# Transcript

DEREK NEALE
Welcome to week 2. So far you’ve looked at how you might get started. Now, you’re going to see how using a journal may not only help you establish a writing habit but could also help you launch into projects.
Writers often worry about the first steps. It’s the same for any writer, novice or otherwise: you start with a blank page or screen which is why your journal is such an important resource for ideas.
You may also find that props or particular working methods make writing easier for you. So this week you’ll be exploring and developing writing rituals.
You’ll hear about the rituals of writers such as Michèle Roberts, Monique Roffey and Alex Garland. You’ll be using your journal to record detailed observations of people and read a couple of characters sketches from novels by Graham Greene and Kate Atkinson. You’ll try different ways of starting a story and you’ll write a mini-story.