Writer's Routine

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.

In his phenomenally successful debut, 'Stuffocation', James Wallman told everyone to stop valuing things, and instead value experiences and the time we have on this planet. He's back to tell everyone how to spend that time, how to make sure we're getting the most out of our experiences, and how to make sure we're picking them wisely.We talk about making non-fiction read like fiction, and how James thoroughly analysed the best journalists, and stole their tricks, to make sure readers kept wanting more. We talk about the cycle of James' day, why he starts work in the morning and how he pushes through the mid-afternoon energy slump.James talks about a lot of things in the pod, here are some links to a few of the best recommendations he gives -Frank Sinatra has a Cold - https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/frank-sinatra-has-a-cold-gay-talese/Michael Lewis, author of 'The Blind Side' - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blind-Side-Evolution-Game/dp/0393330478Charles Dickens, the fog from 'Bleak House' - http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/bleakhouse/2/Also, IF YOU ARE IN THE UNITED STATES, you can get a 3-month audiobook membership for the price of one month. Go to Libro.fm ( L - I - B - R - O - DOT - F - M ) and enter ROUTINE. With each listen, take pride in knowing that you’re supporting local bookstores.If you want to buy the book, please do it through here - https://amzn.to/36epReS - and we get a little kickback.AND FINALLY, please do support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ruth Hogan's debut novel 'The Keeper of Lost Things' generated huge commercial success and critical acclaim across the world. Telling the story of Anthony Peardew, a short-story writer who collects treasures and trinkets. The whole story became clear to Ruth after she got a stunning first line, that simply appeared in her head. We talk about what she did next, how she developed one sentence to the rest of the story.We talk about the huge success of her first story influenced her next two, 'The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes' and 'Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel'. Ruth has been dubbed the 'queen of uplift', and she discusses what that means for the way she tells stories and plans her books.There's also a top-writing tip from crime writing behemoth, Ian Rankin.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Owen Nicholls is a pop-culture obsessive, having written for Empire and NME, the mission for his first novel was 'High Fidelty for movies'.Originally thinking it may be a screenplay, instead he enjoyed the space and time writing a novel gave him. For Owen, a screenplay needs to be tight, purposeful and focused, he thinks that with novels you can take time to discover your characters and plots.'Love, Unscripted' is the tale of a failed romance, and trying to figure out where it all went wrong - we talk about how Owen learned the tricks to write a novel, how he figured out what his characters needed to be, and also how he used his favourite films to help tell the story.Want to buy the book? Use this link to help us out in the process! - https://amzn.to/2lnlbRu@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Along with Dan Gillespie Sells, Tom MacRae wrote the hit West End musical, 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie'. It opened in Sheffield, before transferring to London, selling-out constantly and receiving rave 5 star reviews. After writing for comedy on TV and for Dr Who, Tom had always planned to write a musical with his mate Dan, from the band 'The Feeling'. Then, watching a BBC documentary about a boy who wanted to go to high-school prom in a dress, he finally had an idea. Drawing on modern pop influences, and working class musicals such as 'Blood Brothers', Tom and Dan locked themselves away in a French villa and wrote the musical.Tom talks about the plotting and planning of writing for stage, how you writing dialogue when you know half the story has to be told in song. Also, how he knows when to be funny, and also went to switch off and stop working for the weekend.There's fantastic advice in here about discipline, characterisation and finding the hook of a story.Buy the book and help the show out - https://amzn.to/34GSDUJPledge on Patreon and help the show out - patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Smedley is a journalist who has worked for the FT, Guardian, New Scientist and many more. A few years ago, he was so disgusted at the levels of pollutants in the air around London where he lived - he moved. He also resolved to find out more about what was causing it, and to read a book on what could be done. He found out such a book didn't exist - it was up to him to write one.With just a year to get everything done, he chatted to some of the world's foremost experts on air pollution, travelled to countries with examples of what can be done about this and how we can do better, and packaged it all into a book - Clearing the Air: The Beginning and the End of Air Pollution. It's been shortlisted for the 'Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize', and we talk about how that's affected his writing.Also we talk about how hard it is to plan and plot a non-fiction novel, the structure of the story and why making it personal solved every problem.Please do support the show over at patreon.com/writersroutine.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bestselling author Sheila O'Flanagan is prolific, published around 30 novels and has won the 'Irish Independent Popular Fiction Book of the Year. Her new book is 'Her Husband's Mistake', and sees Roxy finding her husband in bed with the next door neighbour. You know this immediately, it's the very first sentence. We talk about how long she worked on making that first sentence perfect, and how it set the tone for the rest of the novel.To get ideas, Sheila's main strategy is to put women in situations where they have to dig deep inside themselves, and when she has that initial thought, she'll run through every decision she is making daily, as her character too - what would they do? how would they act here? We learn about how this process has developed, and how her writing style and routine has changed over time.She has three rules for writing: to tell a good story, to make the reader feel like they know the characters, and to make each book better than the last.Also, there's a top writing tip from a dystopian fiction author. And, if you can support the show, please pledge a few dollars a month over at patreon.com/writersroutine.@writerspodwritersroutine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.