Guest blog

As a writer, active member and chair of the London Writers’ Cafe - one of the largest writing groups in the UK - Lisa Goll knows a thing or two about how to get the most from participating in a writing community. Here she shares her top tips on finding the group that’s right for you, what to expect on joining and how to survive the writing velociraptors.

David Quantick has spent 25 years writing everything. Poems, novels, scripts, best man’s speeches, top TV comedies like Veep, The Thick of It and The Day Today and of course, slogans for underpants. All of this means that he’s well qualified to have written a book called How to Write Everything - a highly entertaining romp through David’s writing life and a book that’s full of tips for the aspiring writer. So, how does he write everything himself?

Chuck D and Charles Bukowski are two of the inspirations that got fantasy writer Martin Bolton putting words on the page. In this guest blog he tells us how rap, reading and collaborative projects keep him writing.

In our last blog featuring Chris McVeigh we talked about how authors should approach social media and digital marketing. In the second part of this interview, we turn our attention to how authors can improve their Google rankings plus the best way writers can engage with influential booktubers and vloggers.

However you hope to publish your work, whether it’ll be an ebook, an online serial or as a weighty literary tome, one thing is the same: you need to know how to market your wares. In this two-part blog, we talk to publishing and SEO guru Chris McVeigh about how authors can navigate the minefield that is social media and digital marketing.

Writing courses offer amazing opportunities to inspire writers and give them the tools to develop their writing. Arvon ran its first course in 1968 and was the pioneer in teaching creativity. I worked for Arvon for over three years managing its centre in West Yorkshire, Ted Hughes’ former house Lumb Bank. I wrote this guest blog drawing on the wisdom of some of Arvon’s top tutors asking for their advice on how to keep the magic alive and continue writing once the course has finished.

Admitting you’ve made a mistake is tough. Even harder is taking what you’ve learned from those mistakes and pressing on. But that’s exactly what management guru and writer Steve Taylor did when he decided to put his last two ventures into publishing behind him and self-publish for a third time - but this time, it’ll be different. Steve tells us why.

Erotic fiction writer Katya Harris tells us how she learnt to fend off the demon procrastination by getting organised and working to deadlines. Follow her advice to be brave when writing, submitting stories and in facing up to criticism and rejection.

When you’re learning anything new, it’s always a good idea to speak to the experts first. So, when former Arvon Centre Director and budding author Liz Flanagan started her PhD in creative writing - young adult (YA) fiction - she spoke to four of the UK’s top YA authors to find out how they write.

Novelist Claire Dyer learnt the hard way how to give readers what they want. She shares her lightbulb moment and offers practical advice to help writers peer into the minds of readers.