What do writers need?

So where to begin?

In his excellent and characteristically down-to-earth memoir On Writing, Stephen King advises would-be writers that “You need the room, you need the door, and you need the determination to close the door”. 

Or you could heed an even more succinct piece of advice I once came across:

1. Read a lot.
2. Write a lot.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 as necessary.
4. Get lucky.
5. Stay lucky.

In truth, there are an ever-expanding set of support structures out there for writers and here are just a few:

Joining a local writing group to get feedback on your work in progress and to counterbalance the isolation of writing by having some social time with other writers.

Online writing communities – including http://www.wattpad.com , http://www.writewords.org.uk , https://www.writers-online.co.uk and http://authonomy.com

Find a writing buddy or writing partner – someone with whom you can share ideas, agonies, rejection, elation and with whom you can exchange critical feedback on your work in progress, or maybe even write in partnership.

Be inspired by undertaking a residential writing course in the genre of your choice.  The Arvon Foundation is one of the UK’s most established providers of residential writing courses. Its week-long courses are led by inspirational tutors, and are all set in atmospheric, rural locations dotted around Great Britain – from Devon to Invernesshire.  As someone who has benefited from two of these courses myself, I can’t praise them highly enough.

Read an inspirational book – one I find myself constantly recommending is Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer which was published in the first half of the 20th Century but the insights it contains into the psychology of writing and taking oneself seriously as a writer are as fresh and empowering as if written yesterday.

There are also a number of mentoring schemes and script assessment organisations available throughout the UK, from established consultancies like The Literary Consultancy and Jill Dawson’s highly respected mentoring service Gold Dust to more recent ones such as www.thewritingsmithy.co.uk, set up by poet Sarah Hymas and novelist Jenn Ashworth.  

If your writing practice involves the education sector, then membership of NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education) is essential.

So what is the main thing a writer needs? Well, I think the most important thing is to build writing into the fabric of your life so that it becomes an essential part of who you are.  Establish a writing routine that fits your lifestyle, and stick to it.  

And keep going!  As Stephen King so memorably puts it in his memoir: “Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position”.

So what do you think writers need?

Andrew Burton is a freelance literature professional and arts marketer.  He works with Essex Book Festival on writer development projects, with Essex County Council and others on creative writing projects for health and well being, and runs monthly theatre writing workshops at the University of Essex’s Lakeside Theatre, where he is an Associate Artist.  For further information visit: www.andrewcburton.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @andyrooburton