The business of writing
Your writing life
I have two aims here at The Writing Shed: the first is to help writers (and it turns out other creative people) exercise their creative muscle by sharing weekly writing prompts. I know from my experience of running the Hysteria Writing Competition over the years that getting the idea for the story, poem or next piece of writing is often the hardest part of the creative process.
The second aim is to share the information, knowledge and (possibly) wisdom I have gathered in the (almost) thirty years since I started writing and publishing to fund a tiny social enterprise (at the time) called the Hysterectomy Association. If there is anything you’d like me to write about all you have to do is holler by leaving a comment below and if I can I will!
You’ll find everything posted so far on the home page in calendar order with the most recent posts at the head of the page. However, this type of organisation doesn’t make it easy to find the information you are looking for, that’s the purpose of this page. Alongside the Social Media Refusniks Guide to Book Marketing, this is a list of everything that you might think is relevant to the business of being a writer.
Please note: many, but not all, of the posts listed below are only for paid members of The Writing Shed.
Courses
How to be a rock star blogger - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
The Art of Self Publishing - paywalled
The Way of the Writer - paywalled
Random businessy type posts
One perfect notebook to rule them all - one of my favourite all-time posts
The Creative Hub Archive - Paywalled
For 10 months in 2023 I hosted a monthly group called The Creative Hub here on Substack, and previously on my WordPress website. My hope was it would build a community of writers who wanted to learn more about how they could use the tools available to them more effectively. Sadly, although there were a couple of hundred members, it never took off and was included in the subject of my second All Change post. However, the archive remains and those posts with videos and activity sheets are listed below.
Introducing The Creative Hub - setting out its aims and objectives.
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass January 2023 - Deciding on your writing life
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass February 2023 - Buyers vs Readers
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass March 2023 - Managing your time
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass April 2023 - Who is your audience?
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass May 2023 - The events calendar
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass June 2023 - Building pathways for readers
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass July 2023 - Mailing list essentials
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass August 2023 - Mailing list essentials
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass September 2023 - Mailing list essentials
Creative Hub Mini Masterclass October 2023 - Mailing list essentials
Ask Me Anything Sessions - these were follow-up sessions to the Masterclasses giving me a chance to answer the questions raised:
If you’ve stumbled across this page in your Substack wanderings, and you’ve liked what you’ve seen so far, perhaps you might consider supporting my writing by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s just £3.50 a month, less than the cost of a coffee in most cafes, and you’ll get this and everything else I write for writers keen to make a business of their words.