Writers

Being a highly prolific writer is sneered at in some circles. Some people think there’s a trade-off between quality and quantity. To do truly ‘great work’ – you can’t do very much of it. Science disagrees. Most of the world’s best writers, creatives and innovators – are also hugely prolific, productive people.

Like Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg’s wardrobe is stuffed to the gills with exactly the same clobber so he doesn’t have to think about what to wear in the morning. He does this because even the smallest smidgen of mental energy invested in deciding whether it’s a brogues or socks and sandals kinda day could be better spent. Zuckerberg never bothers his high-tech grey matter about his daily outfit because he removes the need to make a decision in the first place. In short, he has a system.

The last few weeks for first-time novelist Wyl Menmuir have been a blur. Since finding out his book The Many had been longlisted for the Man Booker - the most prestigious literary prize in the world - he’s been interviewed by national newspapers, courted by big name agents and has headlined literary events.

When your long term creative passion is an unpaid side-project, it’s tough to know if you’re moving forwards, treading water or just going round in circles headless-chicken style and never getting any better.

Indie authors might be revolutionising the publishing industry but bagging yourself a top agent can still make all the difference to your writing career. And that means you need to know to approach them, what they’re looking for and how they work. We asked Hellie Ogden from leading literary agency Janklow & Nesbit to give us a few pointers on what she looks for from a budding author.

At the time of writing, the top two trending articles on Buzzfeed are: ‘15 Struggles You’ll Only Understand If You’re Obsessed With Cereal’ and ‘The 15 Emotional Stages of Mobile Phone Ownership’. It’s safe to say that Cal Newport, author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, hasn’t read either.

Distractions like social media are enemy number one for the writer determined to finish. But distractions are only distracting because we let them – because they interrupt us when we’d rather be concentrating on the task in hand. Here’s our 5-step guide to keeping focused and beating your creative distractions.

Being creative makes us happy – that’s true – but not just because we just enjoy dreaming up new ideas and having flights of fancy. In fact, research tells us that what we really love about creativity is the daily drudgery – the slow and frequently painful trudge towards getting it done and mastering our creative persuit.

David Quantick is an Emmy-winning television writer, a radio broadcaster, novelist, journalist and author of the best-selling writing manual How To Write Everything. He has just published How To Be A Writer which features interviews with famous writers, performers and industry insiders including Jon Ronson, Emma Donoghue and Caitlin Moran. Here he interviews himself with questions selected at random from the book.

“I hate writing, I love having written,” goes the highly relatable quote by novelist Dorothy Parker. Whilst the creative turmoil of the writer is legendary – even necessary – tinkering with your motivational mindset can make your daily dose of writing torture more bearable. You might even have some fun…