The modern academic landscape is a high-pressure environment. Students are consistently expected to manage a heavy course load, multiple complex assignments, part-time jobs, and a personal life. The demand for high-quality, original, and deeply researched writing has never been greater, and this relentless schedule can often lead to stress and academic burnout.

This pressure has led many students to seek out reliable, professional support to help manage their workload. When students decide to hire EssayService writers, they are looking for more than just a completed paper; they are seeking a trustworthy service that can deliver quality work on time, allowing them to regain control of their packed schedules. This review analyzes the EssayService platform, its writers, and its guarantees to determine if it lives up to its promises.

What is EssayService? The core premise

EssayService is an established online academic writing platform. Its central mission is to connect students with a large roster of qualified, professional freelance writers who are experts in various academic fields. The service is designed to function as a comprehensive support system for students at all levels, from high school to graduate programs.

It is built to help students who are overwhelmed by a demanding schedule, struggling with a complex and unfamiliar topic, or need assistance in meeting a tight deadline. By providing a reliable outlet for these academic pressures, EssayService aims to help students protect their grades and manage their time more effectively.

The core asset: vetted human writers

In 2025, the biggest question in writing is “human vs. AI.” While AI tools are fast, they are notoriously unreliable for the critical thinking, nuanced analysis, and genuine research required in higher education. EssayService builds its brand on the value of human expertise.

The platform emphasizes its roster of vetted writers, many of whom hold advanced degrees like Master’s or Ph.D.s in their chosen fields. This ensures that when a student orders a paper on a complex topic, it is handled by an expert with a real academic background in that subject. According to one of their freelance essay writers, Phil Collins, “The value of a professional essay writing service like EssayService lies in its ability to provide true subject-matter expertise, something an algorithm cannot replicate.” This human element is what guarantees the work has genuine analytical depth and is tailored to the specific instructions of the assignment.

A full spectrum of academic services

A significant strength of the EssayService platform is its versatility. It is not limited to a single type of assignment but is equipped to handle the wide variety of tasks a student might face throughout their academic career. This breadth means students can use a single, trusted platform for virtually any writing challenge.

The services offered extend far beyond standard essays:

• Complex Research Papers
• Dissertations and Theses
• Technical and Specialised Assignments
• Editing and Proofreading

The user experience: ordering and communication

EssayService has designed its platform to be straightforward and user-centric. The ordering process is broken down into a simple, clear form. A student specifies their academic level, the type of paper, the subject, the page count, and the deadline. They can also upload all relevant files, such as the assignment prompt, grading rubrics, or course materials.

A key feature of the platform is the high level of control it gives the user. Students are not randomly assigned a writer. Instead, they can browse the profiles of available experts, review their ratings, completion rates, and areas of expertise. This allows the student to select the writer they feel is the best fit for their specific task. The platform also includes a direct messaging system, allowing the client to communicate with their chosen writer throughout the process to ask questions and ensure the paper is on the right track.

Pillars of trust: guarantees and support

For any student, trust is the most important factor in choosing a writing service. EssayService builds this trust by offering a clear set of guarantees, which are essential for protecting the student’s investment and academic integrity.

This service framework includes several key policies:

• Originality: Every paper is written from scratch by an expert writer.
• On-Time Delivery: The service commits to meeting the deadline specified by the student.
• Confidentiality: All client information and order details are kept secure.
• Free Revisions: A crucial feature that allows students to request adjustments or changes to the final paper.
• 24/7 Customer Support: A dedicated support team is available at all times.

Conclusion

EssayService establishes itself as a strong, reliable, and professional academic support system for students who feel overwhelmed. Its key strengths lie in its emphasis on qualified human writers, a wide range of services covering everything from simple essays to complex dissertations, and a strong set of guarantees that protect the student.

For the modern student juggling a demanding course load, the platform provides a legitimate and effective way to manage stress, reclaim valuable time, and ensure their academic performance remains high. When used strategically, EssayService is a powerful and trustworthy resource for navigating the pressures of higher education.

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Let’s be real here; It’s not easy. You need a strategy. You need to be consistent. And you need to understand how the writing industry really works.

The good news? Writing careers can be the real deal. Professional writers can earn upwards of £57,000 per year, according to industry data. That’s not bad at all.

The bad news? The majority of aspiring writers never make it. They try for a few months, get frustrated, and quit. The difference between those who make it and those who fail?

The ones who treat their writing careers like businesses, not hobbies.

Here’s what you should learn…

• Finding your writing niche
• Building multiple income streams
• Creating a portfolio that gets results
• Setting rates that pay the bills (without feeling like you’re ripping people off)

Finding your writing niche

Your writing niche is one of the most important aspects of your writing career. It’s where you’ll focus all your efforts, hone your skills, and position yourself as an expert.

The trick is choosing the RIGHT niche. Would you rather compete with millions of other general writers? Or would you prefer to be one of the few who specialise in a specific area?

It’s a no-brainer.

Your niche will impact everything from your rates to the type of clients you work with. When starting out as a writer many people make the mistake of thinking a specific niche will close doors. In fact, it’s the exact opposite.

Specialisation = Expertise
Expertise = Higher Rates

A writer with a strong grasp of ecommerce SEO copywriting can charge three times more than someone who writes generically.

It’s the same for technical writing, copywriting, or any other specialised niche.

Here’s what works…

Choose a niche that interests you. If you’re genuinely passionate about a topic, research will be easier, and you’ll have the motivation to power through when projects get challenging. Look for industries with larger content budgets like tech, finance, and healthcare.

If you’re working on books? Use a title generator for book projects to make coming up with your own titles a bit easier. If you’re making the jump from writing articles to nonfiction book writing, it’s one of the most helpful ways to develop a versatile writing career across different mediums and formats. It comes down to versatility within your chosen niche whilst maintaining the level of expertise and authority that gets clients in the door to work with you.

Building multiple income streams

One of the best things you can do for your writing career is diversify your income streams. Relying on one source of income is a one-way ticket to the danger zone.

Smart writers know this. That’s why they don’t put all their eggs in one basket. Diversification means building multiple streams of income that support one another.

The foundation should always be client work. As you build your business, consistent writing projects provide stability and cash flow. Many writers work both freelance gigs and long-term retainers who pay a monthly retainer for a set amount of content.

But don’t stop there…

Digital products are another great way to build an income stream. Consider eBooks, courses, or even templates. Digital products provide passive income. You sleep, they bring in cash. Experienced writers even monetise their skills as coaches and consultants.

The beauty of having multiple streams of income is avoiding redundancy. If one dries up, you’re not frantically searching for clients to cover your rent. You have backups ready to fill the gaps.

Creating a portfolio that gets results

Your portfolio is your sales funnel. A strong portfolio lands you quality clients. But most people get this wrong… Too much quantity, not enough quality.

Three killer samples will beat twenty mediocre ones every time.

Here’s what you need to include in your portfolio…

Pick samples that showcase your best work. In your chosen niche, include pieces that demonstrate your skills and expertise. Real client results are best. Did your article drive traffic? Generate leads? Include those metrics.

Don’t have client work yet?

Write spec pieces. Craft sample articles for imaginary clients in your target niche. Make them look professional, then publish on your own blog.

Keep your portfolio current. Remove old work that doesn’t represent your skills and add new samples regularly. You want to show you’re active and improving.

Easy to find? Yes. Host your portfolio on your website. Keep it simple and clean. No one wants to dig around to find your work.

Setting rates that pay the bills

This one is critical…

Know your worth, and never undersell yourself. The biggest mistake new writers make is lowballing their rates.

If you charge too little, you only get clients who don’t value quality. It results in twice the work for half the money, and before you know it you’re burnt out.

Here’s the reality…

Rates need to cover your living expenses plus overheads. This includes taxes, subscriptions, software, marketing, and professional development. According to recent industry data, there are about 13,400 job openings for writers projected each year.

A good place to start is calculating your Minimum Viable Rate. What’s the absolute lowest you can charge and still survive? That’s your floor. Don’t go below this.

As you gain experience and confidence, increase your rates periodically. Every new client is quoted your current rate. You can increase existing clients annually 10-15%.

Clients who value quality will pay. The ones who baulk at fair rates aren’t worth your time in the first place.

Developing systems for success

Successful writers aren’t a random collection of one-offs. They have systems. Repeatable processes that make their careers predictable and scalable.

Create templates for everything. Pitch emails, project proposals, invoice reminders… none of these should be written from scratch every time. Planning is everything. A content calendar keeps you consistent and reduces decision fatigue. Block out time for client work, marketing, and skill development.

Automation is your friend. Set up automatic invoice reminders, use scheduling tools for social media, create email sequences for new clients.

Track time and income. You need to know how long projects take and which clients are most profitable. This data helps you make smarter business decisions.

Investing in continuous learning

The writing industry is always evolving. What worked five years ago? It will change. Long-term successful writers invest in their own continuous improvement.

Follow industry blogs, writing communities, and virtual conferences to stay current. It helps you see the bigger picture and position strategically.

Learn the adjacent skills that make you more valuable. SEO basics, content strategy, or social media marketing will make you more attractive to clients.

Invest in training and courses. Whether it’s to improve your craft or learn business skills, education is an investment. The writers who consistently invest in themselves earn more over time.

Read, read, read. Widely. Great writers are great readers. It expands vocabulary, exposes you to different writing styles, and helps with generating new ideas.

Managing the business side

Your writing career is a business. Treat it as one if you want sustainable success. This means managing your finances, marketing yourself, and maintaining client relationships professionally.

Track your expenses and set aside 25-30% for taxes. Keep records of business expenses for deductions.

Market consistently. Don’t wait until you need work. Build relationships, network, and stay visible even when busy.

Set boundaries with clients. Establish working hours, response times, project scopes. This prevents scope creep and protects your time.

Contracts for every project. Protect yourself legally and set expectations upfront. Contracts prevent misunderstandings and ensure payment.

A sustainable writing career requires more than talent

It needs strategy. Consistent effort. And running your career like a business. Specialise, diversify income streams, showcase best work, charge what you’re worth.

The writers who make it aren’t necessarily the most talented. They’re the ones who show up, continue learning, and operate like a business.

It won’t be easy. But is it worth it?

Absolutely.

It’s not a matter of whether you can build a sustainable writing career. It’s a matter of whether you’re willing to do what it takes to get there.

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And essays are still very important, even though the internet, technology, and changes in how teachers teach have quickly changed the way we learn today. Most of the time, students don’t see why this old-fashioned way of testing is still useful, now that they can learn online.

Platforms like Essaypro can do the homework for students who need extra support, helping them understand how to research, structure, and present their ideas more effectively.

But essay writing is a good way to learn skills that will help you do well in school, grow as a person, and potentially advance in your job. This piece talks about why it’s still important to write essays.

Essays as a tool for critical thinking

There is a lot of information out there for students to choose from, but not all of it is useful or accurate. They learn how to sort through all this information, pick out what’s important, and make a case that makes sense by writing essays. When students write essays, they have to look at different points of view, decide how reliable sources are, and come up with their own opinions.

Through this process, essay writing cultivates critical thinking skills. Just putting their thoughts into a format that makes sense forces them to think deeply about the topic. In addition, making a strong case helps students get better at handling problems, which is a skill that is highly valued in almost all job fields.

The role of essays in developing communication skills

In school and in real life, it’s important to communicate clearly. Writing essays is a very important part of learning how to order your thoughts. Students learn how to explain complicated ideas in a clear and concise way by writing essays. This is a skill that is useful in any job.

The skills students acquire while constructing essays help them become more effective communicators. Students get better at making their points clear whether they are writing a convincing argument or a theory that is hard to understand. You can use these writing skills in public speaking, group talks, and even daily chats, so they will help you for a long time after school is over.

Essays and creativity in academic settings

Lots of people think that writing for school is boring and follows rules, but essays let you be artistic. Students can think about things from their own unique points of view when they write essays. They need to be well-organized and make their points clear. They can use different sources, come up with their own ideas, and look at things from different points of view when they are writing an essay.

That said, many students struggle when faced with complex essay prompts or when they lack the time to thoroughly research a topic. If you feel like you have too much to do, getting an argumentative essay writing service can help. Students can handle the demands of academic writing without sacrificing quality with the help of these services. They help students order their thoughts, build their cases, and meet their due dates.

Being creative is important, but students can also feel less stressed and do better work if they know when and how to ask for help. Professional help can be very helpful when it comes to writing a strong thesis or improving your thoughts.

Preparing students for higher education and careers

Colleges and universities put a lot of weight on essays because they are a great way to see how well a student can think deeply and analyze things. College students are expected to write papers that are well-researched and make sense. When you write essays in high school, you often build skills that make it easier to write at the college level.

You need to be able to write essays for many jobs, not just school. People who work in business, law, public relations, and other fields need to be able to make their case, explain things clearly, and persuade others. Writing is a skill that students can use in real life because it helps them get better at these skills.

Careers where essay writing skills are essential:

Essays as a measure of learning and understanding

Standardized tests and multiple-choice tests can show how well a student remembers things, but they don’t always show how well they understand them. They need to show that they understand a subject by making points, giving proof, and putting thoughts together in writings. This test doesn’t just look at the top of something; it digs deeper. A teacher can see not only what their students know but also how they think by having them write articles. A well-written essay shows that the student can use classroom and real-life information, see things from several angles, and understand the issue. Teachers may assess students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and intellectual advancement via papers.

Conclusion

Essay writing is relevant in an era where technology dominates schooling. Essays are a standard in school, but they also develop voice, inventiveness, and critical thinking. Essays give pupils several skills they’ll need for college and work. Even though essays are hard, they teach useful skills that are becoming more and more important in a world that values honest and smart people. Essays are still an important part of modern education, whether students write them themselves or hire someone to do it for them.

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Coursework writing is a time-consuming process that often creates a lot of obstacles for students, especially when the topic is complex.

We want to make it a bit easier for you and offer practical tips on how to write coursework on a complicated topic, and don’t struggle as much as you usually do. Let’s delve into it!

Ideas on how to start

Getting to work is always the hardest part. Even the idea of starting to work on a complex assignment seems terrifying because it implies how hard the process is going to be. Therefore, many students choose to procrastinate. Others decide to get coursework writing help from EssayShark or similar services.

However, dealing with such a task on your own helps you improve your writing skills and overcome challenges you’ve never thought you’d be able to deal with. So, the best way to start is to divide this huge assignment into small parts and go about it one step at a time. Think of it as separate tasks if it helps you cope with the complexity of the assignment. Once you write just a few sentences, it will seem much easier. Then, create an outline and tackle each task daily to keep going.

Find compelling arguments

This process involves spending hours researching books, journals, and articles to find the necessary arguments to support your claim. It takes a lot of time, too. While it may feel intimidating, we advise you to approach it step-by-step and think of it as a quest where you need to find the best arguments to prove your point. Looking for relevant information is a great way to unwind after coming up with an outline and a coursework structure, so make sure you use this opportunity to focus on researching before you get to the writing part.

Read more: how to help your child with exam stress

Avoid cliches

Nobody wants to submit coursework that reads like yet another boring piece of writing everyone is already familiar with. Creating something that’s already been researched and discussed is one of the primary reasons so many students find it hard to write compelling coursework in the first place.

Therefore, the best piece of advice to adhere to is to choose an under-researched topic, so you have lots of fresh ideas to share. Surely, working on such a task will be much more challenging. Yet, you’ll have something to add to the general pool of knowledge in your field. Don’t forget to express your own voice in the paper and try to approach the issue from a different angle.

Manage your time effectively

Managing time efficiently is the biggest struggle for many students who take on such a demanding task. The best and most practical advice is not to procrastinate and start working as soon as you get the task. Even if the only thing you do that day is writing an outline, it’s much better than waiting until the last minute.

There’s no magic to learning how to manage your time effectively. The only working option is to force yourself to start working to get this process started. It will get better once you do so. Moreover, allocating enough time to each aspect of the writing process will help you stay on top of things, keep track of everything that you need to do, and avoid the stress of pulling an all-nighter.

Learn how to overcome the fear of failure

The fear of not being able to tackle a complex issue or receiving a lower-than-expected grade is what stops students from getting to work on such a task right away. The main point every student should keep in mind is that trying to do your best is much more productive than not doing anything at all. If you choose the latter, you will feel frustrated and have nothing to submit. If you decide to try, you will have the result of your work right in front of you, which might make you feel like you’ve accomplished something.

Studying in college is all about dealing with challenging tasks on a daily basis that help you grow, evolve, and acquire new knowledge and skills. Don’t be afraid of failure. Embrace it because it is a part of your academic journey. Even if you fail to complete the task as expected on your first or second attempt, it’s the best learning curve you can think of. It motivates you to learn from your mistakes and try again until you are satisfied with the result.

Final thoughts

Don’t despair if you are struggling with writing coursework. The task is challenging, and completing it perfectly takes time and effort. Keep in mind that the more time you have, the easier this process will be. Moreover, you will have an additional opportunity to double-check everything and make sure that you’ve included all the necessary aspects.

As hard as it may seem at first, we advise you to get to work right away and create a plan so you know what to do next. It will help you manage your time effectively and avoid doing everything at the last minute. Take breaks from researching and writing to unwind and get a fresh perspective. The most important thing to remember is not to be afraid of failure.

Failing and trying again until you succeed is a natural process that enables you to evolve and acquire new skills. Get the most out of it.

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In our Meet the Novelist series Flic Everett, writing as F.L Everett, has just debuted her Edie York cosy crime series with A Report of Murder. And her second novel, Murder in a Country Village, is now on sale.

How would you describe yourself?

I am small, extremely determined, highly anxious, and a very loving – some might say smothering – mother to my wonderful grown-up son. I’m very bad at staying tidy but like to have huge, sweeping blitzes of the house every few weeks, so everything is perfect for 10 minutes, before it all atrophies again.

I love cooking. I’m vegetarian/pescetarian, while my husband basically has the diet of a Paleolithic tiger, so I often cook complex and fancy meals for myself. Although Ottolenghi’s recipes make my brain hurt. I love baking and eating out, but have been on a rolling low-key diet for months, so I’m not doing much of either at the moment – and eating out is increasingly too expensive. And I like crap reality TV and really good TV dramas, and my favourite films are mostly pre-1950.

Can you tell us more about your unique sense of style?

I love clothes. I used to own a vintage shop in Manchester and I still miss it. My greatest treat is a proper rummage in an old-fashioned charity shop and a pile of bargains. I’m quite lazy about beauty though – I’ve just had my first haircut in two years, and I can’t do Botox because I’m too scared of it.

How important are friends and family?

I have a lot of friends who I value hugely, on and offline. As an only child, I have a very small but wonderful family – I go back to Manchester a great deal to see them. I’m married to Andy, my third and last husband, who is very clever and understands me.

Aside from the people I love, what makes me happiest is animals and reading. We’ve got two spaniels and a little black cat. When I’m away, I miss them so much it’s almost physical. Every childhood photo shows me clutching some small animal or other, or cuddling a pony – not mine, I’m not very posh – or holding up a reluctant cat. I wanted to be a vet, but I’m rubbish at science.

Apart from writing, what are you good at – and what are you not so good at?

I’m good at buying presents, finding bargains, listening, decorating, drawing, and arguing in print. I’m bad at parking, concentrating on anything but reading or writing, maths, science and arguing in person because it makes me panic.

Where do you like to write?

I hate writing in cafes. I feel constantly on edge, aware of crying babies and beset by the whacking sound of that little coffee thing they’re always bashing. I feel like I need to keep ordering stuff I don’t want so they don’t chuck me out and I honestly can’t understand why people enjoy it.

Equally, I don’t write outdoors. “Ooh, lovely day, look at me, working in the garden!” Yes, with your pink, peeling nose and the sun glaring off the screen. No, thank you. I work in my house, in silence – I can’t focus any other way. You may not believe I’m fun at parties, but I am.

Any particular spot in the house?

I have a sort-of office in the spare bedroom of our two-bedroom cottage, but the dogs either whine outside the door, or bash their way in and jump about, plus Andy likes to have the news on in the living room so I get distracted by reporters shouting about politics. I prefer to work in the kitchen on a really un-ergonomic bentwood chair piled with cushions, so I can reach the table, as I’m 5’1”. That way, I’m near the kettle, the radiator, the fridge and the dogs. Plus the cat has a box on the table, so I can reach out to stroke her if she’s lying in it. At the moment she prefers our bed, but cats are very changeable.

Are you a handwriting merchant?

Good grief, no. I used to read books by Americans that often mentioned writing in yellow legal pads and they always sounded quite exotic, but I’ve never found one. I have terrible handwriting. If I write Andy a shopping list he has to go through it, translating worries into cherries. I work on a MacBook Air. Occasionally, I make notes in my phone if something strikes me, but notepads really are just for notes. For actual book, it has to be typing in Word. I am that Mac person who the PC people despise.

Do you have any writing rituals?

I have to be dressed properly, I have to be sitting upright and, while I will allow Andy to come in and make bread, and I can cope with the tumble drier being on, any more noise than that is unacceptable to me and my jangling nerves.

So, you’re a creature of habit?

Yes, I must have a boiling hot bath every day, or I feel uneasy. I don’t drink much, after years of drinking quite a lot – or a normal amount for a journalist. I stopped for four years and now I have the odd one, but I’m a Virgo and a health hypochondriac. I don’t want to be responsible for my own death, so I try to be reasonably healthy. I go for long walks where we live in the country in Scotland. It’s my dream to see an otter.

Do you eat and drink while you write?

A great deal of tea with skimmed milk. I don’t really drink much else. I can’t write while I eat, so I have to have a little break. I’ll read the sidebar of shame or a bit of whatever book I’m reading – currently the new Lisa Jewell. I try to have a proper lunch break to give my brain a rest, so I eat leftovers or soup or whatever’s in the fridge.

Do you write to music or do you prefer quiet?

Silence and solitude. Although I was writing a short story for a mag the other day and struggling to get in the mood, so I did play a bit of French accordion music to help me write about Paris.

What’s the strangest thing you do to inspire yourself?

I don’t think I do anything strange, I’m quite boring. Perhaps as a freelance journalist for 30 years, you get over the idea of inspiration very quickly. I’m still a journalist, as well as a novelist. If I’ve got a deadline, I just do it, and the same goes for writing novels. Sit down, bash it out. Some days it’s easier than others, but I don’t drift about by ponds, waiting for my muse to strike.

What if you’re exhausted?

If I’m tired, I favour a very hot bath with a good thriller, and a cuddle with the dogs. And in times of exhaustion it’s nice to have a change of scene – even a visit to the cinema – to immerse yourself in something else for a bit. And I go for a walk nearly every day, so if things just aren’t working, I take the dogs out and go up a hill. See? Boring.

How do you overcome distractions and procrastination?

I don’t even think about them. I started as a journalist when I was 21, working from home. By 22, I had a baby, and by 24 I was divorced. I had to make a living, so that’s what I did – it’s no different from sitting in an office. If I dick about, I’m not earning money and I’m annoying my editors, and they probably won’t use me again. That’s enough to keep me at it. Having said that, I spend a lot of time on social media – it has made life much less lonely for writers.

Are many of your characters based on real people?

None of them. I always find it odd when people ask who they’re based on, as if the whole point of being a writer isn’t making things up. I invent all of them – it’s my favourite part of the entire process. I think all plot should spring from character, even in crime novels. It’s very important to me to make my cast of people believable. Of course, we’re all influenced by who we are, and who we’ve met over the years, and I’m sure there’s a bit of me in Edie – but really, they’re people I’d like to meet, rather than people I know. Although I did borrow one tiny trait of my mum’s in my second book to describe a character and she did recognise it, but nobody else would!

Read more: meet another novelist; Mhairi McFarlane on romcoms and real people…

Are there other genres you’d like to explore with your writing?

I constantly have ideas for books in other genres – the only kind that doesn’t remotely interest me is fantasy. Books about elves and kingdoms are in my Room 101. They always seem utterly devoid of humour – “Sire, we shall feast well this night!” – and I find them horrifically dull.

I’m not keen on horror, space, goddesses, futuristic dystopias or books about everyone on Earth suddenly waking up with a new power. I do enjoy witches, time travel and pure science-y sci-fi, though. Blake Crouch does this well. I like thrillers, spy novels, good rom coms, gripping literary fiction – books about real people in real situations. I would happily write any kind, as long as it’s character-led.

I do love cosy crime as it ticks many of my enjoyment boxes, but perhaps one day I’ll try other types too. I did write a psychological thriller during lockdown, but looking back, it was a bit bleak, and a bit too informed by my last, very traumatic, divorce. Best left, I think!

Are there any hard and fast rules you set yourself for your stories or characters?

I try to avoid cliché. Other than that, there are certain unspoken rules about cosy crime. You wouldn’t make your lovable protagonist the killer, for instance – and the ending has to be satisfactory. You can’t just leave all the threads dangling. But beyond that, no.

I’m very careful about dialogue. My books are set during the war, so I spend a lot of time on etymology websites, checking on slang and whether certain expressions were in use. I wish TV scriptwriters would do the same. I’m still not over Downton Abbey describing Lady Edith as ‘feisty.’

Will the internet and people’s shortened attention spans ever mean the end of the novel?

This is an Oxford entrance exam question. I know, because I did the exam, then screwed up the interview by getting drunk the night before with a Goth undergraduate I’d just met.
I can’t answer it, which is probably why I didn’t get in. I can only say, I hope not.

What do you wish you’d known before starting this novel-writing malarkey?

That I’d be extremely skint for a very long time – you get paid after publication with my publisher. Other than that, nothing has surprised me. I love it and it’s everything I hoped.

What would you advise eager new writers?

I’d say don’t get too bogged down in support groups and writing circles, and don’t worry too much about feedback early on. Too much opinion can kill a book stone dead. Write what you want to write, make it as good as you can. Then show the world.

Writing is fetishised and people get overwrought about it, but you’re just putting words down on paper. You don’t need rituals and hashtags and retreats, you just need to have a story you want to tell. Crack on! Nobody will tell your story for you – unless you’re a celeb with a ghostwriter – so you might as well do it yourself.

• To order Flic’s books on Amazon in all their various forms hit this link
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) takes place every November. It began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Meet the novelist: Flic Everett on cats, clichés, and the horror of fantasy appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Our next meet the novelist is Mhairi McFarlane. McFarlane needs little introduction – her catalogue is prolific. Her romantic comedy novels have been critically acclaimed and book, If I Never Met You, is being adapted for screen.

How would you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as a romantic comedy novelist. But if you call me chick lit, I wouldn’t melt down. I quite like the chance then to exceed expectations.

Where do you write?

At home on my pink MacBook Air! Such a cliché… I’m not great with distractions – and there are so many post-internet – so first draft pressure needs quiet and solitude. I can edit in Caffe Nero if I need a change of scene, but I’m 95% own sofa. Boring, I know. I am short of a fabulous nook, and weird baroque routine: “First I must eat two kiwis from my grandmother’s china…”

Read more: Meet the novelist, Pam Howes

Do you take longhand notes or use a keyboard?

Keyboard. Didn’t Quentin Tarantino say he does longhand drafts because “you can’t write poetry on a computer”? It’s a lovely sentiment, but given the job involves deadlines and endless rewriting, you need your work-in-progress to have a delete key.

If you weren’t a romantic comedy novelist, is there another genre you’d like to explore?

Ooh, crime. Detective novels. I love a returning world like Rebus in Edinburgh. I’d definitely end up throwing in a Robin-and-Strike-style slow burn romance though. You can take a girl out of her genre, but you can’t take the genre out of the girl.

Is there anything strange you do to inspire yourself when you’re running on empty?

I’m not sure it qualifies as strange, but I accept social invites, so it looks like the exact opposite of working. I see strangers who become visual blueprints for characters, I have conversations that spark ideas, and if I’m seeing a film or a show, then at some point my mind wanders to my own project. Sometimes what seems to be occupying yourself is freeing you up to roam, mentally. This is my excuse for why you’ll find me in the pub a week before deadline, anyway.

How do you even make yourself sit and finish your work?

Hmm, I am not sure there’s a single answer to this. I swill black coffee and chat online a lot to warm up for writing, but I don’t accept those who’d say it’s a scandalous waste of time. When it comes to something creative, you might only have a few productive hours in you in a day, so it’s about making space for them to happen. My most common tactic when I’m simply not feeling it – for my money this is worse than fooling about – the times when your manuscript seems flat and worthless, and you’re drained of inspiration or belief in it – is to go edit a section that already exists and improve that by increments. My editing brain is way less of a sensitive, mutable diva than my production brain. This, however, depends on having written enough there’s material to edit. You can see why my first drafts crank out pitifully slowly.

How many of your characters are based on real people?

Lots. None. All of them. This is not a contradictory answer. It’s pretty hard to offend me, but the one question that makes my hackles rise is when people think a novel is a Guess Who? game of personalities you’ve encountered in real life. Not only does this imply I can’t do my job and no actual fiction has gone on, but who’s surrounded by a real world cast colourful enough to populate a romantic comedy anyway? Or for any novel for that matter? Sounds improbable and exhausting. It’s up there with “Are all your plots things that have happened to you?” BRIAN, I’VE DONE NINE BOOKS, THINK THAT QUESTION THROUGH!

Tell us more about the myth of simply lifting plots from life…

This mistaken belief that it’s a game of plagiarising reality is why slush piles are full of books of the dreaded “so many funny things happened in my office and all I have to do is write them down” variety. If you try to directly port over people you know or anecdotes you tell to paper, you’ll find they fall flat. Building a story has different needs, so try memoir instead. You draw from life around you constantly, obviously, but for me, every character is a composite. I might rob handy elements here and there, but the whole of them is a fiction. Sometimes they’re pure fantasy.

Can you give an example of a fantasy character?

There’s a boss in my book Who’s That Girl? called Richard. He was simply me trying to write my platonic ideal of a dream boss, and sadly he’s wholly invented! He might have a bit of the Barack Obamas about him, but that’s it.

Do your friends and enemies ever recognise themselves in your books?

Friends, sometimes, enemies, never. Though would they tell me if they did? It’d be what the young people call a self-own, wouldn’t it? “That shocking two faced bitch is clearly ME!” Top tip: you can either hide it from people, or alert anyone you know that it’s them by your choice of the most superficial characteristics. For example, if you want to write about your terrible brother, make him a sister and he won’t see it, no matter how pitiless and accurate the portrait. If you write a doctor and your pal’s a doctor, she will think it’s her, no matter how wildly dissimilar they are. It’s quite comforting and useful, as we novelists need to be able to do distraction thefts and misdirects.

Do you eat and drink while you’re writing?

Ha! I’ve never been asked this! Nothing. I chug pints of black coffee. If I am eating lunch, the screen’s on something else for the duration.

Do you play music when you work or do you prefer silence?

I am absolutely a silence person. My little rat brain cannot cope with multiple channels of information flow at once.

Are there any absolute hard and fast rules you set yourself about your stories or characters?

I once read: “Lie about everything except emotions.” I try to keep that with me. Someone behaving in an unnatural way purely to push the plot forward is a huge no. Never make your characters puppets of the plot. And never shortchange the difficulty of something you’re tackling because it was a device, and you want to get back to the other lighter thing that’s happening. I’ve written about some serious topics in my books and I think readers have always come with me because they can see they’re not there to provide a narrative wrinkle or a topical issue. For example, one of my books features a death and I was adamant to my editor that the loss is there until the very last page, not simply tidied away and moved on from.

Will the internet and people’s shortened attention spans ever mean the end of the novel?

Well, if cinema and television weren’t the end of the novel, why would TikTok be?

What do you wish you’d known before starting this novel-writing malarkey?

Ooh, good question. Do you know, I’m not sure any advice to Younger Me me works, because all I’d do is fret. I could tell her that coming up with the ideas every year is a bastard, but what’s she going to do with that knowledge? I wish I’d enjoyed my debut more. You only get to be new once and I had this vast blank canvas and no risk of repeating myself, but all that was swallowed by the terror and uncertainty.

Any advice for eager new writers?

Write the story that grips your stomach, that keeps you awake at night, that you become obsessed with. Write the book that isn’t there on the bookshop shelves that you want to read. Enthusiasm is a communicable disease.

• To find out more about Mhairi McFarlane’s work, go to mhairimcfarlane.com
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) takes place every November. It began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words in thirty days.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Meet the novelist: Mhairi McFarlane on romcoms, real people, and ridiculous questions appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Time to meet novelist Pam Howes, who has made her name writing an astonishing range of historical fiction sagas, set in the north of England. As well as that, she’s also dabbling with short stories, poetry, and tales of a fictional rock’n’roll band…

How would you describe yourself?

I’m a mum of three, grandma of seven, great-grandma of two, mum to one pug named Lennon, and partner to one musician. That’s the domestic things sorted. I guess you could say I’m getting on a bit in years, but I refuse to ever slow down and accept that.

I’m always busy with the music side of our life. As roadie to my partner at his gigs, I arrange musical reunion nights with old friends and book bands. I love getting together with a crowd and going to live shows, especially to see Rod Stewart and Paul McCartney. I just love people and being with them, as being an author is quite solitary at times.

Where do you prefer to write?

I prefer to write at home and I have a very nice office where I do all my emails and catch up on social media. However, later in the day, I tend to make myself comfortable on the bed with the laptop on my knee and Lennon at my feet. This is probably because I consume a lot of coffee during the day and am wide awake when most people are asleep. My mind is in overdrive, and I find writing flows as scenes develop in my overactive brain.

I occasionally pop into a café, just to eavesdrop more than anything. It’s surprising how many ideas and character traits come from listening to people having a good gossip.

Do you write notes in longhand or do you go straight to the keyboard?

Straight to the keyboard these days, but in days of yore, when I started to write my first novel in the late nineties, I wrote it all on notepads, then I typed it on a word processor. This was a long time before I had my first computer, and I had no idea how to type, so it was trial, and error and the thing only printed out one page at a time. Can you imagine how long it all took? But I persevered and worked on the printed pages, teaching myself to edit and went back into the document to input those edits. I think a lot of trees lost their lives during this process. There was no big screen to check things on, just a narrow strip where you could see two lines of your written words. It was very hard work to say the least.

Read more: Meet the novelist – Julia Crouch

If you didn’t write historical fiction, what would you explore instead?

Definitely crime. I dabble a bit, but sagas are supposed to be nice, within reason, so I can’t have anyone too nasty, although I’ve had the odd murderer and drunken villain to spice things up a bit. I love creating that type of character and would absolutely love to do a crime series.

What’s the strangest thing you do to inspire yourself when you’re running on empty?

If I’m flagging, I’ll go for a drive somewhere nice and talk to myself. Having two characters conversing and bringing a scene to life in my head works well. I often wondered, before the onset of hands-free phones, what people sitting in the car next to me at traffic lights thought when they saw a mad woman talking and shouting to herself while waiting for the lights to change. Now you see people talking seemingly to themselves all the time!

How do you beat the distractions when you need to crack on with your writing?

I really don’t have many distractions as all my family are grown and have long flown the nest, and my partner is always busy and rarely gets under my feet while I’m working. He makes great coffee when he’s around. I ignore the phone if I’m in the zone. So consequently, if I’m on a writing day, which is most days, the work comes first and everything else must wait. I feel for fellow authors who have kids to see to and school runs to do. I couldn’t have done this job when my kids were younger.

How many of your characters are based on real people?

Quite a lot of them are based on real people, especially the music-based stories. I have several friends in the music business, and they make great characters. Even though most of them are getting on a bit, they’re still a very lively bunch. Some characters I’ve had to invent, but in the saga stories, the women are easy to write as I just base them on my late mum, nana and aunties.

Do your friends and enemies recognise themselves in your books?

Oh yes, quite often. I pinch their names too, which they love. I’ve not bumped off any enemies yet but I have a plan, so watch this space…

Lennon, part of the team

Do you eat and drink while you’re writing?

Just coffee when I take a quick break and I share a daily blueberry muffin with Lennon because we’re a team.

What about playing music when you work? Or do you prefer peace and quiet?

I usually have music on in the background on the jukebox. I can’t stand absolute silence.

Are there any strict rules you set for plots or characters?

Not really. I usually have a rough idea of the timeline span in each series. The main thing I like to do is if the first book in a series is set in WWII is to finish the series by moving the final book onwards to the fifties or sixties, so I can throw in some good music and memories from those decades. I almost always manage to squeeze a mention of The Beatles and that famous meeting of John and Paul in July 1957. You’d be surprised how many different stories I’ve managed to work that one into.

Will the internet and people’s shortened attention spans ever mean the end of the novel?

I don’t think so. There will always be readers. And people who can’t see anything on telly that they like tend to turn to a good book. I have to say for myself, I love audio books and that could be an alternative for many who may want to get on with something else while they are being read a story. It wasn’t something I was into for a long time, until I had to listen to the samples of my own books to choose the narrator. I found I loved listening to them bringing my characters to life, all the accents they must input, and they do it so well. I’ve since listened to loads of books I’d already read and I just love it.

What do you wish you’d known before you started writing books?

I never for one minute thought I would ever become so hooked on writing. The only thing I possibly regret is not doing a typing course at school or night school, but it was the last type of job I ever wanted as a teenager, so couldn’t be bothered. Knowing what I know now, it would have speeded up the process at the beginning. It’s worth a thought, although everyone uses a keyboard of one sort or another these days, so I can’t see a novice writer having those problems at all.

What would you advise eager new writers?

Never give up. Just keep at it, because one day someone will look at your work and maybe be interested in signing you up. But the most important thing is to make sure you get your work edited to a good and readable standard before you even think about submitting it. Or it’ll end up with being pushed to one side after all your hard work. It really is worth the effort and small cost to do that.

• To find out more about Pam Howes and to buy her books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pam-Howes/e/B004D5E24S
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) takes place every November. It began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Meet the novelist: Pam Howes on technology, talking to herself, and too much coffee appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Continuing our series, we meet another exceptional novelist, Sophie Hannah, who reflects on a writing career in which she cannot be pigeonholed.

How would you describe yourself?

I am excessively optimistic, to a Panglossian degree – often almost to the point of delusion – but this is an approach I very much choose on purpose, because I firmly believe that it’s the best way to be, from the point view of having the best life experience – and as a way to maximise the chances of everything going as well as it possibly can!

Where is your perfect place for writing?

The ideal writing spot for me is at home, with a block of five guaranteed interruption-free hours and nobody else in the house, preferably late morning to mid-afternoon. But this literally never happens, so I have to make do with anywhere, any time and under any conditions! The place is definitely less important than the solitude and lack of interruptions.

Do you write by hand or go straight to the keyboard?

The planning stage is always handwritten in a beautiful notebook, and the actual writing of the book happens on my laptop. I absolutely hate sitting at a desk, though. It feels too much like work and makes me shudder, so I sit in an armchair with my feet up on a footstool and my laptop is balanced on a cushion on my knee.

Read more: Meet the queen of ‘domestic noir’, Julia Crouch

Tell us about how you work across different genres

I’m not one for staying in my lane and have branched out into self-help, writing three books in that genre. I wrote the latest, The Double Best Method, after I realised that I had invented the world’s greatest decision-making tool. Yes, really… If you disagree, email me via my website and tell me why! Anyone who struggles to make wise choices, who second guesses their decisions, or beats themselves up when things go wrong, needs my foolproof method in their life.

Sounds like something we could all use. What other lanes do you like to venture into?

I’ve written a murder mystery musical that started life as a school play and is just about to come out as a movie called The Mystery of Mr. E. It premieres in a London cinema on 25 November and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime from that day too. It’s a feel-good, family-friendly musical with catchy songs and a baffling mystery. Twin brothers John and George Danes call themselves The Generalists and they do all kinds of bizarre jobs for all sorts of peculiar people. One day, they get a visit from a mysterious stranger, who says no more than, ‘I am the murderer’ before disappearing. John and George have to find out who this odd man is, and what murder he is referring to. Before they know it, a murder is committed right under their nose. But the strange man who identified himself as the murderer is nowhere to be found…

How do you inspire yourself when you’re running on empty?

I think my strategies are just the standard things that many people do to recharge – rest, holidays, swimming, meditating – nothing out of the ordinary, but all highly effective.

How do you beat the distractions and prevarications that can prevent you from getting your writing done?

I really struggle with this. I can only force myself to work when my self-criticism gets so loud that it’s more painful to avoid writing than it is to write. Luckily, though, I also get obsessed with any story idea that I really love, so once I start work on it, I’m driven to carry on and see it through because I’m determined to make it real.

Do you invent any of your characters or are they based on real people?

I invent most of them! Though obviously they share traits with people I know or have encountered. I think that’s inevitable.

Have any friends or enemies recognised themselves when you’ve written them into a novel?

Yes, but only when the characters could not be more different from them if they tried. Once someone – a bit of a rotter – threatened to sue me because he thought I’d based a character on him. The fictional character was unlike him in every possible way, apart from being a bit of a rotter. Evidently, that was the part he recognised!

Do you eat and drink when you write?

I drink constant, endless cups of tea with milk. Usually Earl Grey or Lapsang Souchong.

Do you play music as you work or are you desperate for absolute silence and solitude?

Absolute silence and solitude all the way to the last page.

Are there any absolute hard and fast rules you set yourself about your stories or characters?

My main aim is to grip the reader, which I always try to do with an impossible hook; something that presents a mystery that feels completely unsolvable, even unguessable. I love to create flawed and complex characters, because anything else just isn’t true to life. My characters have to be psychologically interesting. And I’m not interested in transferrable, generic motives such as the killer doing it for the money. I want my motives to be specific to that particular killer, in those particular circumstances, and to have arisen from their unique psyche.

Will the internet and people’s shortened attention spans ever mean the end of the novel?

No, I don’t think so. The more instant online culture becomes, the more it’s going to wear us down and that’ll lead to some people, at least, remembering the joy and the benefits of immersion in something longer and more satisfying. Novels will always have a place in the world and many people will always love and want them.

What do you wish you’d known before starting this novel-writing malarkey?

That one day I was going to be successful. If I could have seen the future, I would have been far less gutted about each of the early fail results I stacked up when I first started trying to get published. I’d have been able to be happy in the moment, no matter what, because I’d have known I was going to achieve my goals. Although the good news for writers just starting out is that you can and should approach the process as though success is guaranteed – it’ll make your dreams much more likely to come true and ensure a contented writing life.

Do you have any advice for new writers?

I found I had so much advice to offer that I became a Master Certified life coach and set up Dream Author Coaching, my online coaching programme that has helped hundreds of writers so far. And it’s not just for new writers. I’ve helped lots of hugely successful and bestselling authors who were suffering from the negative emotional and psychological issues that seem to – but certainly don’t need to – come with the territory. The programme is for anyone who loves writing and who wants to feel happy and energised about their dreams, rather than anxious, frustrated or stressed. Over the four years that I’ve been teaching and coaching, we’ve had some quite staggeringly brilliant results – writers watching their dreams come true in front of their eyes!

• Find out more about Sophie’s coaching programme: dreamauthorcoaching.com. To buy her books and find out more about her work: https://sophiehannah.com/
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) takes place every November. It began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Meet the novelist: Sophie Hannah on genre-hopping, and the sound of silence appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Ever thought about writing a novel? They say there’s a book in everyone, but how many of us get that book down on paper? Julia Crouch is the first in our series of interviews where we meet the novelist. And find out more about their writing challenges and habits…

How would you describe yourself?

I’m a novelist, runner, speccy yoga-doer, mother of three grown-up beauties – and I’m soon to be a grandmother. I pot, paint and go for long walks with my dog. I have been married to Tim for 34 years, though I would never call myself a wife. I am – generally – quietly political; a green, lefty, vegetarian feminist. I’m handy, practical and good in a crisis. Oh, and I cook like a bitch.

Where is your most ‘fertile’ zone for writing?

I have a studio at the bottom of my garden, which I bought in a good graphic design year about 20 years ago. It has had many incarnations and for the last decade, it has been my writing studio. I used to do most of my work in there, either at my sit/stand desk or lying on a day bed.

But in the last couple of years, my pottery and painting habit has commandeered half the space, and my writing area is now just the desk corner. Now my nest is empty, I have plenty of nooks around the house where I can write undisturbed. To be honest, most of the actual writing stuff now happens on the front room sofa, surrounded by my two cats and my dog and with the fire and fairy lights lit in the winter.

When you write, are you a longhand merchant, making notes by hand, or do you go straight to the keyboard?

I used to write notes longhand, but now my thumb arthritis makes handwriting painful and ugly. Also, I am a geek, so I love different software writing tools and I touch-type as fast as I think, so it makes sense to work on screen.

I will do note-taking on my phone, either voice notes or dictated. And I plot and plan using Scapple for mind-mapping, Aeon for time-lining – I find knowing when things happen helps with what happens – and Scrivener for drafting. For the arthritis, I dictate notes when I am emailing or marking up manuscripts for my teaching and mentoring work, but there’s some sort of disconnect with my brain for fiction writing.

If you didn’t write in the domestic noir genre, what would you explore instead?

I would like to write women’s/literary fiction, where my writing, characters and themes can breathe without so much plot! Don’t get me wrong, I love plot, but it would be lovely to be able to step back and just write without that particular discipline at the top of the pile of considerations. In fact, for a forthcoming novel, I am aiming to do exactly that.

Read more: Nick Lezard’s fave romantic novels

What’s the strangest thing you do to inspire yourself when you’re running on empty?

Go for a run with Nick Cave playing in my ears, throw a pot, or go and comb the mats out of my dog’s curly hair. I like that better than she does…

How do you overcome any distractions, stop prevaricating, and finish your work?

I use Mac Freedom. This switches the internet off, which really helps. I work in chunks – focusing on word count if drafting, chapters if editing, and time if doing admin and plotting. Mini goals are really important in keeping me focused.

I like to get up and do things like make a cuppa, put the washing on the line or get the supper prepped. Activities like that provide punctuation and, even if I don’t get far with my writing for the day, I’m making progress with other things around me.

How many of your characters are based on real people?

I invent all of them, but they are Frankenstein’s monsters, cobbled together from real people I know. But the characters come to me almost fully formed, which I always find weird. Very early on, I know them. They develop as I think about the story – their function grows with their form.

Character is plot, plot is character, said F Scott Fitzgerald. And I think about what relationship I want the reader to have with them. I trained and worked in theatre for the first 10 years of my working life, so I do think, for me, that creating characters is a bit like the work an actor does. It’s a sort-of inhabiting.

Has anyone ever recognised themselves in any of your novels?

My second novel, Every Vow You Break, is about an English family spending a summer in Upstate New York, while the husband, an actor, plays the lead in a Shakespeare. Every other year for about a decade my own English family did exactly that and it was an absolutely wonderful thing for all of us to do.

I made very sure that the husband – Marcus, who is the worst kind of male actor – very clearly has a fine, thick head of hair. Tim, my own actor husband is completely bald, so there can’t possibly be any similarity. A friend spotted her house once – I do tend to steal houses and settings more than characters.

Do you eat and drink while you write?

I’ve never been asked that before! Always a big mug of tea to hand, after my three morning mugs of coffee. I don’t like to eat because I can’t bear a sticky keyboard and I’m a mucky eater. Even in my drinking days – four years sober, dib dib – I never followed Hemingway’s exhortation to write drunk. Although on a couple of National Novel Writing Months, of which I have completed four, I would have only the end of the day and perhaps a bottle of wine down my throat to write my 1,700 words. Sometimes the results were interesting…

Does playing music help you write?

Yes, but it can’t have words. Regulars for me are Philip Glass, Bach and Handel’s piano music, Max Richter, Dirty Three, and film scores by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

Are there any hard and fast rules you set yourself about your stories or characters?

No coincidences. I think that’s it. Oh, and I like Chekhov’s thing about the gun. He said, “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.” I love planting things.

Will the internet and people’s shortened attention spans ever mean the end of the novel?

Sorry, did you say something?

Ha, very funny…

I have a feeling that, just as people are wanting less mass-produced shit in their lives, real books are going to become more popular than ever. People have enormous attention spans for long form TV and stupidly long movies – I’m looking atcha, Scorcese. The low-tech activity of curling up with your cat, a cuppa, and a good, beautifully produced novel is quite alluring in this fast-paced world. It’s certainly Instagrammable!

What do you wish you’d known before starting this novel-writing malarkey?

It’s a good idea to talk an idea over with your editor and/or agent and/or writing best buddy and get the story sorted before spending two years writing it. And if that sounds horribly specific, it’s because it is.

What is your advice for eager new writers?

Enjoy yourself. Read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. Work at the craft – read like a writer, fall in love with grammar, sort out your relationship with adverbs. But be bold with your writing and your ideas. Know the rules and know that there are no rules.

• To find out more about Julia Crouch’s work and to order her books, go to juliacrouch.co.uk
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) takes place every November. It began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Meet the novelist: Julia Crouch on writing with cats, cuppas, and Nick Cave appeared first on Silver Magazine.

If you’ve ever done a quick search along the lines of ‘easy hobbies to start’ or ‘activities to ease stress’ you’ve almost definitely come face to face with the advice that you should start journalling. But, typically that’s all it says. Why should I journal? What do I even journal about? 

Mental health impacts

Worries and anxieties are something we inevitably all experience. Unfortunately, it can impact our sleep, our appetite, and our general enjoyment of life.

Journalling has been found to aid mental health by operating as an outlet to accept our internal experiences, rather than judging them. When we’re plagued by stressful thoughts or emotions, it’s almost impossible to view them objectively. Writing them down puts you in a position of looking at your feelings rather than actively being in them, allowing you to process them more effectively.

Additionally, using a journal to actively express gratitude will give you a more positive outlook. We can often find it easier to focus on the negative in our lives over the positive things. Using a journal to record things you feel gratitude for forces you to examine the good in your life. This could be things you’ve achieved (big and small), friends and family in your life, or really simple like having a roof over your head. 

Committing pen to paper

Knowing the benefits of journalling is of no help unless you’re able to actually implement it into your life. Maybe you feel you’re not creative enough, or you can’t pinpoint a specific line of thoughts to write down. Journalling should still be accessible to you.

The best way to ensure you’ve always got something to commit to paper, is to build a prompts bank in your notebook. Create a list of journal prompts that you can always fall back on if nothing is naturally spewing forward when you open your book (ideas below.) The beauty of journal prompts is that you can reuse the same one repeatedly, and see how your answer or thoughts have changed from a week ago, the month previously, or a whole year.

Build the habit into your life. Make a commitment to open your journal up either every morning, before bed, or on your lunch break. You don’t necessarily have to write anything down each day, but at least open it up and sit for a few minutes. You might find something comes forward that you want to get out and onto paper.

Journalling prompts

Here’s a list of journal prompts to jot down in your notebook that’ll hopefully get the mind juices flowing. There are plenty more you can search up online, or take inspiration from the ones below to build up a bank.

• When do you feel most like yourself?
• What do you most look forward to each day?
• An intention for the day ahead
• What do you need more of in your life?
• List five qualities you like about yourself
• How could you honour and respect yourself more?
• What would make this week amazing?
• What’s something you saw today that brought you joy?

Make it what you want

Journalling is what you make of it, and you’ll get out what you put in. If it helps, view it as a creative outlet as well as a record of your thoughts and emotions. You can experiment with different ideas; create lists, sketch, scrapbook, or none of the above. 

The key is don’t allow it to become overwhelming. You can write as little or as much as you want before you get comfortable with it. And hopefully, it won’t be long before you feel the benefits of journalling on your daily mental health.

Read: How to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep ‘hacks’ debunked

Lana Hall

Lana can usually be found spinning her collection of records, or writing odd poems in her phone notes. Her mixer of choice is a ginger beer, and you’ll never find her away from the sea for more than a few weeks.

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