What’s this?

This is the Substack branch of the podcast In Writing with Hattie Crisell (many episodes of which you can find for free on all good podcasting apps). Like that podcast, this is a place to talk and think about the writing process.

Who’s Hattie Crisell?

Fair question. Here I am:

I’m a writer from Newcastle, which is in the north-east of England, but I’m now a fairly longterm Londoner. I’ve been a journalist for 15 years. I’ve been producing and hosting the podcast since 2019, and during that time I’ve interviewed over 40 writers, from novelists to screenwriters to comics. I was recently awarded an MA with distinction in creative writing from Birkbeck, University of London.

In other words, I spend a lot of my time thinking about writing, and even though I find it exciting, therapeutic, and frankly unavoidable, it’s also an emotional rollercoaster. Talking about the process helps me. My podcast has shown me that it helps other people too.

Why should you subscribe?

If you like my writing or my podcasts, you can get more of that kind of content here. Subscribe for free to get the weekly In Writing newsletter. Every new edition will go directly to your inbox, featuring thoughts on a particular aspect of writing, and sharing what I’ve learnt from interviewing great authors, studying creative writing at MA level, and working in the British journalism world.

For £4 a month, or £40 a year, you get the above plus some extra bits. These include:

• Audio recordings of the newsletter, so that you can listen to it on your podcast app while you’re going about your day – and occasional audio interviews too

• Access to the In Writing Creative Hour, a regular online writing get-together on Google Meet

• The ability to join the In Writing community, where you can share questions, ideas and even excerpts of your own work

• The virtuous satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping to support me financially so that I can do this work, for which I’m very grateful.

If at any point you decide you want to go back to a free subscription or none at all, that’s easy to do. I also promise that if I decide to stop producing this newsletter or take an extended break from it, I will pause or cancel ongoing subscriptions.

Please be aware that as a self-employed individual, I can’t offer refunds for subscriptions you’ve already paid for, nor does Substack help with this. I produce a lot of content for free, but if you would like to become a paying subscriber, then that money will be gratefully and quickly spent on the electricity bill, or similar. Thank you.