On Writing by Scottish novelist and performer A. L. Kennedy is a collection of blog posts inviting readers into the mind of a working writer.

Kennedy blogs about the ideal writing night, emotion in fiction, research, poor health, touring literary festivals, eating on the road, rewrites, book signings, agents, interviews, what it’s like being reviewed, British politics, and the bleak chances of new writers being published.

Established writers surely can’t feel morally comfortable about helping new writers to commit themselves to the life while ignoring the fact that the chances of success, or even of publication, are minimal.” (60)

From chapter 19 onwards, the texts focus on the production of Kennedy’s latest novel and we follow her progress, procrastination, and ailments over a year. She demonstrates in real-time the creation of a single sentence, and shares her tricks on overcoming the fear of starting.

A greater part of writing than you might suppose relies upon the writer ignoring or temporarily setting aside a whole circus troupe of ugly fears and just typing, in spite of them. (80)

There’s a sobering observation that some creative types never overcome their own procrastination.

I am aware that there are writers who successfully avoid ever having to write at all. Whatever creative energies they map possess have been completely absorbed by displacement activities. (213)

Despite being self-deprecative, Kennedy is vigorous in her opinions on access to tertiary education, the poverty of effective creative writing workshops, and the importance of arts in society.

At the end of the book are five essays: Kennedy’s early years, presenting creative writing workshops, and character-building in fiction. The transcript of her stand-up show Words is also included.

Altogether it’s more A Writer’s Life than On Writing. There’s an overdose of health complaints, yet there is something compelling about presenting the writer’s life from backstage.

On Writing is candid, informal, hyperbolic, and intimate. It shows the struggles and spoils of novel-writing in a raw way. It feels like Kennedy is sitting on your sofa chattering about crummy hotels, the publishing industry, being on tenterhooks after submitting a manuscript - all kinds of sundry - while sipping coffee and munching Pringles, barefoot.

“So, here I am in Edinburgh and it’s my day off.” (38)

For new writers flying by the seat of their pants, consider this:

For any given novel, I’ll spend around three years - on and off- pondering and picking at worries and researching, before I ever write a word. 32

A.L. Kennedy’s On Writing was published by Vintage in 2014. The blog posts were originally written for The Guardian.

Further Reading:

Kennedy advises new writers to read Raymond Carver’s Fires, Robert Louis Stevenson’s essays on writing, and Anton Chekhov’s letters.

I recommend new writers and just about everybody who loves reading to soak up Richard Cohen’s How to Write Like Tolstoy.