It meant I was still learning new things even if I was struggling with other stuff and there wasn’t much time to actually write. I’ve learned so much from slowly reading through many of the courses and doing the tasks where I could, without feeling I had to keep up with anyone else and could dip in and out.

It’s been a relief realising a lot of the doubts and frustrations weren’t me being bad at writing but were ‘just’ a normal part of the process. The tasks you set were accessible, fun and often made me laugh so much that I didn’t realise how much useful knowledge I was absorbing in the process. I’ve made a huge pile of notes and I know I’ll keep referring back to them.

This last year the Writer’s HQ courses and feedback have been a big part of gaining a deeper understanding of my manuscript and the writing and editing process. I started last year feeling very stuck and not knowing how or where to start to identify the problems I could sense were there but which I couldn’t really pinpoint. I currently feel much more enthusiastic and that I have a better grip on structure and what I need to do to strengthen my story arc and character development. I also feel I’ve gained the language to talk about these concepts better.