First decide if you want to be famous, have hundreds of readers, make money, or write and publish one copy of a book for yourself and your descendants.
If you are writing in English, many sources of inspiration are available. the bible provides song titles, first lines and phrases, such as Hallelujah.
Do you love Jane Austen or fancy yourself as the next Shakespeare, writers of plays or poetry? Maybe a sonnet?
Several things you can do:
1 Hundreds of books on writing - just choose what kind, short stories, practical books, novels.
You can also do correspondence courses, but to make this work for yourself and be fair to the tutor/teacher and the umbrella company employing the tutors you have to complete every assignment in good time.
2 Summer schools on writing worldwide. Two in the UK are Writers Holiday (February in Wales) and Writers Summer School (Summer at the Hayes, Swanwick, Derbyshire, England). Both have websites.
Fishguard Bay Hotel, Wales, setting for Writers and Artists' Holiday in February every year. Photo by Angela Lansbury. copyright.
Tired of writing? De-stress with some painting.
My work in 2018. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
3 College courses on: journalism, novel writing, or writing your life story. If you have thee time.costs money but as a UK student you might save on something else such as paying Council Tax.
4 Join your nearest Writers' Circle,
5 Find an online group which will critique chapters.
6 If in the UK join the write a book in a month in November.
7 For a practical book the USA has Write A Book In A Weekend.
8 Set yourself a daily target and self publish through lulu.com. Start with your outline (chapter headings and a line on the content or each chapter) and first and last chapters - or first three chapters which is that a publisher would want to see.
9 To get paid, write for anybody who will pay, such as an in-house journal for a major company.
10 Write an entire book during your commute, or during your seasonal and annual holiday(s). Some people say your first novel is crap. You have to write five novels and when you get to number five you have learned how to do it.
11 You can also do correspondence courses, but to make this work for yourself and be fair to the tutor/teacher and the umbrella company employing the tutors you have to complete every assignment in good time.
12 The Arvon courses in the UK are retreats with famous authors and are expensive and you have to cook one day of the week in a team. However, you spend the morning writing and the afternoon reviewing with your tutor(s) so you can be sure not to just listen to lectures but to actually get the writing done. Those on low income may be able to apply for grants.
13 If you have finished your book, check the Writers And Artists year book, and similar books for children's books.
14 Approach a 'packaging' company.
15 If you are rejected by a major company, try again two years later when all the staff have changed.
16 Send off work in all directions on a rota basis.
17 Don't wait for inspiration. Treat writing like any other job. Start at 9 and finish at 5, and have a goal of a number of words to complete every day.
18 If you can't work at home (too many distractions) write in a library, or in a coffee shop like J K Rowling.
19 f you don't care about copyright and copying, write your book as a serial in a blog on the internet, 500 words or 100 words a day. (You can set it not to publish but to private or draft until you think it is ready to be seen. Some companies will turn a blog into a printed book.
20 Find a writing buddy nearby. You each read 100 words written by the other person, every day or every weekend.
21 Offer your writing to a school or college to be course work.
22 Pick a destination for your novel and spend a holiday there, touring and observing in the morning, writing in the afternoon.
23 Don't give up the day job. Write about the problems of your job. Change the country, sex, decade, names, so nobody can recognize themselves or sue you.
24 Take a classic story such as a fairy tale, nursery rhyme of biblical story and update it into the modern world.
Pictures from Swanwick Writers Summer School, dressed for dinner.
The lake at Swanwick inspires some to write poetry.
25 Write a story set in the future - where anything is possible.
26 Pick plots from the news or features in newspapers and set them in a different decade or century or country.
Shakespeare picked old plots, such as Romeo and Juliet.
You don't have to go to Ireland to write a Limerick or a song to the tune of When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.
27 The USA has songwriting courses. They seemed to me to be opposite extremes, in tents and cheap if you have a tent and a guitar. In five star hotels if you can afford it at a high price if you already have a stock of songs and show reels and want to meet agents and companies. The DIY way is to type out the words of a song and copy the rhythm and plot construction; write modern words to an out of copywright tune.
28 Go to Nashville on holiday and buy books on songwriting sold at homes of famous singer-songwriters. Perform for free in bars and venues and form a band with others.
Useful Websites
https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/
writersholiday.net
visitbritain.com
https://www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk/
Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
