The Writing Life

We talk to author Stephen Michael Shearer and director John Hay about To Olivia, the film adaptation of Stephen's book An Unquiet Life. Focusing on the lives of Patricia Neal and Roald Dahl, the film stars Hugh Bonneville and Keeley Hawes and is available on Sky Cinema and Now TV from 19 February 2021. Stephen and John talk about the process of adapting the book and how the collaborative nature of filmmaking influences and changes the source material. Peggy Hughes is asking the questions. Meanwhile Steph and Simon take another look at the new Early Career Writer's Resource Pack, 'Dialogue' and, inevitably, complain about the weather. Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW Find out more about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Check out the free Dialogue pack: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-6-dialogue/ Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Produced and edited by Simon Jones. Music by Bennet Maples. To Olivia, a Sky Original film, available on Sky Cinema and Now TV from 19th February.

Author Chris Beckett joins us this week to explore styles of dialogue in literature and how Chris uses it in his novel Two Tribes. Covering topics as wide-ranging as conversation-as-animal-grooming to Brexit, Chris shares his tips and insight into how humans interact and different ways of capturing that on the page. Asking the questions is Sam Ruddock of Gatehouse Press and Story Machines Productions. This episode is part of our Early Career Writer's Resource Pack focusing on dialogue in prose fiction, scriptwriting and comics. Find more from Hannah Berry, Femi Kayode, Carys Davies and Taylor Beidler at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/pack-6-dialogue/  Made possible by support from Arts Council England. Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ More on our Early Career Awards: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/ Music by Bennet Maples.

Debut author Jon Ransom shares his tips for avoiding writer's block, the importance of deadlines, why he avoids using word counts to judge progress, securing an agent during Covid-19 lockdown and how the Escalator talent development programme helped him complete his first novel The Whale Tattoo, which is due to be published by Muswell Press in 2022. If you'd like to support new voices you can donate to this year's Escalator here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/  MEANWHILE! Simon and Steph are joined by Flo Reynolds to introduce the new Book Club book. Listen to find out what we're reading and then join in the chatter on Discord at https://discord.gg/3G39dRW Also under discussion are the daily writing prompts we're publishing through February, courtesy of our amazing UNESCO writers in residence. Find out more and get involved here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/imagining-the-city/ Hosted by Steph McKenna and Simon Jones. Music by Bennet Maples.

We're very pleased to finally have Kate Worsley guest on the pod, author of She Rises, discussing her route to publication, her time on our Escalator talent development scheme, how she has benefited from mentoring and the impact of Covid-19 on her work. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Donate to the 2021 Escalator scheme: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/  Join our Discord community chat: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW More about what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/  Music by Bennet Maples.

"The world of the imagination is being diminished by the day, with theatres dark, cinemas closed, and actors and musicians encouraged to retrain in more ‘viable’ professions, so books are more vital than ever, bringing us together safely at a time when we have never felt more isolated." The wonderful Nicola Upson returns to the podcast to talk about her early career, finding her confidence and how the Escalator talent development scheme helped to demystify the publishing industry. We're currently fundraising for Escalator so that we can help as many new writers as possible. To find out more and donate head over here: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/ Find out more about our Start Writing Crime Fiction course and join the waiting list: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/introduction-to-crime-fiction/  Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Music by Bennet Maples.

Escalator needs your help! Our talent development scheme has helped 10 writers every year since 2004 but austerity and funding challenges means we can only fund 6 places in 2021. If you'd like to donate to help us help more writers, visit https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/  On the podcast is previous Escalator participant Owen Nicholls, whose debut novel was published in 2019. Owen talks about shifting from screenwriting to novels, how he completed his first book and how Escalator helped him on the road to creating Love, Unscripted. Simon also talks to Owen about surreptitiously enjoying the film Garden State. Meanwhile, Steph and Simon are joined by the inimitable Vicki Maitland to talk about Chrysalis, a fantastic mini-festival created by the Lit from the Inside group of young arts professionals. Find out more: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/chrysalis/  More on what we do: http://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/  Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe! Music by Bennet Maples.

Happy New Year! We begin 2021 with a conversation with Desmond Elliott Prize shortlisted Abi Daré, whose debut The Girl With The Louding Voice caught everyone's attention last year. Abi talks about her approach to world building and how she used the narrative voice in the book to explore its setting. Asking the questions is novelist Sarah Bower. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna, who start the episode by celebrating that it's not 2020 anymore. If you like this episode don't forget to subscribe! Get more free resources on world building: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/5-world-building/  Find out about our Early Career Awards, including the Desmond Elliott Prize: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/early-career-awards/  Check out our online courses: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/creative-writing-online/  More on what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/  Made possible with support from Arts Council England. Music by Bennet Maples.

We're joined on the pod by Dutch writer Thomas Heerma van Voss, who is talking about his new chapbook, Thank You For Being With Us. We're also very pleased to have editor, writer and lecturer Andrew McDonnell asking the questions. They discuss the translation of Thomas' work, how lockdown has affected his writing in 2020 and how he crafted his short stories. Thomas' residency was made possible by support from the Dutch Foundation for Literature and New Dutch Writing. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more at https://nationalcentrefowriting.org.uk More info on our residency programmes: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/residencies/  Music by Bennet Maples.

We talk to producer Tamsin Flower about Black Writers on Democracy, a project conceived following the Black Lives Matters protests in 2020. Funded rapidly via crowdfunding, a commissioning call was sent out to find writers from around the world to address the theme. The five written pieces have now been published and on the podcast today we talk to Olu Alakija, Nike Igbaroola, Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto and Tamsin about how it was put together. Read and watch the pieces on the StreamLyric website: https://streamlyric.co.uk/digital/ Our previous episode talking to Tamsin in 2018: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/the-importance-of-arts-funding/ Hosted by Simon Jones. Find out more about we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Join our free Discord community: https://discord.gg/3G39dRW  Music by Bennet Maples & library sources.

Award-winning poet Will Harris, creator of RENDANG (Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection and a Guardian best poetry book of 2020), is our guest this week. Will discusses how he perceives his writing career and explores form and feeling with Flo Reynolds.  Meanwhile Simon and Steph talk about our fundraising campaign for the Escalator talent development scheme, our lovely 'All Shall Be Well' prints to cheer everyone up in this tail end of 2020 and whether it's OK to have your Christmas tree up already. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ Donate to the Escalator campaign: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/escalator-donations-2020/ Get your 'All Shall Be Well' print: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/buy-a-julian-of-norwich-screen-print/ Music by Bennet Maples.