'London is of course, a literary city, a city of writers... A few of those writers lived in my neighbourhood. All have walked the same streets I have. 'London is of course, a literary city, a city of writers... A few of those writers lived in my neighbourhood. All have walked the same streets I have. We've drunk in at least one or two of the same pubs. Crossed and ridden on the same river.

Vox: Short audio from the RLF

Dyan Sheldon: The Writer And The City

'When Inspiration does turn up, like a dodgy guest at a party, there's no guarantee it will appreciate the nature of the event. 'When Inspiration does turn up, like a dodgy guest at a party, there's no guarantee it will appreciate the nature of the event. A bottle of whisky and a sympathy card is welcome at a wake; a pair of bunny ears and a strippergram, possibly not.

Fraser Grace: Inspiration

'I find it hard too, but decided early on that if I was serious about my career I must cope with editors and publishers who turn down my work and proposals.'I find it hard too, but decided early on that if I was serious about my career I must cope with editors and publishers who turn down my work and proposals, and who frequently do not even do the courtesy of replying.

Debjani Chatterjee: Rejection

'I find my escape from words in photography, art galleries and museums, and music. By building or perceiving shapes that do not owe their existence to language'I find my escape from words in photography, art galleries and museums, and music. By building or perceiving shapes that do not owe their existence to language, something happens.

Joan Lennon: Writer's Block

'I was convinced it was an exceedingly difficult thing to change direction as a writer, almost like a cricketer deciding he wanted to be a footballer. 'I was convinced it was an exceedingly difficult thing to change direction as a writer, almost like a cricketer deciding he wanted to be a footballer. But the leap wasn't as difficult as I imagined.

Paul Dowswell: The Best Advice I Ever Received

'The gulf between the synopsis and the novel is ineffable, bridgeable only by the writing of the book. 'The gulf between the synopsis and the novel is ineffable, bridgeable only by the writing of the book. In the two years or more that follow, the synopsis appears sometimes vital handrail and sometimes obstructive impediment.

Wendy Wallace: How I Write

'As an adult, I've formed the habit of taking seasonal notes almost every day. It feels like reaching out a hand to touch the outside world.'As an adult, I've formed the habit of taking seasonal notes almost every day. It feels like reaching out a hand to touch the outside world and gain the state of self-forgetfulness needed to write.

Stephanie Norgate: The Writer And Nature

'I've written books that deal with post-traumatic stress, with mental health issues, with homelessness and missing persons, suicide and survival guilt, death and grief.'I've written books that deal with post-traumatic stress, with mental health issues, with homelessness and missing persons, suicide and survival guilt, death and grief; and writing about these things has made me feel very differently about them.

Doug Johnstone: How Writing Changes The Writer

'Ian McEwan seemed cheered that the delivery boy on his cold doorstep — dressed all working class and salt of the earth against the cold — knew who he was.'Ian McEwan seemed cheered that the delivery boy on his cold doorstep — dressed all working class and salt of the earth against the cold — knew who he was. I asked his advice for an aspiring author...

Julian Sayarer: The Best Advice I Ever Received

'The Brandon Estate community mural is huge. On the wall are images of the Chartists, kite-flyers, the Empire Windrush ship arriving from the Caribbean...'The Brandon Estate community mural is huge. On the wall are images of the Chartists, kite-flyers, the Empire Windrush ship arriving from the Caribbean, bee-keepers in white suits, and children scrambling over a woolly mammoth.

Sally Kindberg: The Writer And The City

'Does any writer, in fact, work well to a background of distraction? His son's violin practice drove Philip Pullman to the shed at the bottom of the garden.'Does any writer, in fact, work well to a background of distraction? His son's violin practice drove Philip Pullman to the shed at the bottom of the garden; Virginia Woolf insisted her shed be free of any adornment.

Paul Mason: The Writing Shack

'I frequently think that if I'd had any sense I'd have given up all other forms of writing and concentrated on writing for children.'I frequently think that if I'd had any sense I'd have given up all other forms of writing and concentrated on writing for children. Actually, publishers don't really like genre fluid writers like me, though no one says so.

Diana Hendry: Being Genre Fluid

'By the time I was working on my fourth novel, The Thousand Lights Hotel, I was thirty-six and my son was one. Writing was my happy place.'By the time I was working on my fourth novel, The Thousand Lights Hotel, I was thirty-six and my son was one. Writing was my happy place amidst the turbulence of new motherhood; a place of both control and liberation.

Emylia Hall: A Day In The Life

'What should a writer do when someone says no? With poems sent to magazines, that's life. It's unlikely to have anything to do with the quality of your work. 'What should a writer do when someone says no? With poems sent to magazines, that's life. It's unlikely to have anything to do with the quality of your work. It may simply be the wrong tone, the wrong length or even the wrong shape.

John Greening: Rejection

'Ophelia's story is so unjust and so slight, that I would give her more of a backbone and her story more heft, and Gertrude's seems full of undeveloped potential.'Ophelia's story is so unjust and so slight, that I would give her more of a backbone and her story more heft, and Gertrude's seems full of undeveloped potential. I wouldn't presume to change the outcome of this tragedy.

Clare Bayley: The Classic Book I'd Like To Re-write

Short audio series where RLF writers explore topics around writing.

hubhopper

Vox: Short audio from the RLF

hubhopper