# Andrew Wille Writing Studio

>  - creative writing & book development


## Posts

- [Tarot and Writing](https://wille.org/2025/01/10/tarot-and-writing/): I’m launching a new series of workshops on Zoom called Tarot For Writers that explores the potential of the tarot in creative writing as well as writing for personal growth. Starting with Magicians and Fools on 2 February 2025, we will talk about tarot and write and share resources, and writers who come along will take away plenty of ideas to explore at their own pace. I’ve long been interested in tarot. My hippie auntie Marion is an astrologer, and she often used tarot. My old flatmate Mark from my first years in London had tarot cards, and he inspired me to acquire my […]
- [Reader's Report 2024](https://wille.org/2025/01/01/readers-report-2024/): These books either consumed me or captured my curiosity in some way in 2024: * Yael van der Wouden, The Safekeep* Benjamin Moser, The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters* Patrick Grant, Less: Stop Buying So Much Rubbish* Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters* Barbra Streisand, My Name Is Barbra* Fiona Erskine, Phosphate Rocks* Samantha Harvey, Orbital* Joel Lane, Where Furnaces Burn The Safekeep was my novel of the year. I found it gripping. Plot, setting, character, little details, big picture, unexpectedly relevant in a very important way. I also liked that I knew nothing about it. It gave surprises – so I’ll say no more. The […]
- [Overplatforming and the Theft of Time](https://wille.org/2024/12/22/overplatforming-2/): Last month my phone was snatched out of my hands outside Holborn tube station. Yes, I was texting. I was returning from a leaving party at the publisher I myself left 26 years ago, and I was messaging my friend Alex in Pittsburgh – something about writing, in fact – and then my phone was whipped away by a thief on an e-bike. There – then gone. So smooth, so quick, and most disorientating. This story does have a happy ending, but before that eventuality came about I was telling myself this theft was a sign. There’s always a lesson. […]
- [Autumn 2024 Updates](https://wille.org/2024/09/02/autumn-2024-updates/): Subscribe to my Substack Or as a simple link to Substack A few updates 1. I’m preparing masterclasses for the autumn, which include: Perspective & Style, 16 September Showing & Telling, 14 October Genres & Readers, 11 November Endings, 9 December 2024 You can find more information via the links above or at Masterclasses. Classes earlier this year paid attention to the narrative content that makes up our stories: character, setting, plot. In these autumn classes we’ll think about ways to enhance how we tell those stories and bring them to rewarding conclusions. We’ll also talk about practical matters and […]
- [Masterclasses for Autumn 2024](https://wille.org/2024/07/19/masterclasses-for-autumn-2024/): I’ve now posted details for my writing masterclasses for Autumn 2024 – see links below: 16 September, 6pm-7.30pm London, ZoomPerspective & StyleTechniques to power your storytellingElevate your writing with this masterclass investigating the craft of perspective. We’ll discover how persona, point of view, tense and narrative distance can make your storytelling brighter and bolder, and sample a range of literary styles to help you develop a distinctive voice. 14 October, 6pm-7.30pm London, ZoomShowing & TellingWeaving scene and narration into storiesFind the balance of dramatic scene and narrative summary that’s required for any story. We’ll grasp the fundamentals of creating memorable […]
- [Sufferings and Joys](https://wille.org/2024/03/20/sufferings-and-joys/): Today’s the day that the days get longer than the nights, and the sun is shining, and my hyacinths are smelling sweetly, and it’s time to sow seeds, and all over social media people are celebrating the joys of spring. But – and I don’t want to spoil the party – for some reason lately I can’t get away from the idea of suffering. Maybe it’s taking a meditation course, where we’re paying attention to such things. Or maybe it’s hearing yet another story of someone’s sickness, or reading another story about war. Or maybe I’ve just become a winter […]
- [Reader's Report 2023](https://wille.org/2023/12/31/readers-report-2023/): As I looked back on the books I read in 2023, I was given pause to think about how I read – in new ways and old. First, I want to mention strategies I adopted in 2023 that made reading more fun. For example, I cast a drag queen as the central character of an Iris Murdoch novel, and that suddenly made a book about the strained mores of postwar poshos much more interesting. Of perhaps greater consequence, I used the library probably more than I have since I was a kid. In recent years (decades), I’ve bought far too […]
- [Masterclasses for 2024](https://wille.org/2023/12/21/masterclasses-for-2024/): In January I am starting live monthly masterclasses on Zoom. They are designed for writers who want to explore craft and process in writing while learning more about the business and culture of publishing. Masterclasses will run live on Zoom for 90 minutes. They will include discussion on that month’s topics plus a brief writing exercise and a session of Q&A. Every masterclass unit will also come with homework, e.g., brief preparatory readings as well as a writing exercise or two. This will be emailed to you a week before we meet on Zoom, and will be optional – you […]
- [Slow yourself down](https://wille.org/2023/09/23/slow-yourself-down/): A busy week: interesting manuscripts, Zooms, meet-ups, Space Crones, wild poets, wild dancers, old friends, decompressing last weekend’s workshop on tarot for writers in Hastings, thinking towards the next workshop on revising. Plus library books, libraries, bookshops – and a book barge! Also very excited to see discussions in the George Saunders Story Club about ‘The Child’, a story I recommended – it’s sooooo wonderful to see so many readers discovering and appreciating the writing of my dearly beloved teacher Bobbie Louise Hawkins. And now the Equinox has arrived, and I vowed to blog quarterly, so here we are. But […]
- [Autumn 2023 Workshops](https://wille.org/2023/08/03/autumn-2023-workshops/): Some information on a couple of workshops I’m leading in September and October: 17 September 2023Magicians and Fools: Tarot for WritersHastings Book Festival 14 October 2023The Four Elements of Revising:Become Your Own Best EditorWith Words Away at the Phoenix Garden, London WC2 I’ve not taught a revising workshop in some time, and I’m excited to be doing so again, bringing plenty of new insights and ideas. The world has changed in many ways – and so have we! I’m hoping to fire people up about their writing: owning their visions, expressing them clearly through the craft, finding ways to bring […]
- [Towers of the Unexpected](https://wille.org/2023/06/21/towers-of-the-unexpected/): I was going to skip a quarterly blog post, but hey: life gives you lemons and you make lemonade. On Saturday I fell and broke my wrist! My first ever trip to A&E. I guess I should consider myself lucky to have lived so long without such a visit before, but it’s certainly tedious that I have to cancel and reschedule various plans, and will need to work one-handed. And it’s also tedious that my gardening plans for summer are scuppered. The irony is that it happened at the entrance to a rose garden on the day that we were […]
- [I Am A Delight Song](https://wille.org/2023/03/20/i-am-a-delight-song/): At the Nature Matters workshop earlier this month, we read aloud together ‘The Delight Song of Tsoai-Tale’ by N. Scott Momaday. A few lines from the opening: And I love that line from near the ending. ‘I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful.’ It’s joyful, it’s everyday, it’s an invocation. I love it. You can watch N. Scott Momaday himself read an excerpt of ‘The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee’ on YouTube. ‘You see, I am alive, I am alive’ – the voice of life, the breath of life run through this poem. I love the list poem as form. […]
- [Workshops for Spring 2023](https://wille.org/2023/02/20/workshops-for-spring-2023-nature-writing-and-perfume/): A couple of new Four Elements workshops are coming this spring, again in collaboration with Kellie Jackson of Words Away and hosted at the Phoenix Garden in the heart of London’s West End. You can find more information and booking details at the following links: * Nature Matters: Writing in Nature, Nature in Writing – Saturday 11 March 2023 * Fragrance Matters: Scent, Perfume and Writing – Saturday 20 May 2023 I’m particularly interested in writing’s relationship with nature this year: how we perceive nonverbal sense experiences of the natural world and translate those observations into words, crafting such moments into poems […]
- [Books of the Year 2022](https://wille.org/2022/12/31/books-of-the-year-2022/): I can’t pick a single book of the year, so I’m choosing five that really left a impression on me in 2022: * Annie Ernaux, The Years (translated by Alison L. Strayer)* Julia May Jonas, Vladimir* Annie Ernaux, Getting Lost (translated by Alison L. Strayer)* Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard* Joshua Cohen, The Netanyahus A few patterns emerge: campus novels; middle-aged women having affairs with younger Russian studs; natural history and geology; the house of Fitzcarraldo; the truth of closely observed details – of crazy obsessions, of everyday life in the suburbs, of wild birds in remote valleys I’ll never visit. If […]
- [Winter Solstice 2022](https://wille.org/2022/12/21/winter-solstice-2022/): The Winter Solstice: tomorrow the days start getting longer! Which just goes to show the ever presence of paradox in the cycles of our lives. But for now it’s 4.30pm and dark outside. A robin is singing: one of my favourite sounds. Rather than post a writing experiment this quarter, I’ve added a page to the resources on my site for Field Work, which is a practice I frequently suggest in tailored forms for writers that I’m mentoring. Do take a look, especially if you’re wanting to freshen up a draft or are getting stuck – it’s a great way of […]
- [Reawakenings: A Four Elements workshop, 26 November 2022](https://wille.org/2022/10/30/reawakenings-a-four-elements-workshop-26-november-2022/): I’m very pleased to be planning a new real-time, in-person workshop for 26 November: Reawakenings. It’s been nearly three years since we last met at a Words Away workshop! And a lot has happened since then, so for this first workshop I thought we could explore some of these changes in our writing. There’s some darker stuff there, of course, but it also gives us plenty to think about in terms of transformation and creativity and coming out the other side. Plague and war and sourdough starter: meet notebook and pen. We’ll draw upon the ideas of sleeping and waking […]
- [Rites and Writes for the Autumn Equinox](https://wille.org/2022/09/22/rites-and-writes-for-the-autumn-equinox/): It’s that time of year again – autumn always seems to be the favourite season of writers. Our inner nerd must associate the cooler air and autumn leaves with the wide-open prairies of unused exercise books. And we’re off! Not that there are as many leaves left to turn orange and fall round here after the summer that we’ve had. Summer: increasingly my least fave season, though this year I did enjoy an excellent Zen meditation course as well as a wonderful introduction to natural history with the Natural History Museum. It’s been a weird year – heat and drought […]
- [Worlds Of Work](https://wille.org/2022/06/21/back-to-work-2/): It’s the summer solstice, and it’s warm outside, and there’s a train strike, and even though I don’t commute it makes me feel very lazy. Which is ironic, as this post is all about the world of work. I am inspired by one of the books I’ve enjoyed most so far this year: Marzahn, Mon Amour, by Katja Oskamp, expertly translated by Jo Heinrich and published by Peirene. It’s a memoir by a writer who during an ‘iffy’ patch in her career retrains as a chiropodist and finds a job in a salon in Marzahn, a neighbourhood of communist-era high-rises […]
- [How Not To Get A Book Deal But Write The Book You Want (FREE version!)](https://wille.org/2022/03/21/how-not-to-get-a-book-deal-but-write-the-book-you-want-for-free/): I still can’t get over the fact of a literary agency charging £649 for a daylong course called How To Get A Book Deal. We all have to earn a crust, but I thought literary agents did that by taking a commission for selling author’s books. There are some very good courses run by agents and publishers (and writers and editors and writing teachers too …). And there are also plenty of festivals and writing conferences where writers can pay to hear the advice of industry professionals and sometimes even pitch to them – hey, we live under the system […]
- [Books of the Year 2021](https://wille.org/2021/12/31/books-of-the-year-2021/): Some old, some new, some rereads – my books of the year, roughly in order of reading: Raven Leilani, LusterIsabel Wilkerson, CasteNatalie Goldberg, Let The Whole Thundering World Come HomeNora Krug, HeimatMerlin Sheldrake, Entangled LifeM. John Harrison, The Sunken Land Begins To Rise AgainLouise Erdrich, The Night WatchmanLouise Erdrich, The SentenceClaire Keegan, Small Things Like TheseFrances Wilson, Burning Man: The Ascent of DH LawrenceJoy Harjo, Crazy BravePatrick Radden Keefe, Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler DynastyThomas Savage, The Power of the Dog There were other good reads – Ash Before Oak, Three Simple Lines, Gathering Moss, Everybody, Just […]
- [Days of the Dead](https://wille.org/2021/11/01/days-of-the-dead/): Today is All Saints’ Day aka All Hallows aka the Feast of All Saints aka the Solemnity of All Saints aka (my fave) Hallowmas. Tomorrow is All Souls’ Day, when we commemorate ‘all the faithful departed’. And yesterday of course was Halloween, when we scared the hell out of ourselves watching episodes 3 and 4 of Midnight Mass. I was going to post an All Saints’ Day writing experiment based on the idea of celebrating our own personal saints, but I realised I’ve done that before: Saint’s Day. If I were writing about a saint today, I’d have to write about […]
- [I Want (A Dyke For President)](https://wille.org/2021/10/15/i-want-a-dyke-for-president/): The idea of want crops up so often as a basic driver of stories – in defining a character’s motivations or yearnings, or in getting down to basics in a memoir. I often suggest that wants have an inner dimension, which can be broad and abstract (love; a place to call home), but that they work best if also grounded in tangible and specific objects of desire that are located externally in our material world (two old shirts; a little ranch, or maybe a trip to Mexico). I also relate the idea of want to the idea of intention. When […]
- [Must and Mustn't](https://wille.org/2021/09/01/must-and-mustnt/): Once you’ve established what your characters Can and Can’t do, you can make things more interesting by feeling your way through what they must or mustn’t do. This might even be the starting point for a character. Personal obligations and legal boundaries that define what we must or mustn’t do introduce constraints and possibilities to our stories. Duties observed – or disregarded? Promises kept – or broken? Laws respected – or disobeyed? The Oxford comma, telling instead of showing, misgendered pronouns. Thou shall not kill, wearing white shoes after Labor Day, making an illegal crossing into another country. Rituals, niceties, taboos, transgressions: what we must […]
- [Can and Can't](https://wille.org/2021/08/01/can-and-cant/): I often suggest that writers who are looking for fresh perspectives on their manuscripts take a bit of time away from their drafts and instead devote a little energy to some writing on the side: the same characters and settings and concerns, but approached in new ways. Something that can be useful is a block of time devoted to I Remember exercises for different characters, using their voices or points of view. Stick with one character for a whole week, perhaps, adapting the prompt every day, e.g., I Remember School, She Remembers Her Mother. I also suggest variations on this […]
- [Gnarliness and Writing](https://wille.org/2021/07/01/gnarliness-and-writing/): Something we discussed earlier this year at a Words Away Zalon on mindfulness and writing was the idea of gnarliness. I first encountered this term in the context of writing via Californian novelist Rudy Rucker at a Naropa University summer school. I learned that gnarly was a word used in surfing, and brought away the idea that a gnarly wave is a difficult wave – one that could kill you, but too one that could give you the chance to really prove your worth. Rudy covers the subject in further detail in his essay What Is Gnarl?, where among other things he states […]
- [Suffering For Your Art, aka Pull Yourself Together](https://wille.org/2021/04/01/suffering-for-your-art-aka-pull-yourself-together/): As a guest at a recent Words Away Zalon on mindfulness and writing, I made a passing reference to Kellie Jackson about the manuscript as a site of suffering. It was a bit of a throwaway remark, but I’ve been thinking about this idea since. First, and most simply: as an editor I see a lot of writers suffering over their writing. Uncertainty about technique, confusion about feedback, frustration and even anger about rejections, envy at the success of others, doubts about the very idea of the book in the first place, sales figures for the last book. Angst, worry, fretting, […]
- [Voice Notes](https://wille.org/2021/03/10/voice-notes/): I am currently taking The Way of Writing, Natalie Goldberg’s new online class with Shambhala Publications. It was truly exciting on Saturday evening to sit among a body of 2,181 students beaming in from all over the world via Zoom. Natalie makes it work – her teaching and her spontaneity and her big heart make for a powerful transmission. When it comes to writing practice, Natalie tasks writers on writing using prompts in, e.g., ten-minute sprints, and then we read our work out aloud to other people, in this case via Zoom breakout groups. This weekend I read and listened to […]
- [Acknowledgements](https://wille.org/2021/01/31/acknowledgements/): At a recent Words Away Zalon, Words In Action, I talked to Kellie Jackson about mindfulness in relation to creativity, writing and publishing. Mindfulness covers a wide range of ideas and practices, and in 2021 I plan on blogging about specific topics that might have a bearing on our writing.  At the Zalon I mentioned the idea of the monkey mind, or the loop of mental chatter that creates negativities that undermine our work: doubts, resentments, imposter syndrome. That monkey mind just needs to shut up, really! Though that’s easier said than done. We can try meditation (more on that another time), […]
- [Books of 2020](https://wille.org/2020/12/31/books-of-2020/): My stand-out read of 2020 was a brilliant work of nonfiction. If you have not read it, you have to: My other essential reads of 2020: Other notable reads: I did other things in 2020. In addition to Natalie Goldberg’s class from Shambhala, I took another excellent online course – a training in Mindful Compassion – and I’ve just started a fascinating series of online classes on Buddhist history, philosophy, and practice; both come from my beloved alma mater Naropa University. I watched lots of enjoyable tv. Highlights: Watchmen, Eastsiders, The Mandalorian, Unorthodox, Drag Race Canada, Mrs America, Disclosure, and Bridgerton. Schitts Creek was a particular […]
- [Clear Thinking](https://wille.org/2020/12/30/clear-thinking/): To round out this short series of posts about the Four Elements practice in writing, let’s look at the fourth and final element: Air. Air is associated with the mind: thinking, mental states, logic. At its best, it’s associated with clarity: strong ideas clearly expressed in conjunction with the other elements, e.g., conjuring up the senses (earth) in ways that prompt action (fire) and evoke feeling (water). In tarot, the element of Air is represented by the suit of Swords, and it’s useful to think of the image of a sharp blade ready to slice through the air with precision and […]
- [Earthly Exchanges](https://wille.org/2020/11/30/8091/): Continuing our closer look at my Four Elements practice in writing, let’s think about Earth. Earth is about the embodiment of the material world in writing: how we bring to life sights, sounds, tastes, smells, textures or touch – the slant of sunlight in November, the song of a robin, the anticipation of eating those fat beans stewing with bayleaf and onions in the pressure cooker back home. The smell of onions that will linger in every corner of the house for a few days!* The crispy – and soggy – leaves that your boots sink into. Material objects often lie at […]
- [Yours Compassionately](https://wille.org/2020/10/31/yours-compassionately/): Looking at further examples from the Four Elements practice in writing, let’s consider Water, which is associated with emotion. There are plenty of ways to think about evoking feeling in writing: shifts in tone can work, for example, through pacing, word choice, sentence length, and plenty of other techniques. Perspective and point of view can also make a difference in establishing an intimacy or detachment or a particular angle on events. These are tweaks or more radical changes we can experiment with during revising and self-editing: which way of telling the story creates a stronger emotional bond with the reader? […]
- [Writing Utopia](https://wille.org/2020/09/30/writing-utopia/): Continuing to explore the Four Elements practice in writing, I want to think about Fire in a particular way. Among other things, I relate Fire to intention in writing – what purpose fires you up and inspires you in a positive way and helps create a focus in your work? Sometimes writing is about tearing things down, but sometimes writing is about creating things fresh and new in ways that represent your ideal vision of the world. And this is where we can add a little Earth to create a particular setting and populate it with preferred characters for whom we […]
- [The Four Elements of Writing](https://wille.org/2020/09/06/the-four-elements-of-writing/): In workshops and editorial mentoring I often use a Four Elements practice. It combines an intuitive sense of creativity with a practical grasp of craft and technique to offer a fresh way of looking at writing. I am planning online Four Elements workshops for the near future, so I thought it would be an idea to describe this in more detail. I started exploring the Four Elements shortly after I moved back to London and began to focus my editorial work on developmental editing alongside teaching creative writing. Something that often comes up with early drafts is that the writing often […]
- [Looking For The Four Elements](https://wille.org/2020/09/05/looking-for-the-four-elements/): A very simple exercise in looking for the Four Elements in writing – simple is so often best. As a writing experiment, select an extract of your own writing and share it with a reader, or even better exchange extracts with a writing partner. Looking for the Four Elements in someone else’s work will help you develop this way of looking at your own writing too. Ask them to tell you: * What is its fire? Where does the energy of its voice rise and fall? (We can’t be high-energy all the time, after all.) Where does the reader feel the most […]
- [Express Yourself Without Feedback](https://wille.org/2020/07/31/express-yourself-without-feedback/): This last couple of months I’ve had the great privilege of taking once again the online course based on Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down The Bones. It’s made up of a self-paced sequence of videos and readings, with additional live sessions for writing collectively. Most of the live writes had 250-300 people attending, or more. I first took it last year, and this year I signed up to take part in the live sessions (a kind offering from Shambhala Publications). Every Wednesday and Saturday I sat and wrote off a couple of ten-minute prompts, and then I read out what I wrote […]
- [I Never ...](https://wille.org/2020/06/30/i-never/): As a writing experiment, use the prompt I never … to write a list-based piece exploring the inner and outer lives for a main character, starting every sentence with the phrase I never. Write for ten minutes, making this a free write, keeping the pen moving and seeing what comes up; if you find yourself halting or drying up, just write I never … again and let a fresh association surface for your character. Try to include specific and concrete references: project inner feelings on to physical objects, introduce particular settings, make detailed references to other characters, create complications. I do […]
- [Revising and Editing Zalon](https://wille.org/2020/05/23/revising-and-editing-zalon/): The Zalon: what a great idea for Kellie Jackson to take her Words Away salons online with Zoom. I was the guest at Monday night’s inaugural Zalon, when over 80 writers of the ever widening Words Away community (now playing simultaneously in California and Oregon and Portugal) showed up to discuss Revising and Editing. Some things we talked about: * The distinction between plotters and pantsers is one I don’t really believe in: any writing needs both planning and freer-style composition. * And while we are at it, can I add that I truly loathe the words pantser and pantsing? They feel […]
- [Childhood Revisitations](https://wille.org/2020/05/23/childhood-revisitations/): This is a writing experiment for someone who wants a boost of energy to take their revising deeper, or anyone who’s come to a bit of a halt in their drafting. It could also be a valuable exercise in the early stages of planning a book. Writing experiment: Reread a favourite book of your childhood, or a favourite fairy story or myth you first encountered as a child. Perhaps choose something that was once important to you, but that you have not read in ages. You might have even forgotten most of its details, or there might be several variations […]
- [Tulip Fever](https://wille.org/2020/04/30/tulip-fever/): This month I was going to make a thoughtful post/papal address – something topical on slow writing, or productivity, or how to crochet a big gay rug for lockdown dance parties in your big gay commune. But everyone is a poster/pope now, and there is so much guidance and advice and ‘content’ out there that we could spend a lifetime of quarantines just reading the index. Also: though I am very good at slow writing, I am no expert on productivity – preacher, heal thyself, etc. Also: someone beat me to the big gay rug. So instead I am going to […]
- [The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction (and Life)](https://wille.org/2020/03/31/the-carrier-bag-theory-of-fiction-and-life/): I’m interested in ideas about story that deviate from the usual nagging about conflict – ‘Where’s the conflict?’ ‘This narrative arc lacks conflict’ etc., etc. The idea of conflict works well for many books, and especially for the visual media of films and plays. But too conflict can account for an awful lot of formulaic writing. I often raise this matter in workshops, quoting St Ursula from her classic writing guide Steering the Craft. Conflict is one kind of behavior. There are others, equally important in any human life, such as relating, finding, losing, bearing, discovering, parting, changing. Change is the […]
- [Water Workshop at Cambridge University](https://wille.org/2020/02/20/water-workshop-at-cambridge-university/): This week I taught a workshop at Cambridge University’s Judith E. Wilson Drama Studio as part of Bhanu Kapil’s workshop cycle on Water, which forms a natural overlap with my own sequence of classes on the Four Elements. I introduced the idea of the Four Elements as an alternative to binary ways of looking at writing (and the world – let’s be ambitious). And then we considered Water for its associations with feelings, which can so often be out of balance in writing. We listened to a passage from Annie Proulx’s ‘Brokeback Mountain’, and through close readings identified aspects of craft […]
- [Water Ways](https://wille.org/2020/02/11/water-ways-february-2020/): On Saturday a lovely group of writers came along to Water Ways, the newest of the Four Elements workshops that I’m running as a series with Kellie Jackson of Words Away. Among the Four Elements, Water is identified with feeling, and as the workshop approached I realised the field of emotions presents a pretty HUGE and amorphous subject as a topic within writing. Given my ambition slash weakness of needing to be comprehensive, how would we cover it ALL?! So we approached the subject of emotion through a few specific lenses. We started by discussing memory and symbolism as ways to activate, […]
- [Food in Writing](https://wille.org/2020/01/27/food-in-writing/): On Sunday I taught for the first time at the Victoria and Albert Museum: a workshop on food in writing called Food: Bigger Than The Page. We started off talking about food as a genre or genres (plural) of writing. Some books of food writing have an investigative or campaigning approach, such as Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and then there are works of food history such as Dorothy Hartley’s Food in England and Mark Kurlansky’s Cod. Someone also brought up the name of one of the great food writers: MFK Fisher. And I forgot, oops, […]
- [Books I Enjoyed Most In 2019](https://wille.org/2019/12/31/books-i-enjoyed-most-in-2019/): I read a lot of good books in 2019. I am never sure about the idea of Best Books, or giving them scores out of 5. I mean, who are we to judge, and sometimes good books are simply no fun. So I like to think in terms of the books I enjoyed most, and for whatever reason: the ones that got under my skin or touched my heart or tickled my fancy or lifted my spirits in some special way. In 2019, these were: Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Edward Carey, LittleOlga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the […]
- [Workshops for 2020: Food, Water Ways, Earth Works](https://wille.org/2019/12/13/workshops-for-2020-food-water-ways-earth-works/): In 2020 I’m continuing the ongoing series of new Four Elements workshops with Kellie Jackson of Words Away. Four Elements workshops follow a holistic approach, using mindfulness techniques and placing a strong emphasis on play and experiment, while also addressing practical matters of craft and the business of publishing. Each day-long workshop considers the symbolic powers and perspectives of the elements: fire for the energy it creates, water for the feelings it evokes, earth for conjuring up the material world, and air for the way in which it structures the world and brings clarity to our thinking. We also discuss ways […]
- [Workshops for Autumn 2019: Four Elements, Food, Fire](https://wille.org/2019/08/23/workshops-for-autumn-2019-four-elements-food-fire/): Here towards the end of the summer break comes a post with info on writing and creativity workshops I’m leading in the autumn: * Saturday 28 September, 9.45am-5pmEveryday Magic: The Four Elements of Creativity, at London Bridge Hive, in conjunction with Words Away * Sunday 13 October 2019, 2pm-5pmFood: Bigger Than The Page, at the Victoria & Albert Museum * Saturday 9 November, 9.45am-5pmFinding Your Fire: A Four Elements Workshop on Theme and Voice, at London Bridge Hive, in conjunction with Words Away You can follow the links above for further information plus booking details (and early bird rates for […]
- [Only Connect: Writing Experiment No. 74](https://wille.org/2019/06/24/only-connect-writing-experiment-no-74/): 1. I saw Bhanu Kapil reading at the LRB Bookshop on Friday. An intense but joyful event – tales of migrants, tales of violence, tales of family, rites of mud and glitter. Also: birthday cake on the summer solstice: that magical. Bhanu posed a question – two questions – directly, simply in her writing: What did you inherit? What did you reproduce? Inheritance and reproduction: energies to seek out in our writing. 2. I am reading Ocean Vuong’s debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. And O! It really is gorgeous. I also recently read the profile Ocean Vuong’s Life […]
- [Plotting: Conflict, Complication, Curiosity, and Connection](https://wille.org/2019/06/18/plotting-conflict-curiosity-and-connection/): What’s the conflict, where’s the conflict? These questions often arise in creative writing, and sometimes I find them tiresome. Perhaps it’s because they can sound a bit nagging or whiny, and I am an irritable and impatient type who runs to resentment easily. But really it’s because conflict is not always the obvious or the primary driver of stories for me. Certain types of story do not rely on conflict, even if it’s somewhere in the story.  Many films and plays are all about conflict. Perhaps it’s in the nature of the experience, something to do with the way audiences engage […]
- [Summer 2019 Masterclasses: Density and Speed, Craft of Revising](https://wille.org/2019/04/02/summer-2019-masterclasses-density-and-speed-craft-of-revising/): Kellie Jackson of Words Away and I have lined up two further day-long masterclasses on craft for the summer term. * Saturday 11 May 2019: Density and Speed: Crafting Space and Time in Writing, plus Q&A with book PR Alison Menzies.  * Saturday 15 June 2019: The Craft of Revising: A Masterclass on Self-editing for Writers, plus Q&A with editor Faiza Khan of Bloomsbury Publishing.  I am right now putting together materials for new class Density and Speed. This is inspired by hearing Donna Tartt, in a tv interview at the time of the publication of The Goldfinch, say that she loves […]
- [‘Heart’ Words vs ‘Head’ Words: Guest Writing Experiment No. 73 From Zoe Gilbert](https://wille.org/2019/03/29/heart-words-vs-head-words-guest-writing-experiment-no-73-from-zoe-gilbert/): I’m really happy to introduce a guest writing experiment from Zoe Gilbert. She’s chosen a topic that I myself encountered in one of her excellent workshops – Zoe’s teaching is *highly* recommended (see link below), and so is her book Folk, a truly original work of fiction that was one of my favourite books of 2018. Over to Zoe: *** The English language is a richer resource than we might realise. Thanks to the influence of many languages arriving on our islands over the centuries, we have enough synonyms to warrant a thesaurus (not all languages have one of these). […]
- [Sitting (And Walking) With Your Characters: Writing Experiment No. 72](https://wille.org/2019/03/21/sitting-and-walking-with-your-characters-writing-experiment-no-72/): Last month I felt very privileged to see Anna Burns talk about writing and read from her wonderful, prize-winning novel Milkman. It was a profound experience, and I brought away many things. She has a lovely, intuitive approach to writing. I came away most of all with an impression of someone who is not grasping: not grasping for success, but not really grasping for things in the writing either. And that lets her and her creations shine as originals. Something I particularly registered was a statement that: ‘Characters don’t want to tell me what their favourite food is and they’re not going […]
- [Characters Sparking Joy: Writing Experiment No. 71](https://wille.org/2019/02/01/characters-sparking-joy-writing-experiment-no-71/): Following on from the Character Questionnaire exercise that came out of last week’s masterclass, here is another writing experiment to help think about characterisation. Your character is decluttering with Marie Kondo. Which of their possessions still spark joy, and are kept? Which do they thank for their service and donate to Oxfam? What do they junk with glee, or without a second thought? Consider how your character’s relationships with their possessions reflect their inner lives and outer worlds, and their conflicts or affinities with other people and places. Write a scene that grows out of this. PS I’ve finally watched one […]
- [Character Questionnaire: Writing Experiment No. 70](https://wille.org/2019/01/28/character-questionnaire-writing-experiment-no-70/): On Saturday I led a masterclass on Character and Setting in conjunction with Kellie Jackson of Words Away. It’s the latest in our series of classes intended as a practical, DIY alternative to the craft seminars of an MA/MFA in creative writing. Here is Kellie’s account of the day. We discussed Olive Kitteridge and Tom Ripley and Ennis Del Mar, and Bridget Jones and that other Singleton, Mary Ann from Tales of the City. We talked about types (heroes, mentors, shapeshifters), and primary identities, and desires and inner conflicts. We drew cartoon sketches of characters, and maps for them to […]
- [Books of 2018](https://wille.org/2018/12/31/books-of-2018/): In approximate order of reading, and including books published in other years, the books that I most enjoyed reading this year were: Zoe Gilbert, FolkCarmen Maria Machado, Her Body And Other PartiesXiaolu Guo, Once Upon A Time In The East Rebecca Makkai, The Great BelieversTommy Orange, There ThereAlexander Chee, How To Write An Autobiographical Novel David Sedaris, CalypsoBarbara Kingsolver, The LacunaMiriam Toews, All My Puny SorrowsKelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott, Swan SongLucia Berlin, Welcome HomeAnna Burns, MilkmanSally Rooney, Normal People Other mentions go to: Denis Johnson, Train Dreams; Kit De Waal, A Trick To Time; Carys Davies, The Redemption of Galen Pike; Margaret Atwood, The […]
- [Spring 2019 Masterclasses: Character & Setting, Prose Style](https://wille.org/2018/12/06/spring-2019-masterclasses-character-setting-prose-style/): After a successful masterclass on the Craft of Voice at the end of November, Kellie Jackson of Words Away and I are continuing this series, which began with Plotting in September, with two more masterclasses for the spring term: Crafting Character & Setting Crafting Your Prose Character and setting are the foundations of our narrative content, and on 26 January we shall be exploring ways in which they can be brought to life in ways that propel our stories forward. And the masterclass devoted to prose style on 30 March will look not only at important aspects of grammar and […]
- [The Craft of Voice: Coming Soon](https://wille.org/2018/09/21/the-craft-of-voice-coming-soon/): Kellie Jackson has posted a Q&A on her blog for our 24 November masterclass The Craft of Voice. It’s voice that matters most in writing for me. It’s voice that draws us into a story at the start, and it’s voice that keeps the pages turning. When I was an editor working in-house, it was voice that usually convinced me that I wanted to take on a new writer. I think of the opening of one of my favourite novels, The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber: ‘Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need […]
- [We Are A Muse: Writing Experiment No. 69](https://wille.org/2018/09/09/we-are-a-muse-writing-experiment-no-69/): I recently went to the excellent exhibition Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at the Victoria & Albert Museum. I was captivated! And I am still working out exactly why it beguiled me so much. I’ve liked her work, though I’m not sure I have really loved it, and I can’t be sure I’d have gone to the exhibition until someone told me how good she thought it was, and then someone else I’d not seen in ages told me that she’d love for us to meet there. And I went, and I loved it. Something funny though: a publisher friend […]
- [Masterclasses on Plotting and Voice: 29 September and 24 November 2018](https://wille.org/2018/08/20/masterclasses-on-plotting-and-voice-2018/): A quick break from my summer break to say that we’re now taking bookings for the craft masterclasses that I’m running this autumn with Kellie Jackson of Words Away. These are one-day courses held on Saturdays at London Bridge Hive: * The Craft of Plotting, including guest speaker Nick Ross, production director of Little, Brown, on Saturday 29 September 2018 * The Craft of Voice, including guest speaker Jenny Savill, director and agent at Andrew Nurnberg Associates, on Saturday 24 November 2018 More info on my Events page or via the links above, where you can also book, and Kellie […]
- [The Retype Draft: Writing Experiment No. 68](https://wille.org/2018/06/27/putting-it-through-the-typewriter-again-writing-experiment-no-68/): Putting It Through The Typewriter Again One of the most useful tasks that writers can give themselves during revising is keying in the whole text all over again: a Retype Draft. I’ve actually met gasps of horror when I’ve suggested this in workshops. To which I usually say: lazy bastards! In fact, for many heavily changed drafts this work is not really a duplication of labour, and it’s probably more efficient to retype than scratching around in your own leavings, getting confused and failing to see what’s in front of you. Also, don’t forget those poor Macless authors of yore scratching […]
- [The Craft of Revising, 23 June 2018](https://wille.org/2018/06/25/the-craft-of-revising-23-june-2018/): I really enjoyed Saturday’s workshop on The Craft of Revising – a lovely group of writers came along, and we left energised and enthusiastic to return to writing projects, seeing them in new ways and ready to try out fresh things with them. We talked about Buddhism and drag queens and different types of editing, and taste and technique, and intention. We asked ourselves what genres we are writing in, and how our books might be positioned to readers by publishers. We thought about our characters and their yearnings, and discussed how specific slants or perspectives on our material can not […]
- [I Don't Remember: Writing Experiment No. 67](https://wille.org/2018/06/01/i-dont-remember-writing-experiment-no-67/): Earlier today, Kellie Jackson directed me to this powerful photo essay on the stolen generations of Australia. The accompanying essay talks about ‘disremembering’ – the untold histories, the silenced voices, the highly selective nature of looking at colonial history. It made us think about the I Remember exercises that are probably my favourite writing experiments – there’s no better way of establishing an easy voice in writing. I Remember can be a charming nostalgic trip, or a journey back into sad moments, but it tends to directly access lived experiences that bring a whole time and place to life. I […]
- [Interview on The Craft of Revising](https://wille.org/2018/05/13/interview-craft-of-revising/): Kellie Jackson of Words Away recently interviewed me on her blog for the workshop on revising and self-editing that we are holding in June, and I thought I’d copy it here as well. I know some of the people who’ve signed up already, and there are a few spots left. Do let us know if you have any questions – and I’ll look forward to seeing some of you on 23rd June. *** Kellie: We have an exciting new workshop, The Craft of Revising, all planned and ready for Saturday, 23rd June. I’m teaming up once again with experienced editor and […]
- [I Remember Bobbie Louise Hawkins](https://wille.org/2018/05/05/i-remember-bobbie-louise-hawkins/): I remember my friend Bobbie Louise Hawkins. I remember Bobbie as one of the great teachers, and one of the great storytellers, and one of the great prose stylists. I remember Bobbie led a long and well-travelled life: West Texas, New Mexico, Japan, Belize, Guatemala, Bolinas, England, Boulder. I remember stories of a tough childhood in the Great Depression. I remember she studied art in New Mexico. I remember she was once married to a Danish architect. I remember she studied art at the Slade. This was the 1940s. She wore old Levi’s. She must have been way ahead of […]
- [Writing Experiment No. 66: Copyist](https://wille.org/2018/04/23/writing-experiment-no-66-copyist/): On Saturday I again taught my workshop Everyday Magic: The Four Elements of Writing. We started the day by introducing ourselves with a favourite book, telling the group how and why it’s left an impression on us. Much-loved books came up: The Underground Railroad, Cloudstreet, Ladder of Years, Station Eleven, My Name Is Lucy Barton, Home (twice!), Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, Palace Walk, Pride and Prejudice, A Song For Issy Bradley, This Is How You Lose Her, East of Eden, Tirra Lirra by the River, Finn Family Moomintroll. What was evident was that all of these books had […]
- [Workshops Spring and Summer 2018: Everyday Magic / The Craft of Revising](https://wille.org/2018/03/05/workshops-spring-and-summer-2018-everyday-magic-and-revising-editing/): I’m excited to be running workshops with Kellie Jackson of Words Away again: one we ran before, and a new one. On 21 April 2018, we’ll run Everyday Magic: The Four Elements of Creativity, which sold out when we ran it in November – here’s a link about that day, and here’s an interview I did with Kellie about its approach. It’s designed to help writers work intuitively by using the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. I love introducing these ideas – it’s such a straightforward concept, but one that can really help writing come to life. On 23 June […]
- [Writing Experiment No. 65: An Archive Of Belonging](https://wille.org/2018/02/23/writing-experiment-no-65-an-archive-of-belonging/): There are lots of theories about the number of stories there are: two, eight, twenty, sixty-four. But I have a hunch that most stories boil down to just one story, and that’s about the search for home. I’m not sure quite when I decided on this. Maybe it was when I read Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, which at its end, after all the fuss and fatwas, is about people looking for home. Which takes me to Rushdie’s brilliant essay, ‘Out of Kansas’, on The Wizard of Oz, which reminds us all that There’s no place like home. Which takes me […]
- [Books of 2017](https://wille.org/2017/12/31/books-of-2017/): I read some good books this year. I also thought I had read a lot of books this year until I got a holiday round-robin from my auntie Ruth, who mentioned in passing the 188 books she’d read in 2017 (this was early December), including ones in the original Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French (she read some from German and Russian in translation, she said – though she speaks those languages, and another seven too). Not so pleased with myself now, am I?! Some of the books I mention below as read in 2017 were published during this year, some […]
- [Everyday Magic Workshop, 18 November 2017](https://wille.org/2017/11/23/everyday-magic-workshop-18-november-2017/): On Saturday I led a workshop called Everyday Magic: The Four Elements of Creativity in conjunction with Words Away. It was the first time that I had done this workshop as a day-long event, and I was also particularly excited to teach a Four Elements workshop in London for the first time; a peculiar and unexpected thrill came from teaching something that I am passionate about in the city that I love. Totally in my element! And maybe after all London is finally my home town. I was very pleased with how the day went. A super bunch of writers came – […]
- [Everyday Magic: Future Attractions!](https://wille.org/2017/09/15/everyday-magic-future-attractions/): Writing is often described as a form of magic – alchemy. Tor Udall spoke about writing in these terms just last weekend at the Festival of Writing. Something gets transformed, spun out of a few ingredients: pictures and sounds we hold in our mind, memories, yearnings, random happenings, pen and paper. The imagination is fed, and creates something. Yes, this really is magic. Sometimes the imagination needs a spur, though, or to free itself of clutter or anxieties or other forms of self-consciousness, and this is why I have developed Four Elements workshops for writers keen to find fresh approaches in […]
- [Interview: The Four Elements of Creativity](https://wille.org/2017/09/15/interview-the-four-elements-of-creativity/): Kellie Jackson from Words Away interviewed me for her blog (10 September 2017) in advance of the Everyday Magic workshop we ran in November 2017. Kellie: Is this workshop suitable for a beginner or of more benefit to a more advanced or published writer? Andrew: Anyone interested in writing – or any artistic practice. I strongly feel that true artists are eternal learners, constantly evolving and keeping their work fresh. Kellie: As a writer I’m often trying to achieve a goal or outcome; be it a short story for a deadline or a novel to submit to a prospective agent. Why might […]
- [Festival of Writing 2017](https://wille.org/2017/09/12/festival-of-writing-2017/): The 2017 Festival of Writing in York was great fun – it’s always lovely to end the summer seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I’ve already posted my I Remember for the weekend. I was only sorry that timings meant I missed Sam Jordison’s industry panel, as I really love the work of Galley Beggar Press. But overall I had a (slightly) easier schedule this year, too, which meant I felt less rushed and had more energy and felt more relaxed. Thanks to everyone at the Writers’ Workshop for once again inviting me. Here are a few notes and links […]
- [I Remember York 2017](https://wille.org/2017/09/11/i-remember-york-2017/): I didn’t use I Remember exercises at York this year, but in that style here are a few quick memories from this weekend’s Festival of Writing in York: * I remember sirens from Australia, cooks in Paris, immigrants from Uganda. I remember mothers: Sicilian and surrogate and Geordie and grieving. I remember killers from Yorkshire (and Merseyside, and Edinburgh, and France, and Wales, and Northumberland, and Yorkshire again). I remember YA dystopian novels. I remember an ADULT dystopian novel. I remember saying I’d love to read a blockbuster novel about Polish-British immigrants. I remember an agent getting excited about badgers. […]
- [Jack Collom, Force of Nature](https://wille.org/2017/08/20/jack-collom-force-of-nature/): Jack Collom, poet, teacher, friend and lover of nature, died last month. His memorial is held at Naropa today, and I’m sorry not to be there in person. I am sure many will be in attendance, and also there in spirit. Jack was a much loved and profoundly good teacher, one of the best I ever had, and his influence is felt far and wide and with great affection. My first experience of teaching in fact came when I took Jack’s Project Outreach class at Naropa in the fall of 2002. I volunteered one morning a week in a Language […]
- [Editorial critique for #authorsforgrenfell](https://wille.org/2017/06/22/editorial-critique-for-authorsforgrenfell/): I’m offering an editorial critique via the online auction Authors For Grenfell Tower. The money raised will be paid to the British Red Cross and will be going to residents affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. I’ll read and report on up to 15,000 words plus a synopsis or proposal for your novel or work of narrative nonfiction. More details on this specific offer here, and more info on how to bid here. Bidding is open until Tuesday 27 June, and this particular offer is available to writers worldwide. And there are many other offers too – critiques from editors, lunches with agents, signed […]
- [Rejected, Or Declined?](https://wille.org/2017/05/15/rejected-or-declined/): Something that all writers have to deal with at some point or other is rejection. Your manuscript gets turned down by that agent who’d expressed such enthusiasm about the opening chapter at a writers’ conference. Or an editor says no, stating that they’ve just taken on a work in the same vein. Or you get a standard rejection letter. Or you wait and wait and wait, but just don’t hear back. This is going to cause disappointment. Sometimes writers seem to take things personally, and self-pity and blame arise. I’ve heard writers who’ve had dozens of rejections say, ‘It’s not worth […]
- [George Saunders And The Intuitive Swerve](https://wille.org/2017/03/17/george-saunders-and-the-intuitive-swerve/): I was very lucky to see George Saunders talking about his first novel Lincoln in the Bardo this week. The man is a true inspiration. His writing is hard to categorise  – good, we say! He’s not a conventional realist, and his stories are these great shots of something we can’t predict – they have strands of the surreal, the hyperreal, the dystopian, the fantastic, the satirical, the gonzo and oddball and geek. Even more impressive is the fact he’s made himself a successful career as a published writer and a highly regarded teacher of creative writing (at Syracuse) on the basis of […]
- [Thank You, Meryl](https://wille.org/2017/03/08/thank-you-meryl/): At the weekend I discovered this extraordinarily rousing speech of Meryl Streep accepting her National Ally For Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign. Following her Golden Globes speech in January, it’s very stirring, and very moving. The audience just LOVES her. My people do make for good audiences, don’t they? (The HRC is an American civil rights organisation campaigning for LGBTQ equality.) I am reminded how, when I was younger, and closety, I affected a crush on Meryl Streep. I pinned up a newspaper clipping of her above my bed. I don’t think I fooled my family or friends, really – I […]
- [Plotting Workshop](https://wille.org/2017/03/04/plotting-workshop-4-march-2017/): The Writers’ Workshop Getting Publishing Day was great fun. It was good to see some old faces and meet plenty of friendly new ones. I saw some really accomplished writing, a lot of it already at a publishable standard. With the right breaks and a good dose of luck, some of these books could be on the way to finding an agent and publisher – and let’s not forget we can create some of our own luck, too. It was the first time I’d taught a workshop on plotting in an hour-long slot (though I realise we ran over by […]
- [Writing Experiment No. 64: The Wrong Envelope](https://wille.org/2017/02/28/writing-experiment-no-64-the-wrong-envelope/): I’m planning for a workshop on plotting I’m leading at the Getting Published Day on Saturday. I went online earlier to read the news, and I saw this photograph of the audience at the Oscars just as it became clear that the wrong envelope had been opened by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway when they announced Best Picture. A classic reversal of fortune! Everything was going smoothly, and then it turned out someone had made a very human error. An error with a very human cause, and perhaps with very human effects (let’s see who carries those briefcases next year). But fortunately there are systems […]
- [How To Write A Novel: Reviewed](https://wille.org/2017/01/08/how-to-write-a-novel-reviewed/): As I teach creative writing, taking a writing course might seem like a busman’s holiday, or teaching grandad to suck eggs … or something like that. But I am firmly of the belief that practitioners should keep their practice fresh. There are always new inspirations in creative fields, and it helps teachers to see familiar ideas in new frameworks. I am also an eternal student, and come September that slant of autumn light makes me wistful for the classroom. So last term I took two online courses on writing a novel from the University of British Columbia’s prestigious writing programme. Offered via the edX […]
- [Books of 2016](https://wille.org/2016/12/31/books-of-2016/): My book of the year is Lucia Berlin’s A Manual For Cleaning Women. It might even be my book of the decade. Its short stories bring to life a certain world of poets and bohemians that reminds me of Boulder and Albuquerque, where some stories are set and where I’ve lived too. In fact, various friends of mine were friends of hers, and she always sounded much loved by those people – so why hadn’t I read her before?! But this was much more than a nostalgia trip (even if I had to read it with a Boulder Book Store bookmark). Lucia […]
- [Friday Writing Experiment No. 63: A Gift On Every Page](https://wille.org/2016/12/23/friday-writing-experiment-no-63-a-gift-on-every-page/): What are you giving the reader on every page? Let’s revisit that idea of giving, as we considered in the writing experiment last week, where we reappropriated appropriation as an act of giving. For this week’s writing experiment: As an exercise in revising and drafting, print off a copy of your manuscript in a format different from the one in which it was originally composed. I suggest making it look like a book. For example, use a bookish typeface (I think this was 11pt Baskerville, but Garamond and Caslon look good too), and make it single-spaced and justified, and print it out […]
- [Receiving, and Giving: On Appropriation](https://wille.org/2016/12/16/friday-writing-experiment-no-62-receiving-and-giving/): (Updated June 2019 and February 2020 to include further links: this one is ongoing.) A subject that comes up frequently in the world of writing is that of cultural appropriation: using other people’s voices, or taking stories that peoples claim as their own. People can be sensitive about cultural tourism, and rightly so, given the uneven balance of power through history. But neither am I comfortable with limits on what we can or cannot write. Writers often bear witness to things they have observed, rather than things they have experienced directly, and the outsider account often has great value. And writers should be free to go beyond their immediate selves, […]
- [Tomorrow Belongs To You](https://wille.org/2016/11/09/tomorrow-belongs-to-you/): If you really care about things, practise what you preach. If you are a writer or an agent or a publishing professional, are you working with people whose ethics align with yours at every stage of the chain of ownership, production and distribution? Take time today to do what we have to do in the echo chambers of social media. But if we really care about things, we have to practise what we preach out there in the world too. Tomorrow belongs to us.
- [Virago: Changing The World One Page At A Time](https://wille.org/2016/11/04/virago-changing-the-world-one-page-at-a-time/): It’s felt a bit of a grim year for events in the wider world: terror, Brexit, xenophobia, squabbles on social media. So it was truly heartening this week to watch the documentary on Virago on Monday night: Virago: Changing The World One Page At A Time. (It’s on YouTube too if you can’t find it on iPlayer.) So many of my formative reads, dating back to the 1980s when I was at university, are Viragos: Maya Angelou, Marilynne Robinson, Patricia Highsmith, Margaret Atwood, Sarah Waters (Fingersmith is my favourite novel), Angela Carter, Mary Webb. And Willa Cather! So many of my favourite books have that […]
- [Friday Writing Experiment No. 61: Raising The Tone](https://wille.org/2016/10/21/friday-writing-experiment-no-61-raising-the-tone/): The first version of this post described how I got emotional at a workshop at York this year, but every time I go back to my earlier drafts I feel I’m just adding to the shit-heap of whine and opine, so I decided to spin gold out of shit and turn it into a writing experiment. Let’s just say: we live in a divided culture. We squabble over politics, over our place in the world, over other people’s places in our small world, over our leaders. Some of our political leaders qualified for office on the basis of careers as newspaper columnists whipping […]
- [Words Away Salon, 19 September 2016](https://wille.org/2016/09/20/words-away-salon-19-september-2016/): Last night I was very happy to take part in the inaugural Words Away literary salon run by Kellie Jackson and Emma Darwin. It was a super evening: a great turnout, with a lovely, engaged crowd of writers, and the Teahouse Theatre is a wonderful venue for this sort of event too. Also, Vauxhall is so easy to get to from so many places, and we were a very short walk from the tube. The subject under discussion was self-editing, which as Emma pointed out is a useful term (and something of a recent coinage) that brings clarity to this idea […]
- [Friday Writing Experiment No. 60: Word Power](https://wille.org/2016/09/16/friday-writing-experiment-no-60-word-power/): This is an exercise to help with revising, but it could also be used in other contexts. It builds on Friday Writing Experiment No. 9: A Word. * Take some key word from a piece you are working on and do some rooting around in the history of that word, e.g., at Etymonline.com. E.g., let’s say you are writing a story about a witch – let’s take a look at magic. One bit of this Etymonline definition that I take away is the following: to be able, to have power (see machine) So: really think about the relevance of your finding to your piece of writing. In this […]
- [Friday Writing Experiment No. 59: Words Words Words](https://wille.org/2016/09/14/friday-writing-experiment-no-59-words-words-words/): If possible, the first time you do this, rather than reading ahead, read each stage and follow its instructions before scrolling down to the next stage. (I hesitate to use the word instruction, because writers can be a bolshie lot who take instruction poorly, but in this case just do as you’re told as constraints are good for you.) Give yourself about twenty minutes.   1. Have a timer, notebook and pen at the ready, and a favourite book at hand (probably a print book but could work with ebook).   2. Close your eyes. Open the book at a random […]
- [York Festival of Writing 2016](https://wille.org/2016/09/12/york-festival-of-writing-2016/): Yesterday I returned from my fifth Festival of Writing. I’m tired, and overstimulated, and typing on three devices; I have email, Twitter, two Scrivener projects, three Word documents, and an infinity of Safari tabs on this very screen right now. (No Facebook, though. I’ve deactivated that. For now, for good?) But I have to say I really love that buzz I get when I come back from York. Here is a quick wrap-up including links to various things I mentioned (perhaps to be updated as my monkey mind remembers bits and pieces). DIY MA IN CREATIVE WRITINGHere is the post that inspired this workshop: […]
- [Story Is A State Of Mind](https://wille.org/2016/09/01/story-is-a-state-of-mind/): Today is my first day back at my desk, and even though it feels as if summer only began last week autumn is certainly in the air. This is my favourite time of year. There’s something about the slant of morning light in September that makes me think about fresh notebooks and starting back to school. Maybe I’m just a perennial student at heart. Last September I felt a particular pang of envy, and, as I was taking a short break from reading manuscripts anyway, on a whim one Friday night as the new series of Graham Norton was coming on […]
- [Should You Take The Job?](https://wille.org/2016/06/09/should-you-take-the-job/): Today I led a session called Should You Take The Job? at a professional development day on Editing For Fiction organised by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders here in London. Freelancers usually know where their strengths lie, and what their skills and preferences are, so they can make sure any job is a good fit – most of us are suited to some editorial tasks more than others. At the start, I described those main tasks in editing fiction as: In practice, of course, various of these functions are merged as editorial stages – line editing can often be done with copyediting, for example. (I’ve blogged about this and various other matters in […]
- [Do You Think Writing Can Be Taught?](https://wille.org/2016/04/22/do-you-think-writing-can-be-taught/): How many times do we have to revisit this question of whether writing can be taught? Of course writing can be taught. Painters are taught how to use colour, or wash brushes, or draw a dog in motion or at rest. Gardeners are taught how to make acid soil more alkaline  or to adapt by planting acid-loving plants. I have in my time frequently encountered the view that that writing can’t be taught, but I have little patience with dinosaurs and dullards who resist the idea of learning. I do however understand that sometimes the teaching of writing is uninspiring, clunky, or wrong-headed – […]
- [Getting Published Day 2016](https://wille.org/2016/03/06/getting-published-day-2016/): Yesterday I book doctored at the Writers’ Workshop Getting Published Day at Regents College. It was a lot of fun. I met some really lovely people and read samples from some interesting works-in-progress. One in particular was very exciting for me: witty, intelligent, and a strong story concept. My enthusiasm had no bounds! (Though the said writer does now have the challenge of writing the second-best opening line in English literature.) I hope the rest of the manuscript is as strong as the opening chapter and synopsis, and I also hope others will soon feel the same. At this point, the prospect of getting published comes down […]
- [Syllabus, By Lynda Barry](https://wille.org/2016/02/01/syllabus-by-lynda-barry/): Lynda Barry sounds like one of those Americans I love to be around: a progressive hippie (I assume …) with a big heart and a boisterous laugh and depths of feeling in her work. She is well known in North America for her cartoons, which have appeared in indie newspapers since the 1970s. I first encountered her name when I was UK editor for the fantastic Life In Hell books of Simpsons creator Matt Groening – they became friends when he ran the student paper at Evergreen State College, where her first work appeared. Her name appears in his books’ increasingly teasing dedications, e.g., ‘Lynda Barry is still funk […]
- [Learning From Poets](https://wille.org/2016/01/22/learning-from-poets/): I use poetry a lot in my teaching, but I don’t consider myself a poet and I don’t edit poetry as such (my frequent response to a poem has been, ‘Couldn’t you make it a bit shorter?’). A few things have recently set me to thinking about what I, as an editor and writer, have learned from poets and poetry. This last week I read posts by Isabel Rogers and Isabel Costello on Isabel C’s Literary Sofa, as well as an article by Trevor Conway on the ways in which we encounter and consume poetry. They interrogate something of an assumption that many of us have inherited: […]
- [Books Of 2015](https://wille.org/2015/12/31/books-of-2015/): I tend to shy away from judgements on published works on this blog (though not elsewhere!), but I thought I’d do my own year-end list of books: books I’ve enjoyed, books that left an impression, books I gained something from. Not all were published this year, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten other books I read in 2015, and this could be a slightly different list were I to write it yesterday or tomorrow. Edna O’Brien’s memoir Country Girl is perhaps my favourite book of the year. 2015 could go down in literary history as the year I discovered Edna O’Brien. Yay! Love […]
- [A Book Is Not A Film](https://wille.org/2015/11/21/a-book-is-not-a-film/): Texts on story structure are often recommended to writers with books in development: The Writer’s Journey, The Story Grid, Into The Woods, Story. They have many useful insights on how we can shape our content (e.g., inciting incident; events of mounting tension; a resolution delivering a payoff), but it can be frustrating that so many of their reference points come from the screen rather than the page. Star Wars, Thelma and Louise, Rocky, Eastenders. It’s only to be expected, I suppose – so many seminars on story are designed for screenwriters, after all. But storytelling on screen is a very […]
- [Enchantments](https://wille.org/2015/11/10/enchantments/):   It’s been a while since I posted (I had to pause to remember my login). I have been busy with other things. I did make time for a couple of fantastic outings this last week. Last night I saw Edna O’Brien in conversation. She was warm, funny, and erudite, and without a shred of pretentiousness or preciousness. It was a profound evening, and despite a large audience intimate; it was well hosted by Alex Clark, too, who simply let her subject do the talking with a few choice prompts. Part of me wished I’d taken notes about the many things […]

## Pages

- [Site Map](https://wille.org/site-map/)
- [The Empress Writes Back](https://wille.org/classes/tarot-for-writers/the-empress-writes-back/): Root Your Writing in the Garden of the Imagination A Zoom workshop, Sunday 22 June 2025, 5pm-6pm London time, £30 Book The Empress, the Queen of Pentacles, the Nine of Pentacles, the Sun: we’ll harvest these powerful symbols of gardens and nature for their creative energies and then write stories or poems that ground our writing in the sensory realities of character, setting, and voice. The tarot is a great gift for writers: an invitation to the imagination, a tool for creative focus, a prompt for accessing our unconscious drives. These interactive Tarot For Writers workshops explore the potential of […]
- [Home](https://wille.org/): Creative Writing & Book Development
- [Contact Form](https://wille.org/contact-form/)
- [Editorial & Mentoring](https://wille.org/editorial-mentoring/): I work with writers of imaginative storytelling in many forms – literary fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, horror, science fiction, crime, thrillers, and popular fiction. I also work in many fields of nonfiction, including memoir and life writing as well as writing about gardens, travel, food, history, current affairs, esoterica, and spirituality.

I currently offer services in the following areas: Mentoring, Developmental editing, Revision mentoring, Partnership mentoring, 
Manuscript review, Submission review, 
Editorial and publishing consultations
- [Search](https://wille.org/search/): Search Andrew Wille Writing Studio
- [Revising: A Craft Checklist](https://wille.org/resources/revising-a-craft-checklist/): Narrative content Narrative & dramatic focus What’s at stake? What type of story is this? What’s your slant on your content? What’s the final payoff? World-building What is your setting? And how are your characters’ stories grounded in time and place? Characters Credible? Interesting? Too many/few? Adequately motivated? Can we gain from having a clearer protagonist or antagonist? And from giving them more obvious objects of desire? Are your characters’ internal, interpersonal, and/or societal antagonisms adequately drawn and connected? Symbols & archetypes How are important aspects of content working subconsciously? How might archetypes lend depth and substance to characters and situations? Look up the etymology […]
- [Suggestions For Self-Editing](https://wille.org/resources/suggestions-for-self-editing/): Some Practical Matters  Some suggestions for tightening and brightening your writing Work on a copy. Save each draft as a separate, findable, identifiably named document. Get into the habit of paginating your manuscript. (Very important!) Consider starting each major revision in an entirely fresh document. Work from a printout of the previous draft, re-keying the revised text. This can liberate you from attachments, and from being locked into the downward scroll of the screen. (If this seems like a duplication of labour, imagine classic authors working at their typewriters; back in the day, producing a revision was even called ‘putting it through the typewriter again’.) […]
- [Syllabus for a DIY MA](https://wille.org/resources/syllabus-for-a-diy-ma/): In an earlier post I discussed how writers can assemble their own self-directed programme of studies: a DIY MA in creative writing. Following further posts about that on Twitter last week, and inspired by my inner teacher as well as Lynda Barry’s wonderful book Syllabus, I’ve put together a syllabus for anyone who might want more specific guidance on what a good writing programme might need to include. Follow this link for a PDF of the DIY MA in Creative Writing (version 1.3). (This is very much a work-in-progress. As I tweak and add updates or corrections, I’ll amend the […]
- [Voice](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/voice/): Trusting your natural speaking voice A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Finding your voice is one of the great myths of writing: you already have a voice. This masterclass will empower you to trust your natural speaking voice as the foundation of your voice in writing, and then consider the ways in which that voice can be adapted for different contexts. We’ll also discuss ways to shift the tone in writing and bring greater depth and feeling into our stories. Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this month’s topics, […]
- [Setting & Situation](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/setting-situation/): Building worlds that create stories A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Captivating settings in place and time are crucial in fiction and nonfiction. In this masterclass we’ll talk about ways to bring worlds to life, discussing the special encounters that settings create for characters, and considering how the opportunities and constraints of any location will shape our stories. We’ll also pay attention to detail and description in the fabric of our storytelling: how much is enough? Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this month’s topics, plus a writing exercise […]
- [Copyright](https://wille.org/copyright/): © 2025 Andrew Wille & Andrew Wille Writing Studio Photography, illustration and text incorporated into this site are copyright protected by Andrew Wille & Andrew Wille Writing Studio and other owners and/or representatives. Downloading, screen capturing or copying these items in any manner for any use other than personally viewing the original document in its entirety is prohibited by copyright law. Original material contained or linked in this website is the exclusive copyright of Andrew Wille or Andrew Wille Writing Studio and you are expressly forbidden to copy, re-use or distribute under any circumstances.
- [About](https://wille.org/andrew/about/): I work with writers and books in a variety of ways, bringing together my experience in publishing with my experience in teaching as well as a particular interest in mindfulness and intuitive approaches to writing and creativity. I edit, I lead workshops, and as a book doctor I offer developmental editing, coaching and creative mentoring to individual writers, and read manuscripts at any stage of their evolution. My aim: using a holistic approach to help writers to write – and sometimes to find – the books that they want to write. A more detailed bio: I’ve worked in publishing since 1987. […]
- [Write By Numbers](https://wille.org/classes/tarot-for-writers/write-by-numbers/): Sparking Action and Plot with Number Cards A Zoom Workshop – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. We’ll use the symbolic associations of the number cards to disrupt then steady the course of our stories. Random happenings, risks, complications: let’s make things happen. The tarot is a great gift for writers: an invitation to the imagination, a tool for creative focus, a prompt for accessing our unconscious drives. These interactive Tarot For Writers workshops explore the potential of the tarot in creative writing as well as writing for personal growth. Different classes survey the archetypes of […]
- [Magicians and Fools](https://wille.org/classes/tarot-for-writers/magicians-and-fools/): First Steps Into the Major Arcana A Zoom Workshop – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Let the Fool and the Magician be our guides to the big themes and archetypes that the cards of the Major Arcana bring into our writing. We’ll channel our beginner’s minds into the stories we need to tell. The tarot is a great gift for writers: an invitation to the imagination, a tool for creative focus, a prompt for accessing our unconscious drives. These interactive Tarot For Writers workshops explore the potential of the tarot in creative writing as well […]
- [Courtiers and Coronets](https://wille.org/classes/tarot-for-writers/courtiers-and-coronets/): Using Court Cards for Character and Perspective A Zoom Workshop – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. We’ll investigate the character types and personality traits of the court cards for the ways they bring drama into our stories. The tarot is a great gift for writers: an invitation to the imagination, a tool for creative focus, a prompt for accessing our unconscious drives. These interactive Tarot For Writers workshops explore the potential of the tarot in creative writing as well as writing for personal growth. Different classes survey the archetypes of the Major Arcana, investigate the […]
- [Aces High](https://wille.org/classes/tarot-for-writers/aces-high/): Bringing Your Writing to Life With the Four Elements A Zoom Workshop – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Using the Aces as the purest expression of the four elements, we’ll explore how Fire energises your voice, Water adds depth and feeling to your characters, Earth brings substance and texture to your world-building, and Air lends focus and structure to your writing. The tarot is a great gift for writers: an invitation to the imagination, a tool for creative focus, a prompt for accessing our unconscious drives. These interactive Tarot For Writers workshops explore the potential […]
- [Tarot For Writers](https://wille.org/classes/tarot-for-writers/): The tarot is a great gift for writers: an invitation to the imagination, a tool for creative focus, a prompt for accessing our unconscious drives. Upcoming Workshop The Empress Writes Back, Sunday 22 June 2025 Previous Workshops Magicians and Fools Aces High Courtiers and Coronets Write By Numbers In this series of interactive workshops we explore the potential of the tarot in creative writing as well as writing for personal growth. Classes survey the archetypes of the Major Arcana and investigate the four elements, court cards, and number cards of the Minor Arcana. There are in-class writing experiments, and ideas […]
- [Classes](https://wille.org/classes/): Masterclasses Tarot For Writers
- [Blog](https://wille.org/blog/)
- [Endings](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/endings/): Resolutions, revising, and knowing when to stop A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Identify ways to give a story a memorable conclusion. We’ll review the strengths of open, closed and ambiguous endings, and inspect plot twists, grand finales and other means of creating emotional impact for the resolutions of our stories. We’ll also survey some practical strategies in revising and drafting, and discuss how to know when your story is truly done. Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this month’s topics, plus a writing exercise and Q&A.  A week […]
- [Genres & Readers](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/genres-readers/): What’s your genre and who are your readers? A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Explore the conventions of writing genres for the ways they help in shaping and pitching our stories. We’ll probe the intersection of taste and technique in various categories of writing, from page-turning commercial genres and upmarket fiction to literary works and experimental prose. We’ll also navigate feedback on our writing, survey the querying process with agents and editors, and discuss writers’ relationships with publishers and the book trade. Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this […]
- [Showing & Telling](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/showing-telling/): Weaving scene and narration into stories A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Find the balance of dramatic scene and narrative summary that’s required for any story. We’ll grasp the fundamentals of creating memorable scenes through action, dialogue, description and subtext, and understand the pitfalls that are best avoided. Using examples, we’ll also analyse ways to forge a strong voice for narrating your stories and captivating your readers from start to finish. Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this month’s topics, plus a writing exercise and Q&A.  A week before […]
- [Perspective & Style](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/perspective-style/): Techniques to power your storytelling A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Elevate your writing with this masterclass investigating the craft of perspective. We’ll discover how persona, point of view, tense and narrative distance can make your storytelling brighter and bolder, and sample a range of literary styles to help you develop a distinctive voice. I offer a taster of some of the topics covered in this masterclass over on Substack: A Case of Style. Andrew Wille is a veteran editor and writing teacher with a particular interest in mindful and holistic approaches to […]
- [Story & Plot](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/story-and-plot/): Weaving our material into stories A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. What drives a great plot? In this masterclass we’ll discuss both fictional characters and players in real-life dramas as plotters whose yearnings and encounters raise the stakes of our stories. We’ll examine the role of conflict and change, and consider how story types and conventions can help shape our narratives in both fiction and nonfiction. We’ll also look at plotting as an active process in our drafting. Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this month’s topics, plus a […]
- [Form & Structure](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/form-and-structure/): Shaping and pacing our storytelling A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. In this masterclass we’ll look at the forms that shape our stories and deepen our narrative material. We’ll also survey various narrative structures – three-act, Hero’s Journey, Kishōtenketsu, among others – for their offerings to the pacing and internal architecture of our storytelling. Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this month’s topics, plus a writing exercise and Q&A.  A week before the class, you’ll be emailed optional homework: brief preparatory readings as well as writing exercises. After each […]
- [Beginnings](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/beginnings/): Beginner’s mind – getting started A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. Fresh starts for new ideas, rebooting old projects, setting out in writing, trying a different form: we begin with beginnings and the beginner’s mind. We’ll consider strong openings, and discuss notebooks and reading, and identify tools and tips for the longer journey of drafting (and redrafting) until a project is complete: knowledge, intention, ritual, practice. Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this month’s topics, plus a writing exercise and Q&A.  A week before the class, you’ll be emailed […]
- [Masterclasses](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/): These ongoing live monthly masterclasses form an interactive series for writers who want to explore craft and process in writing while learning more about the business of publishing. You can take an individual class or start at any point and complete the series. Perspective & Style Showing & Telling Genres & Readers Endings Beginnings Voice Character Setting & Situation Story & Plot Form & Structure The emphasis lies in cultivating natural practices and a confident ease in writing, with a holistic and embodied approach. You can drop into individual stand-alone units, or take them in sequence as a comprehensive foundation […]
- [Character](https://wille.org/classes/masterclasses/character/): Creating compelling characters A Zoom Masterclass – subscribe for updates including the next time this class runs. In this masterclass we’ll consider ways to create and develop compelling characters in fiction as well as nonfiction: their outer worlds, their inner drives, their conflicts and choices, and how they undergo change. We’ll also consider how the archetypes and narrative functions of characters help us shape our stories and focus our storytelling. Each masterclass will run on Zoom, with discussion on this month’s topics, plus a writing exercise and Q&A.  A week before the class, you’ll be emailed optional homework: brief preparatory […]
- [Privacy Policy](https://wille.org/privacy-policy/): This website is operated by Andrew Wille Writing Studio (“AWWS”). Throughout the site, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to AWWS. Our contact details: Name: Andrew Wille Writing Studio E-mail: privacy@wille.org In addition, you can find general Terms and Conditions here. The type of personal information we collect We currently collect and process the following information:   How we get personal information and why we have it The personal information we process is provided to us directly by you. We do not purchase any information for any purposes. We will have your information for one or several of the […]
- [Terms & Conditions](https://wille.org/terms-conditions/): This website is operated by Andrew Wille Writing Studio (“AWWS”). Throughout the site, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to AWWS. AWWS offers this website, including all information, tools and services available from this site to you, the user, conditioned upon your acceptance of all terms, conditions, policies and notices stated here. We use the WordPress platform for the design and execution of this website and it is hosted by Bluehost. Our mailing lists are managed using Mailchimp and direct emails use Google’s G Suite product. All payment processing is secure and encrypted via the third party website Stripe […]
- [Goodbye](https://wille.org/goodbye/): You have been unsubscribed and your email address removed from our lists. If this was an error, you can re-subscribe below Subscribe
- [Field Work](https://wille.org/resources/field-work/): I often recommend to writers a notebook practice I call Field Work, tasking them on investing time in a structured sequence of free writes – or guided writes, maybe – using simple but powerful prompts to see what material arises and prioritises for their stories. By spending time in these worlds with pen and paper, writing into and around and out of them, you’ll feel your way into these lives and develop a deeper instinct for what makes them work in the medium for which they are intended. It’s a form of planning, but one that embraces mystery and uncertainty, […]
- [Endorsements](https://wille.org/andrew/endorsements/): Andrew Wille is a generous, warm, funny and brilliant teacher.  His gifts lie in the near-ground (how do sentences work?) and also the far (how do we stay connected to the vision or image or possibility that seeded our writing in the first place?). Andrew has helped me to trust my imagination, and to flow between narrative and lyric aims without censoring or inhibiting myself at the level of genre, or syntax. I highly recommend one-on-one work, as well as his fantastic workshops. Over the last fifteen years, I have benefitted from both. Can’t quite imagine having become a writer, […]
- [Approach](https://wille.org/andrew/approach/): The constellation of influences in my work includes teachers and practitioners who encourage writers and artists to build their creativity in intuitive ways: regular practice, clear perception, close reading, trusting the natural speaking voice. Also: a certain wildness of mind. Much is about creating the conditions and processes in which the good stuff arises. Of great significance has been the experience of contemplative education I encountered studying and later teaching at Naropa University. I try to ground and balance this with an understanding of practical matters about publishing I gained from working as an editor at Little, Brown and later freelancing […]
- [Andrew](https://wille.org/andrew/): About Approach Endorsements Writing
- [DIY MA in Creative Writing](https://wille.org/resources/diy-ma-in-creative-writing/): Are you interested in knowing more about aspects of craft such as point of view, character, and setting? Do you want to grasp how narrative form and genre can shape your stories? Are you keen to see how a deeper understanding of prose style can help you develop your own voice in writing? And do you want recommendations about useful books and resources on writing and publishing? Or perhaps you have recently completed a writing course, and want to take your studies and your writing further? If you would like help in building  your own tailor-made programme in creative writing, you […]
- [Networking For Writers](https://wille.org/resources/networking-for-writers/): Regional writers’ organisations Sign up to newsletters for info on events, funding and other opportunities in your area: People to follow on social media Writing groups and connecting with writers   This page is updated on an ongoing basis.  
- [Publishing Resources](https://wille.org/resources/publishing-resources/): This page is an ongoing collection of links for Publishing: the life, the business, practical matters and a list of Genre organisations and festivals Publishing: the life, the business, practical matters On literary agents and submitting work On editors and editing On self-publishing and promotion Genre organisations and festivals Genre advice and discussion    
- [The Moth-Eaters](https://wille.org/andrew/writing/the-moth-eaters/): That day the city was woken by the absence of birdsong: no dawn chorus, no cocks crowing, no rowdy parrots in the palms, just a flutter in the air, like a feather duster in another room. People stumbled to balconies in lacy nightshirts or flannel pyjamas, trampled on carrots in their vegetable terraces, stood naked but for bedsocks in rooftop gardens. They peered at a dark cloud of smoke drifting down the mountainside. It hovered over the canopy of the forest, probing forward to the shanties on the edge of the city. Then it shifted like a giant shoal of […]
- [Inspirations](https://wille.org/resources/inspirations/): Tips on writing Interviews with writers Writing experiments and exercises   And join or start a writing group. Get your writing read by other writers and readers: it can only gain from it (though do be careful about the committee mindset that can develop: you can’t please everyone). If you are interested in being published, be aware that writing that has been tried on good readers is writing that has a greater chance of being published.    
- [Writing Resources](https://wille.org/resources/writing-resources/): Among the various resources on writing listed below, I particularly recommend: Constance Hale’s Sin And Syntax: an accessible guide to the foundations of writing – parts of speech, sentences, and making music in your work (read my review here) Ursula Le Guin’s Steering The Craft: covers the essential aspects of craft and technique with great clarity (read my review here) – a new edition was published in 2015 Janice Burroway, Writing Fiction – a classic creative writing textbook now out in an affordable edition On writing, creativity, and the writer’s life Lynda Barry, Syllabus, Picture This, What It Is (I cannot describe […]
- [Writing Experiments](https://wille.org/resources/writing-experiments/): I posted weekly (or every-few-weekly) Friday Writing Experiments for a year or so, and I now post new ones occasionally. See the chronological list below. In addition, Field Work is a notebook practice of using brief but intense writing experiments that I often recommend to help writers explore the depths of their stories. This resources page will lead you to other useful links and practical advice about writing, publishing and the writer’s life. And more: And the following books also contain lots of writing exercises:
- [Contact](https://wille.org/contact/): Would you like a manuscript review, or editorial mentoring, or a publishing consultation? Or some help assembling your own DIY MA in creative writing? Do you have some other sort of editorial or book-doctoring request? If you’re interested in working with me, please send a brief note that includes a description of your project as well as a sense of what you are looking for. You can use the Contact form below, or email me directly. Email Directly Contact Form
- [Writing](https://wille.org/andrew/writing/): I write fiction and nonfiction, and my work has been published in the anthologies Uncontained and Primal Picnics and in literary magazines including American Drivel Review, Bombay Gin, Café Irreal, Ellipsis, Fast Forward, One Less, and Swap/Concessions. Here’s one of my short stories: ‘The Moth-Eaters’. I am also the author of seven online courses on different aspects of writing, publishing, and editing. They have been taught through universities and workshops in the US and the UK, and have been highly praised by writers who’ve taken them for the breadth and depth of their content.
- [Resources](https://wille.org/resources/): DIY MA in Creative Writing Syllabus for DIY MA Writing Resources Inspirations Writing Experiments Suggestions For Self-Editing Revising – A Craft Checklist Publishing Resources Networking


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