Some of my favourite books on my shelf right now.

1. Kes, Barry Hines
2. The Sisters Brothers, Patrick DeWitt
3. Turn Again Home, Carol Birch
4. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells
5. Commonwealth, Ann Patchett
6. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
7. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith

Let me know in the comments which ones you’ve read! ...

Reading, writing, eating, drinking, meeting new people and focusing on yourself.

If this sounds like you be sure to book the last remaining spot on our January Writers Retreat. ...

Three top tips to help when writing non fiction.

If you or anyone you know are interested in our Writers Retreat, we have one spot left for our January date. Get in touch to book or DM us directly. ...

For Janet, the timing of Writers Inc was perfect.

She came to us with some strong ideas for her own projects, and previous experience of creative writing courses.

But crucially she was about to quit her career of 40 years, and was seeking motivation, inspiration and encouragement for the writing she hopes will flourish in her new-found free time.

If this sounds familiar and you want to seek motivation for your work, head to our website to book a spot on one of 2026 Retreats. ...

All this advice is borne of long experience, hard graft and occasional knock-backs.

But..
If you write even when you don’t feel like it
If you stay connected to your work by opening it every day
If you believe in your characters and work at making them vivid and real
If you mine your own amazing life story for authentic detail
….. then you have the basics in place to write the book that you know you have in you.

Get in touch to find out more about our 2026 Retreat dates. ...

If your work in progress doesn’t feel right, just park it for now, don’t let it become a tyranny, free your mind to think of something else.

We have a few spots left for our January retreat - head to our website to book. ...

Every literary career has to start somewhere. Sometimes it can be a change of living circumstances or even location. For Brian, it all began with his family’s move in 2002 from the city to the country.

Get in touch to find out more about our 2026 dates. ...

1. Take notes.

Keep a character journal as you go through life, because without close observation, your fictional characters will lack depth. Not only must they appear individual, credible and able to drive the narrative forward with their own sense of purpose, but more than that, they have to be complex. As complex and contradictory as you and I. How you demonstrate these complexities is down to your skill as a writer, and your perceptiveness as an observer of the human race.

2.Say it out loud.

Bad dialogue is worse than no dialogue. Listen to how your characters speak to each other. Do their interactions and conversations sound real, or do they sound stagey and self-conscious? If it’s the latter, fix it.

3.Forget inspiration.

If you sit around waiting to be inspired, the book won’t get written. Develop the habit of writing daily, and place your trust in that habit, because it will get you through.

4.Show not tell.

Don’t tell us that Katy was a strange and secretive child, and expect that to be enough. We, your readers, like to work this out for ourselves, when you reveal Katy’s character through the details of her actions, the things she says, and the things she doesn’t say.

Katy watched the man at the gate from her position inside the folds of the curtain. She saw him open the gate, begin to walk up the path, then turn and quickly walk away, and when her mother, from her armchair, said, ‘Was that someone at the gate just now? Katy only said, ‘Nope.’ Tomorrow, she’d watch for him again, she thought.

5.Less is More.

You may think you’re having a fabulous and productive creative run, but do, please, be prepared to reign yourself in and stay relevant. A novel isn’t your chance to show the world how many long words you know. It’s a chance to show the world what details you’ve noticed, and why they matter.

For more info on how to book your spot for our next retreat, head to our website. ...

Honestly, I should take my own advice.

Head to our bio to see 2026 retreat dates. ...

This testimonial from one of our recent guests, Sophie, captures exactly what we set out to do with Writers Inc. We hoped that our guests would not only feel the benefits of a weekend dedicated to writing, but also staying in our country home, which we’ve always felt possesses magical qualities! ...

We’ve had lots of interest for our January retreat; if you’ve been thinking about it, this is your cue to get in touch! ...