I received wonderful news last week that the new NZ literary magazine, Alluvia, has decided to publish a few of my poems. This gives me more strength in my convictions that I’m following a good path.

The famous screenwriter Charlie Brooker, creator of ‘Black Mirror’, gave me some advice recently. Well actually he didn’t, but I’m quite happy to take it as if he gave me this advice personally. He made a statement in 2010, which I read last week on the internet, and so it exists timelessly (at least until the Guardian takes it down) as advice for writers everywhere:

“To everyone who has ever emailed to ask me for advice on writing, my answer is: get a deadline. That’s all you really need. Forget about luck. Don’t fret about talent. Just pay someone larger than you to kick your knees until they fold the wrong way if you don’t hand in 800 words by five o’clock. You’ll be amazed at what comes out.”

I am quite willing to make myself meet deadlines however. To those seeking inspiration, I would urge you to find more deadlines. How many deadlines can you make for next month?

If you wish to distract yourself from deadlines, you can watch this: