It’s been a lovely six weeks, being writer in residence at Falmouth University. I’ve worked intensively with my group of twelve students, and they’ve all been brilliant in their very different ways. We’ve done workshops every Monday (in a wonderful room with a door that only opens from the inside: it’s like the Room of Requirement for writing), and on Wednesdays I’ve talked to them individually about their writing projects and ambitions.

And then there was the public lecture. I was aiming to talk for about 45 minutes and then to do a Q&A. However, I was so worried about not running out of things to say that I found myself talking for well over an hour. After that they gave me wine, which was nice.

Here I am imparting a piece of writing advice with the help of a clip from Friends. When you just can’t do something, you have to do it anyway.