Stay updated with the news

How I Write

Writing the truth

“Novelists get to the heart of things; journalists can’t,” said Blake Morrison speaking recently at University College Falmouth. Heather Hosking tells all.

Paul Kingsnorth: finding stories in non-fiction

Campaigning environmentalist Paul Kingsnorth, author of Real England, gives Dan Cadwallader advice on telling stories about the real world.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Writing in recession

Sophie Parkin

Sophie Parkin tells Phil Williams how the recession of the early 90s prompted her to switch career – and how she started earning a living from writing.

Writing for teens

Meg Rosoff

Meg Rosoff talked about writing for teens at the 2009 London Book Fair. Profwriting student Fiona Egglestone reports back.

John le Carré

John le Carré

"Mornings are for new work, afternoons for updating, revising, editing. Some days work – others don’t. Some days you’ll write 10 pages, others only 10 words."

Sarah Waters: my life as a writer

Sarah Waters

Multi-award-winning author Sarah Waters talks to Andi Chapman about her day-to-day life as a writer and how her life as an academic feeds into her writing.

John le Carré on writing and obsession

John le Carré

John le Carré is one of the world's best-selling spy novelists. Want to know why he writes – and his tips for those starting out? Kathryn Treeby tells all.

Audrey Niffeneger

Audrey Niffeneger

"I don’t have a set writing routine – I’m really chaotic. I’m also a night person, so nothing happens until at least noon.  It’s actually the joy of my self-employed life: I don’t have to commute; I don’t have to be anywhere."

Philip Pullman: connecting the pictures

Philip Pullman

Award-winning author Philip Pullman describes how he conceived and wrote the trilogy His Dark Materials.

Did you have the whole story in your head when you began writing His Dark Materials?

‘Yes, in outline, though not in detail. Any writer of stories has to have a certain architectural sense – a feeling for large shapes, and an instinct for whether they’ll stand up safely. And of course when you begin a large project like His Dark Materials, you make sure beforehand that the large shape is secure.

Robert Goddard's great plans

Robert Goddard

Robert Goddard, multi-million selling author, talks to David Paul Nixon and Lynda Law about how he writes his style of historical-thriller.