My first memory of writing is taking a break from Space Invaders on my Mum and Dad’s PC to type out a story I’d written. My Dad had to help me because I didn’t understand how to use a keyboard.

I was probably about 6. When I was 10 I produced a weekly newspaper which I distributed to the neighbours that reported on my hamster and the household’s new Dyson hoover. My parents were always encouraging of my wanting to be a writer; my Dad’s best piece of advice was always ‘work hard at what you enjoy and you won’t go too far wrong’ but at school they told me to come up with a more realistic career choice.

I disliked school, I was badly bullied and bored easily and in the end had to be removed from certain subjects because teachers refused to teach me. Amazingly I came out with some decent GCSEs but went on to do pretty averagely at sixth form. My Mum wanted me to go to university and I wanted to work in Topshop so she researched Creative Writing degrees and sent me off to an open day at John Moores in Liverpool. Doing a Creative Writing degree was one of the best things I ever did and it was in Liverpool that I fell in love with the idea of performing stories in the backs of pubs to strangers. I moved back to Leicester in 2010 because there wasn’t any work in Liverpool and it was at this point that I decided to try and ‘make it’ as a writer. I just wanted to make enough of a living to pay my bills and at the age of 22 it felt ok to take that risk.

I worked afternoons in a school library, in the mornings I worked freelance delivering poetry workshops and in the evenings I travelled around doing gigs and open mic slots. Every Sunday I travelled down to London to be part of the Roundhouse Poetry Collective. Those first couple of years I worked incredibly hard and for not a lot of pay but after a while it started to pay off. I wasn’t doing so much work for free, I had proved I could deliver a decent workshop and perform a decent 20 minute set so I was able to put my fees up to a level that would start making me a living. 

After 18 months I gave up my job in the school library and became full time self-employed. That was three years ago. Since then I’ve worked in primary, secondary and special schools, care homes, libraries, prisons, probation hostels and theatres and performed at Latitude, Glastonbury, Bestival and the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2015 I toured a show with my band called Burning Books and last year adapted it in to a full length stage play. That play is going on tour in the autumn and I’m currently working on my second play. 

To anyone who’s thinking about trying to make a living as a writer I’d say firstly read, watch and listen to as much as you can. Work out what you want to do. Being a writer is a broad term and being a screen writer is quite different to being a spoken word artist. Write as much as possible, write every day. If you want to deliver workshops contact people you admire and ask to shadow them. But ultimately, just work hard at what you enjoy and you won’t go far wrong.