WORKING AS A WRITER IN THE 21st CENTURY

This is the title of an event I'm involved in today. The event is organised by the Association of Scottish Literary Agents for their clients and I'm chairing a panel of three authors with a wide range of published work and a variety of promotional methods to propel their books and careers to success. I have specifically been asked to add my own experience and comments, rather than simply chairing

INVESTING IN YOUR WRITING

Interesting question on Twitter recently from an aspiring writer who was possibly having a wobbly moment about her writing. Sarah Callejo asked:
"Is there ever a time when you know that your writing is worth the investment?"She then had to put up with me (and others) giving these and similar answers:
"Only you can know. Only you know what it means to you"
"The only necessary investment is time

YOU CAN WRITE? SO, YOU CAN SCREEN-WRITE

Recently, Adrian Mead did a guest post for me, talking about making a business of your writing, including the important aspect of diversifying. And he promised he'd come back and talk about one particular way in which a fiction writer can diversify: write for the screen. Here he is. I'm very grateful to him for giving up his time.

ADRIAN MEAD ON HOW TO GET INTO SCREEN-WRITING
Screenwriting is a

MONEY MATTERS FOR AUTHORS

Well, of course it does. But how does the money side of things work, apart from there not being much of it for most of us? I was encouraged to blog about this by Suzanne, one of the volunteer readers for Write To Be Published. She said that she'd like to see something about the money side of things in the book. I probably can't include it in the book, as it doesn't fit the subject, which is more

YOUR WRITING BUSINESS - ADRIAN MEAD ADVISES

More and more, writers must be professional. Not just in terms of handing in our work to deadline and without coffee stains, but also in terms of organising and managing the various areas of our working lives. We must be business-people if we want to make a business - a living - out of writing. Are you turning away in disgust? I sympathise. Most of us became or wanted to be writers because we

SELLING OUT?

I've always known that if I wanted to write a best-selling novel, rather than a critically acclaimed one, I would have two choices:
Come up with a great commercial idea and write it in a stripped back, fast style, leaving out what I think are the lovely bits - the meaningful ideas or powerful description.
Hope for the Unpredictable Fairy to bless my book.
Now, however, there is something so

THE WRITE PERSONALITY - and AN EVENT FOR YOU

Our writing and our journey towards our writing goals must inevitably be wrapped up in who we are. As we try to become published and then stay published, we focus, rightly, on the words and the book we're writing. But, in many ways, our personalities shape all that, too. We can't avoid it.

So, what personality traits are needed to hack it as a writer?

I wasn't thinking about this much until I

WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS?

Or, in the words of my favourite film, "Life's a piece of shit / When you look at it."

I don't really do depressed. I do a fabulous line in moaning, in an upbeat, ranting, WTF sort of a way, rather than anything more Eeyoreish. But right now I can't find any cause to be anything other than morose about the state of publishing. Everyone I know is having a bit of a crap time. Some are having a

RISKY WRITING AND THE MODERN WORLD

In difficult economic times, sensible people think more carefully about risk. Sensible publishers are more cautious about flinging their money around; sensible writers take more care to make sure their book is as good as it can possibly be before they send it out.

Going, going, gone are the days when an agent or editor drooled over raw talent and positively ached to spend eleventymillion hours

WRITING IN A RECESSION

After what I've done in the last 24 hours, it's hard to be rational, but I will do my best because this must be a Very Serious Post. Before that, though, I know you are clamouring to know what I've done that was so taxing: a seriously serious radio programme - all my previous forays into radio being comparatively doddly and unserious, usually involving me talking about myself or my books, two