"Don’t get it right, get it written" - Interview with author, coach and podcaster Daisy Buchanan

Chatting about finding creative confidence, 'little and often' and getting started.

Feb 08, 2024

One of the hardest things about this newsletter is deciding what the hell I'm going to write about each week.

I have no content calendar, just some notes on my phone and half a dozen unfinished drafts in Substack.

It would be easy to skip a week or take a long break, but I've often found the pieces that are the hardest to write get the best response.

It's all about chipping away. Doing a little bit every day.

The other issue that many of us have is that of perfectionism.

If you can't write something perfect, then it's not worth publishing… or is it?

I wholeheartedly disagree.

Writing can be chaotic and meandering. And, of course, editing is important. But without that crazy, rambling initial burst of words, you have nothing to work with. The crucial part is just doing the thing.

Writing and running are pretty similar in this way; it's no wonder they are two of my favourite hobbies.

If you want to be a runner, go for a run.

If you want to be a writer, write something. Anything.

With that in mind, I'm really excited to introduce this week's special guest to the newsletter.

Daisy Buchanan

is an author, podcaster and creative coach. She's written several novels, including Insatiable and Careering. Daisy's latest book Limelight is out now. In fact, I'm giving away a copy in today's newsletter - find out how to enter at the end of the newsletter!

Daisy’s Substack

Creative Confidence Clinic

is a fantastic resource for people who want to get their teeth stuck into their creative pursuits.

In her writing, Daisy talks about many of the topics we cover here at

Conversations By The Sea

, including anxiety, grief and self-acceptance.

When the opportunity came along to interview Daisy for my New Year Same Me series, I jumped at the chance. In the chat below, you'll see for yourself how insightful and funny Daisy is. She really affirms what I've been thinking for a while about the power of consistency and just chipping away. Enjoy the journey and see what happens along the way.

So, without further ado, let's get into the interview with Daisy Buchanan.

For readers unfamiliar with you, give us an intro to who you are and what you do.

Hello! I’m Daisy Buchanan, and I’m an author, podcaster (You’re Booked, Daisy Is…) and Substacker! A reader once said, ‘If you loved America Ferrara’s speech in the Barbie movie, you’ll love Daisy’s books,’ and I was delighted because that’s exactly what I hope to do. I write books about everything that’s facing women today, exploring themes like sexuality, ambition, self-esteem, family, grief and love – but I hope to do so with humour and heart.

· Are you the sort of person to set New Year's resolutions, or do you have another approach you'd like to share?

Yes! I know everyone thinks a resolution is a bit rigid, but since I was little, I’ve been entranced by change and transformation. I still long to walk through the smoke on Stars In Their Eyes (I’d be Dusty Springfield!). But I know that doing one boring, tiny, unsexy thing little and often can yield miracles. This year, I’m flossing! (But only the teeth I want to keep.) I’m also going on my banking app every day and transferring £3 to a savings account. If I keep doing it, I’ll have over a thousand pounds in January 2025. I think Future Me will find a hard month feels much more fun with a ‘random’ grand.

· Many people approach the new year with hopes of realising a dream, for example to write a book or start a podcast. Starting new things can be daunting. What would you say to someone who is thinking about starting something new, but is worried about having no audience, or feeling like they have nothing interest to say?

Firstly, I promise that you are in wonderful company. It’s a miracle that we have any art at all, because every single artist in the world is familiar with this feeling. If you’re sensitive, thoughtful and creative, you have probably known self-doubt. (Very few people think they’re brilliant – and the work they make usually isn’t.)

Underneath those fears, there is passion. Whatever you’re making, make it for you. Write the book you’d love to read. Make the podcast you long to listen to. You’ve got to become your own biggest fan and start by pleasing yourself. If you build it, they will come – but it’s really difficult to create work for an audience you don’t know. And if you feel that the work is only worth making if someone else comes along and validates it, you’re making yourself incredibly vulnerable. If you make it for you, you’re creating from a place of strength. And when you start to do that, your audience will come. I promise they will come.

It takes a lot of self-discipline to write a novel, never mind when that makes up only part of what you do. “Write a book” is often on people’s New Year’s resolutions or bucket lists. Do you have any ‘hacks’ to help get more out of your day, or is it just a matter of sitting at your laptop and doing the work?

The good news, and the bad news, is that it will take time. That’s it. That is the only investment required. I’m a big believer in doing things little and often. Going back to my savings example – if you wrote 300 words every single day, you’d have 90,000 words – the average length of a commercial novel – in ten months. I’ve spoken to lots of writers who want to write for eight hours a day, once a week. They do it once, it’s really hard, but they’re rightly proud of themselves for trying. Then something comes up, and they can’t make time for it the next week. The week after that, they really don’t feel like it, and the idea of sitting at their desk feels too daunting. If you work out what you can do every day, even if you only have ten minutes, do that. I think it’s fine to skip a day, but if you skip two days, you’ll lose your rhythm. And soon, you’ll find that you want to do it for eight hours, that you’re happy to postpone other plans, and you’re waking up early to get to your desk.

Writing a novel means doing two things that contradict each other. Make it as easy as possible, and as fun as possible. Set yourself goals and give yourself rewards for reaching those goals. Don’t get it right, get it written – keep moving forward. It’s better to have a bad first draft than a perfect first chapter (and oooof, if you could see some of my first drafts, you’d never worry about your writing ever again.)

I think it’s fine to skip a day, but if you skip two days, you’ll lose your rhythm

But the other thing is, it does feel hard, you will feel overwhelmed by the impossibility of it all, and your tired brain will resist doing this brand new, challenging activity. If it feels bad, it doesn’t mean the work is bad. It's just new. And it’s always fine to walk away from your book, as long as you come back tomorrow.

· Your Substack is called Creative Confidence Clinic, and you work with creators to navigate imposter syndrome, negative self-talk, and other barriers that might be stopping them from realising their creative potential. In your experience, what’s the most common issue people bring to the table when working with you? And do you have a set pathway you guide people through? Or do you approach the coaching on a more case-by-case basis?

I think it’s perfectionism – and nearly everyone I work with would laugh and say ‘How can that be true? I’m not perfect enough!’ If you want to make any kind of art, it’s usually because you love art. And if you love art, it’s difficult not to fall into the trap of comparing your work in progress with, say, the complete works of Jane Austen.

I do it, too. I’m always getting in my own way because of comparison, and because nothing on paper ever quite matches the way I want it to be in my head.

My message for everyone is: ‘I’m excited about your art, because you made it! There’s no-one like you. When I want to read Jane Austen, I read Jane Austen. But now, I want your work, and an expression of your humanity.’

We all long to be read/watched/seen. That feeling is natural. But what I hope to do is to show people that we’re not making our work because we need a specific response that comes from the outside. The making itself needs to be the most joyful part of the process. If you’re having fun with your work, you’re able to make generous, spirited art! I want to read books written by people who have enjoyed writing those books.

Forgive the key change here. I spotted you’ve written before about your own diagnosis with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (ditto!) and also, separately, about sobriety. In my experience, alcohol and anxiety have been both enemies and lovers. A drink or two can help lubricate social interactions, but the hangxiety the next day is off the charts. Was anxiety one of the main drivers for your sobriety journey? And have you noticed a switch since you stopped drinking in 2022?

Not drinking alcohol is the best thing I’ve ever done for my mental health. I’ve described myself as ‘emotionally allergic’ to alcohol. When I quit, I was a relatively moderate drinker (admittedly, I’ve always tended to overdo it!) I’d been wondering about quitting for years. I kept reading sobriety memoirs and feeling almost spookily seen. Laura McKowen's We Are The Luckiest, and Bryony Gordon's Glorious Rock Bottom really resonated with me, emotionally. I had a feeling that sobriety was in the post, or maybe I’d quit when I was 40. Then, on holiday, after drinking more frequently than usual, I scared myself. I didn’t black out or do anything ridiculous, but I got stuck in a self-loathing spiral, and I started crying and couldn’t stop. Nothing bad had actually happened – I just felt insecure, sad and exhausted. I reached an emotional rock bottom, and I thought ‘I can’t live here, any more.’ My first sober day was Midsummer, 2022 – I’m enough of a hippy to crave a solstice vibe shift.

The making itself needs to be the most joyful part of the process. If you’re having fun with your work, you’re able to make generous, spirited art!

After 18 months of sobriety, I feel as though I’ve got the emotional core strength to dig myself out of the black holes. I realised, after years of experimenting, that alcohol was never going to deliver the release I longed for. I don’t have that sleepy, vague, background feeling of sadness and exhaustion any more. When I drank, even though I didn't drink every day, I felt as though I was always operating at about 70 per cent at best. Now, the lows are manageable, and the highs are transcendent. When I feel a burst of joy, it's utterly glorious. Giving up alcohol has also transformed my relationship with food for the better. I feel much calmer around it, I’m better at nourishing myself, and I drink a lot of hot chocolate.

And finally, the question I am asking everyone in 2024 as part of my New Year, Same Me series - what are you keeping the same this year?

Reading for pleasure and reading for fun. This means that during an anxious day, I’ll ignore my teetering TBR pile and read Rachel’s Holiday for the 47^th time. Or I’ll read that weird book I picked up about wedding planning in the 1970s, or the story of Carbonel, the magical cat. I’d like to read Middlemarch. But I know I’ll reread Emily Henry’s back catalogue over the course of one blissful weekend.

Win a copy of Limelight by Daisy Buchanan

Want to add a copy of Daisy’s new book? To enter the giveaway, simply comment below with one thing you want to be more confident in for 2024. Whether that's writing, exercise, public speaking… whatever you are channelling your energy into this year, I'd love to know.

"Don’t get it right, get it written" - Interview with author, coach and podcaster Daisy Buchanan

Chatting about finding creative confidence, 'little and often' and getting started.

It's all about chipping away. Doing a little bit every day.

Win a copy of Limelight by Daisy Buchanan

Discussion about this post