Oliver Burkeman on time and how to use it
Oliver Burkeman’s new book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It explores how to build a life of creativity, productivity and meaning when we have limited time available - and even less control over that time. I caught up...
Too busy to write a book? Not if you have 15 minutes each day
Like many writers J.P. Choquette thought she didn't have enough time to write a novel. There were many reasons: she was too busy, too tired, her ideas weren't good enough. Sick and tired of her excuses she committed to writing for just 15 minutes a day. She shares how...
Keep going: 10 books to help build your writing resilience
From punchy pep talks to solid science, I've been reading books about how to build better habits and keep going for over a decade. These are the ones I turn to again and again when I want a burst of inspiration or help answering a tricky coaching question. Read on for...
How to keep writing using rewards
Whatever you’re writing it’s important to keep motivated and keep moving forward. That’s when rewards can power up your writing productivity. However, there’s more to rewards than treating yourself to a big slice of cake after...
Compete or collaborate? What the Iowa Writers’ Workshop teaches us about how to work with others
The fact that poet Paul Engle, who took over as director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1941 wrote with a bullwhip next to his typewriter speaks volumes about his methods and the philosophy behind the original program. Based at the University of Iowa, the Iowa...
The secrets of successful collaborative writing
In 2013, Alice Campion sent the manuscript of a novel she’d just finished called The Painted Sky to Penguin Random House Australia in the hope they might be interested in publishing it. They were. In fact, the publisher was bowled over. In an email back to the author,...
How long does it take to become a good writer? Deliberate practice for writing
Every writer has a backstory. The hidden hours of practice that got them to their ‘overnight’ success. Whether you’re creating a tenure track publication pipeline, or a poet working towards a first collection, it takes years to gain expertise as a writer. Get the...
How to avoid the willpower trap
We’re taught from an early age that trying to do such and such is admirable – and indeed, it can be. But in reality, making yourself do anything through willpower alone is a trap. It's demoralising and rarely gets results. Forcing yourself to write, stay focused or...
Overcome your writing blocks with obstacle thinking
Many things get in the way of writing - from the siren call of social media to children clamouring for attention. Find out what obstacles writers face and how to battle your writing baddies with obstacle thinking. Learn to WOOP with some help from video games. The...
Shake up your writing life to stop your routine becoming a rut
Writing routines work because they help you get the writing done in a more automatic way. But when your routine becomes an unhelpful rut and you start doing and thinking things that don’t work – you need to shake things up. In her book Mindfulness, which extols the...
You have less time than you think – and that’s OK
Feeling time-poor, burned out and unable to concentrate on your work in progress? Changing how you feel about the time you have can transform your writing practice. It all starts with noticing. No time to write The most common complaint we hear from writers is that...
Do you believe in writing myths?
You’d never call Cheryl Strayed (pictured) a shirker. Today, her books regularly hit the bestseller lists, her memoir Wild was made into an Oscar-nominated film. She’s successful and prolific by any measure. But for years she was stuck – she didn’t write a thing. She...