Writer's Routine

BA Paris has sold over 1 million books, they've been translated into 39 languages, and her new novel, 'The Dilemma' was released in early 2020 to huge acclaim.The idea is simple: what if you had to tell someone something which would destroy their lives. Bernadette tells the story hour by hour, across one day. She's a pantser by nature, so we talk about how she had to slightly change the way she planned her plot to make such a tight structure of storytelling work. We also talk about why this is a departure of genre for her, and why she had originally planned to write a different story, but felt this idea was one that simply had to be told.We hear about why she forgets about the word count, how she gets to know her character, and why storytelling comes fairly easily to her, and when that writer's block hits... she knows exactly what to do.Recorded in my kitchen this week, so sorry about the echo!If you want to help out the show please pledge what you can over at patreon.com/writersroutine, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caroline Scott's new novel is a 'Radio 2 Book Club Pick', high praise in British books, and is set in the murky time straight after the First World War. 'The Photographer of the Lost' sees Edie go in search of her "missing in action" husband Francis, after she receives a strange photograph in the post. It's a twisting, turning, slightly romantic mystery, which is a fantastic read.We talk about why Caroline is fascinated by history, how she projects her ideas with the few facts surrounding the 'blank canvas' of that era. There's brilliant chat about plotting, planning and what she does when she has the initial idea - how does she then develop it into 300+ pages?For Caroline, editing is where the story really comes alive, but she does find it the hardest part, picking through her beloved story to find the golden meat. We also chat about her fantastic writing spot, which I think... you may just be a teeny bit jealous of.If you enjoy the show, please do support us over at patreon.com/writersroutine.Any comments/ queries/ compliments? Head to the contact page at writersroutine.com.AND TELL YA FRIENDS x@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul French has just released a 12 part audio series, 'Murders of Old China', through Audible. As the name suggests, it tells the stories of unsolved crimes from the early 20th century of China. We talk about how Paul discovered these crimes, and then set about researching them and possibly even solving them.As this has been specifically made for Audible, we talk about whether that changed his writing style: is there something different about telling stories for ears rather than eyes? For Paul, the secret seems to be in research - he will spend hours trawling through newspapers and old stories looking for the little line that he needs, we talk about the joy that it gives him, and how he knows he's onto the right track.He knows China well, living there for nearly 20 years as a journalist and book reviewer, and published 'Midnight in Peking' to huge success. It was a New York Times Bestseller, and was awarded a number of prestigious crime awards.We also get a distinguished ritual from history with Mason Currey giving us an extract from his new book 'Daily Rituals: Women at Work'patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh Montgomery is a someone who, if he wasn't so darned lovely, you'd probably have to envy quite a lot. He's a practicing clinician, a UK lead on climate change, he's written screen-plays, runs ultramarathons, learns a new skill a year, holds a world-record, and is now releasing his first full-novel.It's called 'Control' - a thriller set in the medical-world (write what you know) all about a bullying, over-bearing Doctor, and the way he treats colleagues, which comes back to haunt him. We talk about brooding over the idea for the story, escaping to France to write it, and where he thinks the story actually came from.As he manages to fit in so much into his day, we talk about where he finds the time and why he rations sleep. Also, we talk about why he learns a new skill every year, and how he believes it to be crucial to make time stop flying by.Also - you can hear a distinguished routine from history with Mason Currey, and grab his new book 'Daily Rituals: Women at Work' here - https://masoncurrey.com/If you can, please do support the show! - patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS EPISODE!In the late noughties, Mason Currey started blogging about the most interesting, unique and quirky routines from history. 'Daily Rituals' ran for year, and spawned its own book in 2013. Upon reflecting all the rituals in there, he realised an overwhelming amount where men's. So he's written a new book to correct that.'Daily Rituals: Women at Work' details some of the most aspiring, gruelling and novel routines from history. We talk about what he's learned from these, whether they've influenced his own routine, and whether there is something consistent: a secret to success.More on Mason's work - masoncurrey.comPlease do support us on Patreon - patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amy Heydenrych has been brooding on the idea for her latest novel, 'The Pact', for some time now. After experiencing office bullying in an old job, she thought about how the feelings it caused, and how they could lead to the plot of a crime novel. The story is all about Freya, Nicole and Jay, and the harmless prank that leads to murder.It's her second novel, after her debut 'Shame on You' achieved critical and commercial success in 2017. We talk about what she learned from writing that that affected how she told her new story, and why it took a bit longer to write than originally planned. We chat about her writing day, and writing year, and why for her new book she wrote new rules for herself... and then immediately broke them.Also, you can hear from author Mason Currey, who gives us a distinguished writing routine from history. His new book 'Daily Rituals: Women at Work' is out now, and he takes us inside the working day of Isabel Allende.Heres the Hugh Montgomery article I mention at the end, if you do want to get clued up before next week - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/17/surgeon-ultrarunner-thriller-writer-hugh-montgomery-lives-life-to-the-fullPlease do support the show over at patreon.com/writersroutine, and leave a review for us on the Apple Podcast store if you can too.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ann Cleeves is a hugely prolific author - she once wrote a book a year for 30 years, and still publishes more or less every 12 months. We talk about that writing year - when she comes up with ideas, starts working on them and finally hands in the first draft.She has written 8 'Vera Stanhope' books, a character that went on to be played by Brenda Blethyn in a TV series. Also, she's published many 'Shetland' stories, a series which came to an end recently - and we discuss why. Her new book is 'The Long Call'. Set in Devon, it's the start of a brand new series introducing Matthew Venn - we talk about the initial idea for the book, why she set it in Devon and other points about how she told the story.Anne was born in Hertfordshire, raised in North Devon, lived in London, Merseyside, Scotland, and we chat about how her nomadic life has influenced the way she tells stories.To take advantage of our Libro.fm offer - if you're in the USA, you can get 3 months of audiobooks for the price of one, by joining Libro.fm, and using the code ROUTINE when you check out.ALSO - please support us on Patreon.com/writersroutine if you can, it's Christmas after all x@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before publishing his first novel, Chris Hammer worked as a journalist. Travelling all over the world reporting stories gave him the ability to write anywhere, and taught him how to tell stories. He used all that knowledge to write 'Scrublands', his debut about Martin Scarsden, a journalist who becomes embroiled in a tangle of crimes after a vicar does something extremely unreligious.We talk to Chris about keeping track of plots, working to deadlines and making sure his characters are more than they seem. In January 2020, Chris will publish the follow-up 'Silver', in the UK, and we discuss how writing the first changed how he worked on the second, and how he comes up with new ideas for his protagonist.We'll have Hugh Montgomery on the show in the next few weeks, do read this article - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/17/surgeon-ultrarunner-thriller-writer-hugh-montgomery-lives-life-to-the-full - before you listen to that chat!ALSO - please support us on Patreon, and if you're in the States, take advantage of our Libro.fm offer (use the code ROUTINE)Patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For over 40 years, Jeffrey Archer has sold many, many books. The current count is over 275 million. He's written 37, including a volume of diaries from his time in prison - 26 of those have been Sunday Times Bestsellers. His new book is 'Nothing Ventured', and it's the start of a brand new series. Although, the start of his writing career wasn't as successful as many would have you believe.It was his third book, 'Kane and Abel' that really took off - within the first week it had sold around a million copies, and he never looked back. It celebrates its 40th year of publication this year, and we talk about how that has affected his writing ever since. Also, we look at what he needs before he starts writing, how he develops an idea in his head and when the twists finally come.Jeffrey's routine is one of the most precise and exact ones we've had. Selling so many books allows him to enjoy his pleasure-time, and also know the intricate way that he works the best - he reveals all to us in this show.For audiobooks that help the writing community, head to libro.fm and use the code ROUTINE.Also, please do support us over at patreon.com/writersroutine.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harriet Evans' 11 novel could be her biggest yet. Even with the huge success of 'The Wildflowers', 'The Garden of Lost and Found' is everywhere at the moment, and tells the story of Juilet. She's sent the key to a house that holds a forgotten world within. We talk about the first idea for the story, and how it developed from many ideas Harriet had for another story that never quite made it.We also chat about how she knows what her role is as a commercial novelist, how that affects her writing and storytelling, and why for her editing is the most important part of the whole process - and that, in fact, many other authors could learn to tidy up their work a bit more!There's also chat about her brand new novel in process, it's not even got a proper title yet, but we try and uncover what about it is making her tick right now.For audiobooks that help independent booksellers (and not the big conglomerates) head here - www.libro.fm and use the code ROUTINE, for a sweet 3 for 1 offer.For Harriet's book that helps US (but unfortunately use the big conglomerates) head here - https://amzn.to/2NKEsI0AND, please do support the show over at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.