Writer's Routine
How do the best writers get to work?
In every episode, we'll chat to an author about what they do through a day. Where do they work? What time do they start? How do they plan their time and maximise their creativity, in order to plot and publish a bestseller?
Some are frantic night-owls, others roll out of bed into their desks, and a few lock themselves away in the woods - but none have a regular 9 to 5, and we'll find out how they've managed it.
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- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 43 minutes
- Episodes
- 371
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Lexie Elliott, author of 'How to Kill Your Best Friend' - When the title comes before the plot, how lockdown changes writing spaces, and finding the story's voice
Lexie Elliott accomplishes things. She graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in theoretical physics (?!) became a championship-winning swimmer, and even swam the English Channel.
She'…
Barnaby Jameson, author of 'Codename: Madeleine' - Counter-terrorist lawyer and writer discusses curated consciousness, political turmoil and telling stories in court
Barnaby Jameson Q.C is one of the country's top counter-terrorist lawyers, involved in notorious cases involved bomb-threats and plans to assassinate MPs. In his time between cases, he's worked on a …
Ruth Ware, author of 'The It Girl' - International bestseller talks about changing characters, going full time and the difficult middle
Ruth Ware is an international bestseller, who has just published her 7th crime thriller, 'The It Girl'.
It tells the story of April, a vivacious, bright girl at the University of Oxford, who quickly d…
Sarah Pearse, author of 'The Retreat' - Reese Witherspoon Book Club writer discusses moving to long-form fiction, changing scenes, and moving locations
This week, we chat to Sarah Pearse. Her debut novel, 'The Sanatorium', was the best selling debut fiction book of 2021. It was a New York Tiimes and Sunday Times bestseller, a Waterstones Thriller of…
Andrew White, author of 'The Walker Mysteries' - Finding places for your creativity, doing rather than thinking, and writing what you know
Andrew White is a do-er. He's written factual pieces for BBC Countryfile magazine, Rail Britain, written AA Guidebooks, and runs the Walks Around Britain YouTube channel and presents its TV shows.
Dur…
Emma Bamford, author of 'Deep Water' - Writer and memoirist discusses scene breakdowns, moving to full time writing, and switching from real life to fiction
Emma Bamford is a journalist and memoirist whose debut novel, 'Deep Water' is out right now. About a decade ago, Emma quit her job and escaped to Borneo with a complete stranger. She told this story …
Benjamin Wood, author of 'The Young Accomplice' - Why routines are helpful, separating work and creativity, and learning creative writing
Benjamin Wood has been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, he's a CWA Gold Dagger nominee and a finalist for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year. He als…
Mary Adkins, author of 'Palm Beach' - Writing coach talks about playing for work, selling rights, and switching to editing mode
Mary Adkins is the author of critically acclaimed novels, 'Palm Beach', 'When You Read This', and 'Privilege'. She has used her experience of writing, publishing and also teaching, to become a writin…
Colette Dartford, author of 'The Mortification of Grace Wheeler' - Kindle bestseller talks about quiet spaces, character summaries, and self-publishing
Colette Dartford's debut, 'Learning to Speak American', was shortlisted for an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. She followed up this success with her second, 'An Unsuitable Marriage', was a Kindle be…
Janice Hallett, author of 'The Appeal' - Sunday Times Bestseller discusses unique story structure, figuring out the murderer, and the moment of success
Janice Hallett career started as a magazine editor, journalist and speech writer. Her first feature film, Retreat, starred Cillian Murphy, Thandiwe Newton and Jamie Bell. She's written speeches for t…
Mark Ellis, author of 'Dead in the Water' - Crime writer discusses huge first drafts, long-term character planning, and crime during the war
Mark Ellis started work as a lawyer, then ran his own business, and is now 5 books into his own crime series. It's all about Detective Frank Merlin, who investigates crimes during World War 2, a time…
Jessica Payne, author of 'Make Me Disappear' - Psychological thriller writer discusses switching genre, balancing a busy work-life, and her determination to get published
Jessica Payne had 3 failed attempts at getting published. It took a genre switch to finally get her book out there and on the shelves. Her debut is 'Make Me Disappear', about a woman so desperate to …
Scott Kershaw, author of 'The Game' - Debut writer discusses his journey to being published, writing anywhere, and how agents help
Scott Kershaw has had an interesting route to being published. Leaving school with few qualifications, he signed up as a mature student in college. Whilst there, his work was spotted by the Head of W…
Dervla McTiernan, author of 'The Murder Rule' - Lawyer turned bestseller talks about thorough planning, growing as a writer, and editing tricks
Dervla McTiernan was an Irish lawyer for 12 years. After the global financial crash, she moved to Australia and became a crime-writer. After a short-story was nominated for a prestigious prize, her d…
Joanna Cannon, author of 'A Tidy Ending' - Sunday Times Bestseller discusses very early mornings, writing on the move and why myths hold you back
Joanna Cannon's debut novel, 'The Trouble with Goats and Sheep' was an instant hit and became a Sunday Times Bestseller. She wrote it in very early mornings and in her lunch break, working in her car…
Gracie Hart, author of 'The Baker's Girl' - Saga novelist talks about being a proud Northerner, perfect drafts and writing fiction in history
Gracie Hart is a saga novelist, her stories focus on a family's troubles through history. She loves writing of the late-Victorian era, and immerses herself in the place and time that she's looking at…
Laure Van Rensburg, author of 'Nothing But Us' - Thriller writer discusses learning to plot, writing around work, and writing what you don't know
Laure Van Rensburg has been highly acclaimed with short stories, been published in magazines, and her debut, 'Nothing But Us', is out now.
It tells the story of Steven and Ellie, a professor and a stu…
Sara Blaedel, author of 'A Harmless Lie' - Denmark's 'Queen of Crime' talks about having an organised day, selling internationally, and killing for a living
Sara Blaedel is Denmark's 'Queen of Crime'. 3 million copies have been sold in Denmark alone. The country has under 6 million people living in it.
She's published 25 books, and is best known for her …
Philippa East, author of 'Safe and Sound' - CWA New Blood Dagger nominee talks about being inspired by work, learning the craft, and the doubt demon
Philippa East's debut, 'Little White Lies', was nominated for a CWA New Blood Dagger Award in 2020, one of the highest prizes in crime fiction.
She works as a clinical psychologist, using inspiration…
Danny Wallace, author of 'The Luckiest Kid in the World' - Storyteller talks about where ideas go, the guilt of not working, and saying yes
Danny Wallace is an ideas-man and a doer. He's started his own kindness cult, tracked down all his long-lost friends, and spent a whole year saying yes to everything. Danny has published adult books,…