This Might Work
When a writer tells you how to get the work done, they’re telling you what works for them. That’s useful. But it might be completely wrong for you. So we test it. This Might Work is a podcast about creative experiments. In each episode, host Bec Evans takes one idea from a writer, artist or thinker - something practical, surprising or slightly unconventional - and puts it to the test with a real writer, working on a real project.Every experiment is different. Every writer responds differently. But each episode leaves you with something concrete to try in your...
Writing around with Cathy Rentzenbrink
It’s easy to get stuck when we’re preoccupied with what the finished thing will be. Bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink shares her advice to 'write around' the writing: head out with a notebook, a five pound note and a simple prompt, and let go of whether the words will make the final draft. Willing guinea pig Helen Meller puts it to the test on a project about a lost silent film of Wuthering Heights, and we hear advice to keep writing from renowned radio producer Ira Glass (Current TV, 2006) on the gap between our taste and our work. Than...
Reading aloud with Susanna Schrobsdorff
Editing our own writing is hard when we're too close to the words. Journalist and editor Susanna Schrobsdorff shares a simple, free technique she learned at TIME magazine: read your work out loud, then find a 'willing victim' to read it to. Business writer Bruno Selun puts it to the test on a report he's finishing, and we hear how David Sedaris uses a live audience as his first editor.
About the guests
Susanna Schrobsdorff writes the It's Not Just You newsletter on Substack where she has 17k subscribers. She is a contributor...
Writing by water with Wyl Menmuir
Nominated for the Man Booker Prize, the novelist Wyl Menmuir credits the sea with transforming him from a distractible city-dweller into a working writer. Bec explores the 'blue mind theory' behind why water calms our minds and unlocks creativity - then sends retired teacher Nancy Harris McLelland on a 12-hour round trip across Nevada to test it for herself, with surprising results.
Featuring
Wyl Menmuir is a multi award-winning author of novels, non fiction and short stories. His 2016 debut novel, The Many, was nominated for the Man Booker Prize. Wyl's non-fiction books have...
Six writers, six experiments
To close series one, we're revisiting six writers' advice and the experiments it inspired - from Oliver Burkeman's ‘massively eccentric' approach to editing (delete the document, retype from scratch) to Mason Currey's cut-up-your-draft-with-scissors method for finding new connections in your work. Along the way: Emma Gannon on artist dates and solo creative boosts, Benjamin Myers on the writing advice he ignored for years before it caught up with him, Alison Jones on what six minutes of exploratory writing can unlock, and a tribute to the late Peter Elbow – freewriting hero and the writer who convinced Bec that getting stuck migh...
Epic freewriting inspired by Peter Elbow
What if the way to finally finish a stalled piece of writing wasn't planning, but four hours of writing without stopping to think, edit or look back? In this episode of This Might Work, host Bec Evans explores the developmental free-writing method created by Peter Elbow, the legendary writing teacher who died in 2025 and whose 1973 book Writing Without Teachers changed how we think about getting words on the page. Then she puts it to the test with Jenny Cooke, a railway engineer writing her first non-fiction book, who shuts herself in her writing shed and free writes her way...
Cut up your draft with Mason Currey
What if the answer to a stuck or stalling writing project wasn't to sit back down at your desk - but to pick up a pair of scissors? In this episode of This Might Work, host Bec Evans explores the cut-and-reassemble method developed by Mason Currey, bestselling author of Daily Rituals, who turns redrafting into what he calls a funky art project. Then she puts it to the test with Harriet Mason, a professional copywriter tackling her first novel, who prints out her entire manuscript, clears the kitchen table, and starts cutting. Can getting physical with your words unlock...
Exploratory writing with Alison Jones
What if the answer to a stuck writing project wasn't more time, more planning, or more thinking - but six minutes and a scrappy piece of paper? In this episode of This Might Work, host Bec Evans explores 'exploratory writing', a daily practice developed by author and publisher Alison Jones that uses questions to discover what you don't yet know. Then she puts it to the test with Margaret O'Brien, a novelist and creative non-fiction writer whose project has been lingering in her files - almost finished, but not quite. Can six minutes of messy...
The night writing experiment with Benjamin Myers
The author and journalist Benjamin Myers ignored the writing advice he was given aged 22 - and went on to publish fourteen books. In this episode of This Might Work, host Bec Evans explores what time of day we do our best creative work, talking to the award-winning writer about his late-night writing habit and how it shaped his early career. Then she puts the idea to the test with Louise Tondeur, a novelist and writing teacher who gets up to write in her garden shed at 6am. Can a committed morning writer produce anything useful after dark? It might...
Artist dates with Emma Gannon
When writing isn’t working, the instinct is usually to try harder and spend longer at your desk. But bestselling author Emma Gannon learned after burnout that creativity needs time away from work.
In this episode of This Might Work, Emma shares her solo creative boosts, inspired by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Host Bec Evans puts the idea to the test with writer Aimz Rushton, who is struggling with creative burnout while working on a memoir about grief, fandom, and pop culture obsession.
Aimz feels pressure to turn the experiment into the pe...
Starting afresh with Oliver Burkeman
The writer Oliver Burkeman types out every draft from scratch - then deletes the original. In this first episode of This Might Work, host Bec Evans puts Burkeman's 'starting afresh' technique to the test, following writer and literacy educator Elizabeth Morphis as she uses it to revise her book - across a transatlantic flight, a sleepless night in Athens and the journey home. Does the discomfort of retyping every word actually make the writing better? It might.
About the guests
Oliver Burkeman is the author of four books and writes The Imperfectionist, a ne...
This Might Work Trailer
This Might Work is the podcast that puts writing advice to the test. Each week, host Bec Evans takes a creativity tip from a writer, artist or thinker – and gets a real writer to try it out on a real project. Oliver Burkeman, Emma Gannon, Mason Currey and more have their methods road-tested to find out what actually works. Because writing advice is everywhere. The only question that matters is: will it work for you?
For bonus material and conversations about the experiments featured in the show, visit Breakthroughs & Blocks on Substack.
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