London Writers' Salon

Parul Bavishi, Matthew Trinetti
  • 4.9 (53)
  • Books
  • Updated Weekly

A deep dive into the habits, mindsets, tools, craft secrets and creative practices bestselling writers use to write novels, plays, poetry, and articles. Hosted by the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, Matt & Parul.

  1. 4d ago

    #201: Writing Bestselling Fantasy — Holly Black (The Cruel Prince) & Samantha Shannon (The Priory of the Orange Tree) on Magic Systems, Building Worlds From Research, and Writing Through Self-Doubt | Compilation

    Bestselling fantasy authors Holly Black and Samantha Shannon on building believable magic systems, researching and constructing immersive worlds, and why the right book often only emerges once you’ve written the wrong one.   You’ll learn Why the most convincing magic on the page often starts with something you once half-believed was real. How writing the wrong version of a book can be the only route to the right one. What the texture of a world quietly promises a reader before the plot even begins. Why putting a character through the worst is often the best thing you can do for a story. When the certainty that your draft is a disaster is just a normal part of the process. What early hype can do to a writer, and why other writers are the antidote. Where to draw the line between research that serves the book and a rabbit hole that doesn’t. A method for plotting a long series when you know the destination but not the route. What happens when a character starts refusing what you try to make it do. Episode Links Holly Black — original LWS episode: https://londonwriterssalon.simplecast.com/episodes/127-holly-black-crafting-bestselling-fantasy-world-building-character-development-and-the-prisoners-throne Samantha Shannon — original LWS episode: https://londonwriterssalon.simplecast.com/episodes/068-samantha-shannon-the-art-of-writing-fantasy-fiction-plotting-mental-health About the Guests Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy books, including the Novels of Elfhame, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Spiderwick Chronicles, her adult debut, Book of Night, as well as an Arthurian picture book called Sir Morien. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. She invites you to visit her online at blackholly.com or follow her @Hollyblack @blackholly. Samantha Shannon is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree. Born in West London, she studied English Language and Literature at St Anne’s College, Oxford, from 2010 to 2013, specialising in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Principles of Film Criticism. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

    48 min

  2. Jun 28

    #200: Louise Dean — How to Finish a Novel, Why Most Writers Stall at 30,000 Words, and Why Storytelling Beats Beautiful Sentences, plus founding Novelry

    Award-winning novelist and founder of The Novelry Louise Dean on what separates storytelling from beautiful prose, planning a novel without killing the joy, and how to edit your own first draft. You'll learn Why learning to craft perfect sentences can quietly delay your path to publication. How a single shift from style to storytelling turns a promising writer into a published one. What treating each chapter like a short story does to the terror of a blank novel. The reason every novel is a moral journey (and why you have to throw rocks at your hero). A one-page planning method that steers a draft without smothering the joy of writing it. The one question every writer should be able to answer about their reader. Why your main character should never be a thinly veiled version of yourself. When you can’t afford an editor, how to run a developmental edit on your own work. What to do in the month after finishing a first draft A five-part structure built for the long moral journey of a novel, and why three acts fall short. Resources & Links 📄 Interview Transcript The Great Gatsby The Novelry The Novelry Blog Louise’s books The Novelry Contact — hello@thenovelry.com About Louise Dean Louise Dean is a British author, born in Hastings, who read History at Cambridge University. An award-winning novelist, she is the winner of the Betty Trask Prize and Le Prince Maurice Prize, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Her novels have been published internationally. The Wall Street Journal described Louise Dean as one of the world’s top five most under-rated authors. Louise is the founder of the creative writing school The Novelry. About The Novelry Founded by award-winning author Louise Dean, The Novelry is the only writing school where bestselling authors and Big Five editors guide you every step of the way. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

    40 min

  3. Jun 20

    #199: Katie da Cunha Lewin — How Space Shapes Creative Work, the Myth of the Perfect Writing Room, Building Creative Rituals, and Writing in Imperfect Conditions

    Writer Katie da Cunha Lewin on how physical spaces shape creative work, why the perfect writing room is a myth, and the rituals and routines that sustain a writing life. You'll learn Why the perfect writing space is largely a myth (and why that can set you free). How physical environments quietly shape creative practice and identity. What our fascination with visiting writers' houses reveals. The cultural baggage around “the writer's room,” and who it quietly excludes. The way motherhood compresses time and forces a new kind of creative discipline. A concept of psychological distance between domestic life and creative work. When creative rituals help (and when writers thrive without them). How to begin designing a writing space that actually works for you. What it takes to find the story inside a work of nonfiction. Why putting yourself on the page makes nonfiction stronger. Resources & Links 📄Interview Transcript Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Murder She Wrote (1984-1996) Underworld by Don DeLillo White Noise by Don DeLillo The Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf Lives of Houses Edited by Kate Kennedy and Hermione Lee Downhill All The Way, An Autobiography of the Years 1919 To 1939 By Leonard Woolf The British Library My Work by Olga Ravn The Accidentals by Guadalupe Nettel, Translated by Rosalind Harvey Amber Medland The Years by Annie Ernaux The Society of Authors About Katie da Cunha Lewin Katie da Cunha Lewin’s writing has appeared in leading publications such as The Times Literary Supplement, The White Review, Financial Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Prospect. She is the editor (with Kiron Ward) of Don DeLillo: Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Her book, The Writer’s Room: The Hidden Worlds That Shape the Books We Love, is out now. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

    1h 4m

  4. Jun 13

    #198: Mastering Young Adult Fiction — Krystal Sutherland (House of Hollow), Joanna Nadin (90+ Books for Kids & Teens), Moira Buffini (Songlight) on Finding Your Writing Home, Knowing Your Audience, Why Stories Matter to the Young | Compilation

    YA masters Krystal Sutherland (The Invocations), Joanna Nadin (author of 90+ books for children and adults) and Moira Buffini (Songlight) on hooking teen readers from the very first page, plotting methods that tame a whole novel, and why stories matter so much to young people. You'll learn What sparks the magic system of a supernatural thriller. What it means to find your writing home, and how to know when you've arrived. Why readers decide within the first ten pages, and how visceral detail keeps them hooked. A pantser's case for careful plotting when you're juggling multiple points of view. The most common mistake adults make when writing for young readers. What screenwriters know about tight writing, and what teen TV can teach you about voice. Why treating writing as a job, not a calling, makes rejection survivable. Whether writers should think about their audience. How writing toward a feeling, not a plan, creates cliffhangers you don't see coming. Episode Links #105: Krystal Sutherland #61: Joanna Nadin #179: Moira Buffini About the Guests Krystal Sutherland is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of House of Hollow, A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares and Our Chemical Hearts, which was adapted into a film by Amazon Studios. Her books have been published in more than twenty countries and nominated for the Carnegie Medal and YA Book Prize, among others. Her latest YA novel, The Invocations — the centerpiece of this conversation — won the 2025 Prime Minister's Literary Award for young adult literature. Originally from Australia, she has lived on four continents and currently calls London home. Joanna Nadin has written more than 90 books for children and adults, including the Rachel Riley series, the Penny Dreadful series, and the Sunday Times bestselling Worst Class in the World series. She holds a doctorate in adolescent identity and YA literature and is an Associate Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Bristol. Her books have garnered a number of prizes including the Fantastic Book Award and the Surrey Book Award, and she has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Booktrust Best Book Award, the Telegraph Sports Book of the Year, the Hearst Big Book Awards, and Queen of Teen. She has been nominated six times for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, including for Everybody Hurts and for Joe All Alone, which was made into a BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated BBC drama series. Moira Buffini is an Olivier Award–winning UK playwright and BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, writing many plays for the National Theatre and the West End. Films include Tamara Drewe, Jane Eyre, Byzantium, and The Dig. She cocreated and was showrunner of Hulu's Harlots. Her YA debut Songlight — the first in The Torch Trilogy — won the 2025 YA Book Prize, and its sequel Torchfire is out now. She lives in London. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

    49 min

  5. Jun 7

    #197: Chris Pavone — Writing the Modern Thriller, Sustaining Tension Over Action, and Defining Success on Your Own Terms

    Edgar Award–winning novelist Chris Pavone on creating tension that never lets up, editing a book to make it bigger rather than just better, and turning a single apartment building into a portrait of a whole city. You'll learn Why every book has to be one clear thing before it can be anything else. How two decades of editing other people’s books prepares you to write your own. The offhand note from a legendary editor that quietly transformed a debut, and why the vaguest feedback can be the most useful. What it means to edit a book to make it bigger, not just to make it less bad. Why tension, not speed, is what truly keeps a reader turning pages. A counterintuitive case for telling readers what’s coming on page one, then making them wait for it. How to keep generating questions and withholding answers without ever feeling coy. The one-page document worth months of tinkering before a single chapter gets written. What turns a story set in a city into a genuine portrait of that city. When to separate your hopes from your expectations, and what success can actually look like for a working novelist. Resources & Links Chris Pavone’s Website Chris’ Newsletter The Doorman Ernest Hemingway Doubleday Publishing John Grisham The Expats Pat Conroy Jamaica Kincaid Knopf Publishing Adele Parks To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee James Bond Films The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe Jack Reacher by Lee Child About Chris Pavone Chris Pavone is the New York Times bestselling author of The Doorman, Two Nights in Lisbon, The Paris Diversion, The Travelers, The Accident, and The Expats, winner of the Edgar and Anthony Awards for best first novel. He was a book editor for nearly two decades and lives in New York City with his family. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

    1h 9m

  6. May 30

    #196: Missouri Williams — Writing Strange and Ambitious Fiction, Doubt as a Generative Force, and Why Idleness Is Essential to Creativity

    Award-winning novelist Missouri Williams on writing strange and ambitious fiction, treating doubt as a generative force, and why idleness is essential to creative work. You'll learn How a destabilising illness and a new language can reshape a writer’s whole relationship to words. Why style isn’t something you construct so much as a way of seeing you’re partly stuck with. The case for drafting without thinking about the end result and keeping the stakes low. What an image you can’t stop returning to can reveal about the book you need to write. When idleness and empty, unproductive time become the most essential part of the work. How doubt can function as a generative engine rather than a block. A method for layering instability into a narrator who sounds completely in control. What a chorus can do on the page that a single narrator can’t. Why being placed outside your depth, where everything has to be relearned, can sharpen a writer. The difference between doubting your work and doubting your right to do it at all. Resources & Links 📑 Interview Transcript Missouri’s Instagram Sisters of Mercy’s song, “Flood II” The Vivisectors King Lear with Sheep The Doloriad Missouri’s Agent John Ash Samuel Beckett Ágota Kristóf 2023 Winner of Republic of Consciousness Foundation “Form Is Back” Meditations by René Descartes Dead Ink publisher The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser The Republic by Plato About Missouri Williams Missouri Williams is the author of The Doloriad, which won the 2023 Republic of Consciousness Prize, was shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and named a best book of 2022 by Vulture. Her work has also appeared in The Nation, The Baffler, The Believer, Granta, and The Drift. Her newest book is The Vivisectors. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

    52 min

  7. May 23

    #195: Holly Ringland — The Pain of Not Writing, Breaking Through Decades of Self-Doubt, Meeting the Inner Critic with the Inner Fan, and Building a Toolkit for the Creative Life

    Bestselling novelist Holly Ringland on writing from joy instead of fear, the toolkit she built to meet the inner critic with self-compassion, and finding the first true sentence of her debut after decades of silence.   You'll learn Why the pain of not writing eventually outweighs the pain of writing. What grief and loss can crack open in a writer that nothing else can. How the first true line of a novel can arrive once you stop listening to the reasons you can't write it. A bullet-point approach to plotting that protects the nervous system from the blank page. What to ask for from early readers, and what to refuse. The distinction between self-doubt and the inner critic, and why it matters. Meeting the inner critic with an equal and opposite internalised force. Breaking procrastination by making the next step impossibly small. Fiction as the lie that tells the truth truest.   Resources & Links 📄Interview Transcript The House That Joy Built The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron Zeitgeist Agency Dangerous Writing Holly’s Substack About Holly Ringland Holly Ringland is a writer, storyteller and TV presenter. She is the author of the international bestseller The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, which has been translated into thirty languages and adapted into a seven-part TV series starring Sigourney Weaver, produced by Amazon Prime and Made Up Stories. In 2019, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart won the Australian Book Industry Award General Fiction Book of the Year. In 2021, Holly co-hosted an eight-episode ABC TV series, Back to Nature, with Aaron Pedersen. After living between Australia and the UK for ten years, Holly has been based in the Yugambeh region of southeast Queensland since 2020, where she wrote her second novel, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, in her 'office', a vintage caravan named Frenchie. Upon publication, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding became an instant national bestseller, and it was named Booktopia's 2022 Book of the Year. Holly writes a bestselling Substack on the intersection of creativity and connection, The Joy Rise. Her latest book is The House That Joy Built. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

    1h 7m

  8. May 16

    #194: Finding Peak Writing Flow & Focus — Dr Gloria Mark, Oliver Burkeman & Charlie Hoehn on Designing Your Day Around Peak Attention, Embracing Imperfection, and the Power of Play (Compilation)

    Attention researcher Dr Gloria Mark (Attention Span), bestselling author Oliver Burkeman (Meditations for Mortals) and book strategist Charlie Hoehn (Play It Away) on designing your day around peak focus, embracing imperfection in creative work and bringing play back to the page. You'll learn The four states of attention every writer should know. Two daily peak focus windows, and a simple method to find your own. The reframe that gives writers permission — most writing isn't flow. How the success of one bestselling book can paralyse the next. A quantity-over-quality method that satisfies the inner perfectionist. Why free writing isn't a warm-up but the engine of the next draft. A counterintuitive trick for handling interruptions when you're trying to write. What play deprivation quietly does to creative output. A small experiment with play that resets your relationship to work. Why fighting your own nature as a writer is a losing game.   Resources & Links Dr Gloria Mark Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity by Dr Gloria Mark Chronotype (Sleep Foundation) Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Yohaku no bi: The Beauty of Empty Space Gloria's website Gloria's newsletter Oliver Burkeman Meditations for Mortals Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals The Imperfectionist (newsletter) Deep Freewriting by Stephen Lloyd Webber ILYS software Charlie Hoehn Play It Away The Power of Play | Charlie Hoehn | TEDxSantoDomingo Charlie's website Author Alliance Original Episode Links Dr Gloria Mark's original episode Oliver Burkeman's original episode  Charlie Hoehn's original episode   About the Guests Gloria Mark is Chancellor's Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. She received her PhD from Columbia University in psychology and studies the impact of digital media on people's lives. She has published over 200 articles, and in 2017 was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy, which recognises leaders in the field of human-computer interaction. She has presented her work at SXSW and the Aspen Ideas Festival, and her research has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNN, The Guardian, the Dax Shepard show, the Dave Asprey show and many others. She is the author of Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity. Oliver Burkeman worked for many years at The Guardian, where he wrote a popular weekly column on psychology, 'This Column Will Change Your Life.' His books include the New York Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking. His latest book is Meditations for Mortals. Charlie Hoehn is a three-time New York Times bestselling editor, five-time author, and the founder of Author Alliance. For three years, Charlie was Tim Ferriss' Director of Special Projects and first full-time hire. Together, they launched The 4-Hour Body to #1 New York Times, #1 Barnes & Noble, and #1 Amazon overall. Previously, he was Head of Multimedia for Scribe Media, where he produced over 500 videos and 300 podcast episodes. He is a keynote speaker who has presented to groups at Microsoft, PepsiCo, the Pentagon, U.S. Military, Stanford, TEDx and HEC Paris. His ideas on work-play integration have been featured on NPR's TED Radio Hour, Fast Company, Forbes, Financial Times, Huberman Lab, Chase Jarvis Live, TEDx, and many others. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com. For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com. * FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON Twitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalon Instagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalon Facebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalon If you’re enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

    47 min
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About

A deep dive into the habits, mindsets, tools, craft secrets and creative practices bestselling writers use to write novels, plays, poetry, and articles. Hosted by the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, Matt & Parul.

Information

  • Creator
    Parul Bavishi, Matthew Trinetti
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    202
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2020-2024, London Writers' Salon
  • Show Website
    London Writers' Salon

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