Tag Archives: writing tips

Writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. (But there may be some sprinting involved!)

It’s done. The second draft of my novel is finally finished. I can’t quite believe it. I also can’t quite believe how long I’ve been working on it: Feb 2020: After brewing the bones of the story and characters on … Continue reading

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“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” – George Orwell, 1984

This month I’ve been getting more and more interested in understanding the process of writing and making art, in the hope of understanding myself and being more comfortable with how I work. When I moved from directing to playwriting I … Continue reading

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“March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life’s path.” – Khalil Gibran

As the UK starts to open up after what feels like an awfully long period of lockdown, it’s left me thinking what, from the changes lockdown has brought to my life, do I want to keep?

This month has been shadowed for me, as I’m sure it has for you, with the memory of that first lockdown. I distinctly remember turning to my boss that day we closed the office, the person I sat next to at my day job every day, with no knowledge of when I’d see him in person again. I hardly ever worked from home. Not coming into the office was going to be a major change for us all. “See you… online I guess?” I said as we parted ways. Continue reading

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“January brings the snow, makes our feet and fingers glow.” – Sara Coleridge

I can’t remember why I stopped writing this blog. The Future is Mine was shortlisted for the Introduce Yourself Festival at Finborough Theatre in 2018, which was really exciting, but other projects seemed to fall away. Nothing really stuck. I … Continue reading

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The journey of a play

Each play I write takes me somewhere new. It takes me somewhere I hadn’t imagined I was going initially, and I usually end up with something that looks at the world in a way I hadn’t realised. I remembered this … Continue reading

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So what story are you writing? #allwritingisrewriting #writingtips

All writing is rewriting. It’s what they say but it’s also a truth about the writing process and I believe you can’t be a successful writer unless you enjoy the simple process of getting down words on the page and then … Continue reading

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Are all stories really the same? And does a female character have to be likeable? #NewYearNewPlay #WritingTips

Are you kick starting your year with a new creative project? I’m starting 2016 with rewriting. I’m taking a shorter project and making it longer, with the help of a director to make sure I’m making sense (and with the … Continue reading

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‘A play is a backward explosion’, That Face by Polly Stenham, December’s playwright #12newplaywrightsin12months

Part of the Royal Court Young Writers Group, Stenham was 18 when she wrote That Face, the play she submitted at the end of the course that went on to be produced at the Royal Court and the West End. … Continue reading

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‘My first play, Foxfinder, was read, liked, but not produced by basically the theatres that accept scripts’ Dawn King, November’s playwright #12newplaywrightsin12months

‘My first play, Foxfinder, was read, liked, but not produced by basically the theatres that accept scripts – and not just in London. I’d had lots of meetings with people who said they liked it, but that it was a … Continue reading

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Stef Smith looks at the ‘chaotic ways in which we continue’ in Swallow, October’s playwright #12newplaywrightsin12months

A friend of mine saw Stef Smith’s new play Swallow at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year and said I just had to read it! Smith wasn’t a writer I’d heard of and when I discovered she’d won an Olivier … Continue reading

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