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Calling all secret writers: The Riff Raff wants you

Let’s clear something up: you do not have to be ‘creative’ to write, and write well. Almost all of us write as part of our daily working lives: business plans, emails and proposals – they all count.

Writing is simply a means of communication. The process might have evolved since the Egyptians first put reed brush to papyrus but the intention is the same: writing is a way of expressing your thoughts and feelings to another sentient human.

Writing can be a pastime, an artistic accompaniment to your day job and a cathartic outlet. If you blog in your spare time, you are a writer. If you keep a journal, you are a writer. If you jot your ideas down from time to time then shut them away in a drawer…you guessed it. You are a writer, my friend.

Admittedly, writing a book is a slightly different proposition, one that requires time and dedication. But, as the saying goes, everyone has a novel inside them. At the very least, we all have a story to tell.

Do you sit at your computer daydreaming about writing yours?

If the answer is yes – even if the answer is, “Yeah, occasionally, when I’m putting off doing invoices” – then The Riff Raff is the place for you.

The Riff Raff is a welcoming community for writers. Co-founded by authors Amy Baker and Le Bureau member Rosy Edwards, The Riff Raff holds monthly events in Brixton where five debut authors with a book out that month showcase their work to an audience of literature lovers and aspiring writers.

This is a great opportunity for debut authors to publicise their work in a supportive environment and to network with fellow writers and publishing professionals over a drink (or five…)

It’s also a place for book enthusiasts to hear new writing before anyone else and to seek inspiration and tips for creating their own masterpiece.

So if you dream about writing, like books or just fancy having a drink and a natter, come and join The Riff Raff.

Even famous authors had day jobs…

Feeling inspired? But not QUITE inspired enough to give up your day job? These 10 renowned writers all had a second gig to keep their accounts ticking over, and their writing dream alive.

  1. Agatha Christie was an apothecarie’s assistant. She qualified during World War 1 and drew on her pharmaceutical knowledge in her books.
  2. Charles Dickens was a factory worker. He worked alongside a boy called Bob Fagin, who’s name he would give to one of his most famous characters.
  3. Arthur Conan Doyle was a surgeon. He was a ship doctor and worked aboard the Hope of Peterhead and SS Mayumba.
  4. James Joyce was a cinema operator. He founded Dublin’s first cinema, The Volta, with his wife, (the wonderfully named) Nora Barnacle.
  5. Jack Kerouac was a dishwasher. His varied CV also included stints as a cotton picker, gas station attendant and railroad brakeman.
  6. George Orwell was a policeman. He enlisted in the Indian Imperial Police force in 1922.
  7. John Steinbeck was a tour guide. He later founded a business that made plaster mannequins.
  8. Margaret Atwood worked in a coffee shop. She faced an on-going struggle with the cash register.
  9. Douglas Adams worked as a hospital porter. He also built barns, cleaned chicken sheds and was a bodyguard for a family of Qatari oil tycoons.
  10. Stephen King worked as a janitor. He also worked in a gas station like fellow writer Kerouac.

The Riff Raff’s first event is taking place on May 11th at the Effra Social in Brixton. You can snap up tickets here or find out more about us on The Riff Raff Facebook page here.

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