Writers Workshop: Six Incredible Writers Give Their Very Best Advice
& Why I Believe It Will Change Your Creative Journey Forever
Okay, Ampersanders, get comfortable because this Writers Workshop is a special one. For this issue, I’ve asked six of my most esteemed writer friends what golden piece of advice they would give to other writers. & When I say each one of these writers is phenomenally accomplished, I’m really not kidding.
We’ve got:
BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and Screen Star of Tomorrow James Krishna Floyd, who wrote and directed Unicorns, a stunning romance set against the backdrop of London’s queer South Asian scene and one of my favourite films of last year.
Angela Kirwin, author of the brilliant memoir-cum-polemic Criminal. It’s a necessary, sometimes funny, often heartbreaking page-turner in which she totally dismantles the prison system from the inside out. It’s a book so fantastic, she’s even managed to impress the Goodreads lot! & Take it from just about any author, they are a hard bunch to please.
Conway McDermott, who has written six episodes of long running continuing drama Eastenders and is the co-writer of new West End musical Billie the Kid. Conway won the Sky Studios Screen/Play Award in 2021 and they have also had work commissioned by The Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse and Theatre Royal Stratford East.
Daniel Rusteau: the person to speak to if you’re ever wondering how to sell your original pilot idea to producers. This guy sells scripts like hotcakes and always seems to have at least half a dozen in development at any one time. A Brit List 2021 alumni, Daniel is a writing producer on Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming limited series King Shaka and also wrote an episode of Michael B. Jordan/Seth Rogen produced Amazon show Middle West. His original film Superdad aired on Channel 4 as part of the award-winning anthology series On the Edge.
Paige Cowan-Hall, who you may remember from Episode 4 of the Rare Company podcast. She’s the writer of the dark and delicious Audible Original The Shouts Beneath and the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Discoveries Prize. She also won the extremely prestigious Desperate Literature Award in 2021 (last year, Ottessa Moshfegh was on the judging panel!) and is a former Spread the Word Awardee too.
Harlan Davies: If you’ve seen the trailer for Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s new show A Thousand Blows, you’ll understand why I’m buzzing to get some pearls of wisdom from Harlan. He’s written two episodes of the show and has also recently written an episode of ITV bomb-disposal drama Trigger Point, which stars Vicky McClure. Like Daniel, this guy knows how to sell a script and has multiple in development right now with the likes of Left Bank Pictures, Eleven Films and Big Light Productions.
So there we have it: an award-winning actor who writes fantastic films, a former social worker who writes compelling, ball-busting non-fiction, a playwright famed for their work in soap and the West End, a novelist who can’t stop winning big prizes and two TV writers who are managing to make a real living out of their work even while the industry is on it’s arse.
There’s so much of their advice I wish I’d had earlier on in my career.
I’ve also included four creative prompts inspired by their thoughts and, as I mentioned above, this issue is a special one, so it’s just for my paid subscribers. If you’re not a member already and wish to gain access to this and every part of The Ampersand…
If you are paid subscriber, you deserve the world. &, With that in mind, I’m so pleased to be able to bring you these wise words.
