Writing Life: insights, updates, and craft
-
Safe in Uncertainty
I’ve been floored by a lurgy – the culmination of a couple of weeks sliding grimly under the weather. The b*gger of it is that it’s a big work week with family obligations. But as you all know, if you keep applying the technique that got you here, nothing’s going to change. So. Surrender it…
-
Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law
Tell me something that drives you mad when people do it. Not a crime. Not cruelty. Just one of those small social laws we all obey without thinking. Talking during a play? Not having your ticket ready at the station exit? Sliding into the parking space someone else has clearly been waiting for? Now ask…
-
All of 2025 in one post
If it’s how you pay your bills, being a scriptwriter has been a bit depressing the last few years. The screenwriting world is in crisis. Theatre is in freefall. If you back this profession up – like I do – with writing-related corporate work (I do more than write, but words are still significant), too…
-
Theatre: everything to play for, moment by moment
Why’s a script more like an advent calendar or a Haynes manual than a novel?
-
It’s all in the telling (and that can be hard)
The story-telling process (and not the end result) is where to put your focus …I may have been quiet, but, cor, have I been writing! I’m at the 65k word mark on a comedy novel, and loving the hard graft you get when crafting a story. This is my second prose adventure (the first is…
-
How did you get here?
I posted last week about how I’ve got an article in The Writers’ and Artists Yearbook for 2023 and ‘24. I’m really proud of this, but how it came about might surprise you… > How did I end up on the back page? I met Bath Life’s lovely editor, Sarah Moola, at a “thank you…
-
Don’t wait for Santa
All through my life, this is the book I most wanted to steal from the library. And for the second year running, I’m one of its authors (so I got it for free!)…
-
The Box is back!
There’s two things bubbling on the go. The first is ‘FFS’, a script which emerged from the murk like an old-fashioned photo in a dark-room’s developing tray. And the other is “the novel” which has even deeper roots in my life – like those disturbing children’s molar-roots that make me think of rabbit ears (just…
-
Developing a photo very, very slowly…
Yes, this is one for you writer technique nerds out there. And if it interests or helps you, I would love your thoughts.
-
Getting Creative When You Doubt You Can
Inspired by an acquaintance who’d been made so miserable by her utter conviction she didn’t have a creative bone in her, I wanted to encourage some self-care in others, and to share what I wrote. You can hear me read it on Kristin’s podcast here…
-
PODCAST appearance
The Second Chapter In the autumn, the multi-hyphenate, multi-talented Kristin Duffy invited me onto her exciting podcast. Here’s the two of us, ahead of Skin In The Game heading to the New Wimbledon Theatre. Kristin produced the show and played the doomed heroine… listen in to find out more… Here!
-
Can you ever lose when you put your own Skin In The Game?
But I genuinely believe the stars aligned when I plucked up the courage this March to ask Kristin Duffy at Slackline Productions if she could think of anyone who might be mad enough to joining me in this utter (and thrilling) madness.
Want to get in touch?
– ㉿ –
Get updates on shows, observations, tips and tricks for writing – every so often straight to your inbox:
Gill Kirk, writer 