I look in on Writers’ HQ regularly, but I find myself leaving without doing anything. During the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home, they were a real lifeline: something to do that wasn’t just sitting in the garden, doomscrolling the news and so on. Their short course on productivity led directly to my first novel; the first time I’d been able to write 50,000+ words in a single story.

That was awesome; as was “Seven days, seven ideas.”

I still get newsletters from Writers’ HQ and I don’t mind that a bit; they’re always quirky, perky and engaging. A wonderful outfit… but not a place where I feel that I fit in, any more. In a typical message, they’re pushing flash fiction, and journalling. That’s great; get people writing… but it’s not what I need.

I can’t recommend their free courses enough. The only downside of their courses is that they tend to take over your life: doing an exercise every day is exhausting! More than once, I’ve been tempted by a course, but thought that work or family commitments ought to be attended to instead. You can’t really “catch up” on a course later, because while you can do the work, you don’t get to be a part of the community. (Writers and feedback… you know what that’s like.) Usually, therefore, I choose not to study with them.

But they are brilliant.

Nowadays, as a big, bad writer type person, I don’t need “Write a teeny-tiny novel” because I can use the time better, to write a ‘proper’ one. I don’t get flash fiction: maybe it’s a good gateway drug, but I’m way past that stage. Likewise journalling. Y’see, my problem with Writers’ HQ is a personal one. I’ve sort of graduated.

That’s not to say that they aren’t an amazing outfit. I can’t recommend them enough… but their emphasis on fiddly little bite-size bits of writing doesn’t quite meet my needs, now. I won’t say that on their site because I think it might come over as being very rude – but there it is.