she's playing, not writing. Also how she discovered she's a morning person, and how she uses music to change her place and space. You can also hear the best tips and tricks she's learned as a writing mentor, including how to get to know your character, what to do with an initial idea, and why people find it so hard switching between writing and editing.

You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine

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Colette Dartford's debut, 'Learning to Speak American', was shortlisted for an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. She followed up this success with her second, 'An Unsuitable Marriage', was a Kindle bestseller for 18 months.

For her new novel she's made an interesting decision. In August, she'll self-publish, 'The Mortification of Grace Wheeler'. She's done this to have more creative control over publishing, marketing and pricing, and is almost doing it as a one-book experiment. She gets deep into the reasons why she has done this, and there's some fantastic advice to help you make a similar choice.

The novel is about Grace, in a marriage with a much older man, whose son leaves for University. She becomes an empty-nester, and in a bid for excitement, is drawn into an affair with terrible consequences.

We talk about why she has stopped doing detailed summaries of characters, why all she needs to write is a quiet space and a laptop, and how much expert help she gets before sending the work off.

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Janice Hallett career started as a magazine editor, journalist and speech writer. Her first feature film, Retreat, starred Cillian Murphy, Thandiwe Newton and Jamie Bell. She's written speeches for the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and many others. Her frustration at getting screenplays adapted for TV and film prompted her to start writing novels. What a decision.

Her debut, 'The Appeal', has achieved phenomenal success. It's been shared widely online by book communities, sold lots of copies and was one of Sunday Times Crime Novels of 2021.

It's a murder-mystery set in a tight-knit village community staging an amateur dramatic production, and is all told through emails and messages. We discuss why she set a book in this novel way, and how her career as a screenwriter helped with that.

We talk about the moment she knew her book might be taking off, also why she works seven days a week, and how much she reverse-engineers a murder mystery. You can hear how she figured out who the killer was, how her characters mirror different parts of her personality, and about her newest novel, 'The Twyford Code'.

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Mark Ellis started work as a lawyer, then ran his own business, and is now 5 books into his own crime series. It's all about Detective Frank Merlin, who investigates crimes during World War 2, a time in which committing crimes was relatively easy.

His new book is 'Dead in the Water', which looks at how a mangled body found in the Thames and a missing piece of art are connected. We talk about how much he plans long-term for his characters, why he overwrites his first draft and how he goes about cutting it down. You can hear how he gets ideas for Frank's adventures, and why sometimes it's easier to let the characters take care of things themselves.

You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine

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Jessica Payne had 3 failed attempts at getting published. It took a genre switch to finally get her book out there and on the shelves. Her debut is 'Make Me Disappear', about a woman so desperate to escape her sociopathic boyfriend, she's prepared to go to extreme lengths to get away.

We talk about why she was so determined to get published, also how she balances a hectic work-life where her husband works 90 hour weeks, while she looks after her toddler and manages to write novels. You can hear how she got to know her characters, and how she keeps her creative time sacred.

Jessica also hosts the #MomsWritersClub on Twitter, with lots of excellent writing and publication advice.

You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine

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Scott Kershaw has had an interesting route to being published. Leaving school with few qualifications, he signed up as a mature student in college. Whilst there, his work was spotted by the Head of Writing at Hull University, and despite having no A Levels or even filling in a UCAS application, he was offered a place and graduated with a First Class Degree in Creative Writing.

It's all led to his debut, 'The Game'. It follows five strangers from across the globe who receive a warning that their most loved person is in danger, and the only way to save them is to play... the game.

We discuss how he worked on the idea with his agent, also how he's managed to write in between renovating a house, and how music changes his writing mood.

PLUS, you can hear the first full chapter of 'The Game' audiobook at the end of the show.

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Dervla McTiernan was an Irish lawyer for 12 years. After the global financial crash, she moved to Australia and became a crime-writer. After a short-story was nominated for a prestigious prize, her debut 'The Ruin' achieved great success, and she's become a runaway bestseller.

Her new novel, 'The Murder Rule', looks at The Innocence Project, which looks to exonerate wrongly convicted criminals. Only this book turns it on its head when a woman doesn't want to save a man on death row... but bury him.

We talk about her extremely thoroughly planned writing days, how she's always looking to grow and change as a writer. You can hear how new editing tricks, how she gets to know her characters, and exactly how hard it is to take on a novel.

You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine.

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