The Failing Writers Podcast

Ya know what they say. When one door closes another door opens.

And following the joyful culmination of our poetry competition

comes....

OUR MASSIVE ANNUAL £500 FLASH FICTION COMPETITION - Sponsored by

Scrivener!

Scrivener?

Yes, of course. The wonderful writing software Scrivener. 

Which you should quickly go and buy a copy of, before you do anything else, in order to make the writing of things easier, more intuitive and less brain-h...

It's time for us to reveal the winners in our rather spontanious poetry competition.

Fergus Craig. Not to be confused with Craig Ferguson. or Fraig Cergus... as sometimes happens... but not very often.

You may have seen Fergus on telly. This is because he is an actor. Who acts in things.

Or, perhaps you've seen him on your phone screen; a place where he likes to pop up from time to time. This is because he is also a comedian. Who does comedy. Mostly on people's phone screens.

Or, OR, maybe you've read his words on the...

You know what it's like. You've just tapped the words "The End" into your laptop. You've only gone and bloody done it! You've written an actual book.

Congratulations. All that blood sweat and tears has paid off. You have pushed a great big 7 pounder out your imagination-hole.

Time to celebrate!

But hang on...

waaaait up just a teeny tiny moment...

Before you pop the cork on that 1998 Dom Perignon... there's something you need to do...

Ye...

Are you incredibly sad you missed out on seeing us live at the Alton Arts Festival? Well, don't worry! Here's the next best thing - a recording of that legendary night.

Should you quit your job to write?

Seems like an obvious answer to an obvious question.

(No! No is the correct answer!)

But hang on.

It's the dream isn't it?

Writing full time.

Quitting the day job and having time and energy to write the great novel you've thinking about for ages.

Well let's have a closer look at some writers who've done exactly that - and it ain't worked out too badly for 'em.

People like...

Children's author, Stuart Reid.

...

Welcome to our cheeky little bonus episode! The poetry competition has landed. 

It's been a while since we had a little poetry splurge. So to rectify that terrible neglect of our duty, Tom and I had a lovely natter with Hollie McNish. We meandered through where her love of poetry began, how it helps her assimilate ideas, writing essays, and the Olympic Breakfast at Little Chef, Chieveley Services. Oh... and we also discuss her brilliant new book, Virgin.

Buy it now... in fact, heck, buy all her books! ... right...

Writing competitions. Clearly they’re not all made the same.

Some are free, some are costly, some are actually impossible for mere mortals to enter due to their criteria.

The prizes vary too. From small cash prizes, to publishing deals.

Today, we’re asking the question… on the whole, if you’re serious about being a writer… are they actually worth it? Are they worth the money, the - let’s face it &...

Hang on... before we start... let us just fill you in on a very exciting evening happening on Monday the 6th of July, in Alton, Hampshire.

At 8pm in the lovely Goldfinch Books on Alton High Street, we are doing our first ever proper LIVE podcast.

Our guest will be the fabulous Costa-Novel-Prize-Winning Claire Fuller. We'll be talking about her brilliantly unsettling new book Hunger & Thirst and asking her all the questions you wa...

Come and see us LIVE!

We'll be at Alton Arts Festival on July the 6th, at Goldfinch Books, doing our thing in full colour, 4K, Ultra HD, real life.

There will be laughter. There will be genuine writing tips and insight from Costa Novel Prize Winner Claire Fuller. There will be a ditty or two. There will be give-aways, impromptu poetry and even Tom’s very-very-serious-wordy-writery-quiz-thing!

Get yer tickets here

We're doing a live podcast at Goldfinch Books in Alton on Monday the 6th of July, with the brilliant Claire Fuller.

Come and join us!

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO SEE US LIVE AT ALTON ARTS FESTIVAL!!!

OK, so you've written something.

Well done. *light applause*

That's nice.

But the next stage - getting it out into the world... that's a really tricky bit.

However... one sure fire way of doing that, if you can't persuade some other mug to do it for you, is to blummin'-well slap on some grease paint, don some tights and perform it yourself, on what we call...

... the stage.

Oh, you've listened to this episode already and you'd like to cross our palm with gold?

Well, you're in luck.... Simply click HERE to show your appreciation in a pecuniary fashion

And speaking of fashion - take a look at our merch HERE

and THANK YOU!

Heeeey!

You’re back.

Well, that’s bloody joyful isn’t it?

Nice of you to join us again.

Now, let me ask you an impertinent question.

How seriously are you taking your writing this year?

The reason I ask is we’re looking at writing goals.  Last year’s first of all… see how we got on… and then… we’re all making new ones.  Yeah. You too.

Come join us in stating your...

Not long until we get this show back on the road!! Join us for season 6 when we interview some amazing writers, get stuck into some proper writing craft bits and bobs, and loads and loads and loads and loads and loads and loads more beside!!

How do you give your readers everything they're looking for?

And your agent? You have to feed the beast don't you? (Is calling agents 'The Beast' too offensive?)

It's your job as a writer to offer up precisely what your readership is looking for. Anything else and you risk losing your commercial edge.

And we can't have that can we?

The second stop on our literary whistle stop tour of Edinburgh is The Writers Museum in Makars Court.

Focussing on the three writers generally considered to be the great Titans of Scottish Literature: Robbie Burns, Sir Walter Scott & Robert Louis Stevenson.

We have a wander round, read some poetry and look into why these fellas are so revered.

We also go on a literary pub tour and have a chat with actor Mike Daviot, who just ...

Ahoy there, you weary word-wanderer. You found us. Finally!  Thank goodness.

Welcome to the Failing Writers Podcast. Think of us as your writing harbour.

Your safe haven.

Your Lighthouse.

Come and moor here for a while and have your brain de-barnacled by the glorious mind of poet Michael Pederson.

Writer, linguaphile, Edinburgh Makar and all-round inspirational wordsmitherizer.