A Brilliant Gamble

85 So You Want to Write? with Tom McLaughlin, Illustrator & Author

Episode Summary

I remember telling the careers advisor at school that I wanted to be a journalist... she laughed and said, "You'd better have something to fall back on!" How many of us have dreamt of being a professional artiste? Writer, painter, poet, photographer, needle-felter? Such careers are often perceived as unrealistic dreams - perhaps a hobby at best, or something to save to do during retirement when there’s cash in the bank and we’ve earned the right to do something we love every day.  You won’t be surprised that I don’t think you should have to wait until retirement to do something you love. I did become a journalist (despite it being an apparent miracle) and other real people are out there making movies we watch, writing the novels we read and drawing for a living.  One of those 'other people' is the hugely successful Tom McLaughlin, children’s author and illustrator. If you dream of 'one day being a writer' - or if you already have a writing project in progress - you’ll love listening to Tom talk through his creative process and how he dealt with rejection, doubts and fears that he was wasting his time, before he got his break. And even if you don’t think you have a book in you, you’ll enjoy hearing how Tom sees the world, where he finds inspiration and how he’s turned the potential disadvantage of dyslexia into a superpower. 

Episode Notes

I remember telling the careers advisor at school that I wanted to be a journalist... she laughed and said, "You'd better have something to fall back on!" I've always wondered what on earth would she have said if I’d have told her I wanted to be a full-time author?

How many of us have dreamt of being a professional artiste? Writer, painter, poet, photographer, needle-felter? Such careers are often perceived as unrealistic dreams - perhaps a hobby at best, or something to save to do during retirement when there’s cash in the bank and we’ve earned the right to do something we love every day. 

You won’t be surprised that I don’t think you should have to wait until retirement to do something you love. I did become a journalist (despite it being an apparent miracle) and other real people are out there making movies we watch, writing the novels we read and drawing for a living. 

One of those 'other people' is the hugely successful Tom McLaughlin. A children’s author and illustrator, Tom was never (as far as I can tell) told that he couldn’t be a writer. And that’s despite being dyslexic. In this week's podcast episode, we talk about what brought Tom to writing and illustration; and how he organises his time to create work-life balance (which, it turns out, is just as much an issue for “creatives” as for anyone else). 

If you dream of 'one day being a writer' - or if you already have a writing project in progress - you’ll love listening to Tom talk through his creative process and how he dealt with rejection, doubts and fears that he was wasting his time, before he got his break. And even if you don’t think you have a book in you, you’ll enjoy hearing how Tom sees the world, where he finds inspiration and how he’s turned the potential disadvantage of dyslexia into a superpower. 

You can find out more about Tom here or on his Amazon author’s page.

You can stay in touch with us too of course! I’m launching a new online programme in the Autumn – it's all a bit hush-hush at the moment, but if you sign up to the newsletter you’ll be the first to know all the goss! abrilliantgamble.com

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