Toby Litt

Storyteller. Mentor. Swimmer.

Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton.

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

Today's entry in the diary is on the Ghosts of the Desk.
Who haunts you?

https://t.co/BCyaH0KR7W

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

It being #NationalPencilDay, here are a few of my workhorses.

Thank you to all of them.

I've blogged about my other Means of Production over on Substack.

https://t.co/QEcBDyNupu

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

Next week, I am delivering a lecture on ‘The Future of Digital Publishing’.
I have plenty of ideas, I’m just not sure they’re good ones — or that they’ve been challenged enough.
What echoes of the future do you hear? Eco-sigh, tech-whoop?

https://t.co/8zF3iV1DZM

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

@eddiehewitt32 @substack This is my favourite answer so far. Can I quote it somewhere?

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

What's your favourite pencil that you've every owned?

Today's diary entry on @substack covers the practicalities of writing with pencils.

(Yay, write upside down, hanging from a tree.)

https://t.co/w7TUe7C45b

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

On Erasers and Erasing

(or do you call them rubbers?)

Seems to be a matter of some debate

https://t.co/gfVRhm0KwP

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

If you're a writer, how and where do you write? What's your posture like?

How's your spine holding up?

Any advice for others?

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

https://t.co/5uZ53LYxED

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

Look, I'm here, rather than working.

How do you cope with/limit/work through the distraction of your screens?

Today's diary entry way over yonder on Substack.

On Distraction and Overcoming It

https://t.co/AXAk7x9o8e

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

'Fiction could do with a little more farting: every fart is a surprise, a failure, a joke, an event.'

Almost my favourite quote from Elizabeth McCracken's A Long Game.

Do you agree? Can you name any farts in fiction? (Apart from Ulysses.)

https://t.co/1GBABlmqMY

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

If you're taking a Creative Writing class this semester, I put together this view about POV.

How to Talk about Point of View in a Creative Writing Workshop https://t.co/0GWW0pt1UQ

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

How to Improve Almost Any Short Story in 30 Seconds

Well, 47 seconds for the video. But the changes could be made in 30 seconds.

https://t.co/nGMSBs4BoV via @YouTube

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

New Year, New Writer's Diary.

This year, I'm going - with my subscribers' help - to draft a writing manual (working title is 'The Page: On Drafting').

I'll be podcasting about it on my @Substack.

Together, hopefully, we can write our books.

https://t.co/l0snAYFOqt

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

There will be 5 minute daily-ish podcasts, with advice, writing exercises and answers to subscribers' questions.

@UoSMedia @unisouthampton @SotonEnglish @OctoberBooks @Carole_Burns

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

New Year, New Writer's Diary.

This year, I'm going - with my subscribers' help - to draft a writing manual (working title is 'The Page: On Drafting').

I'll be podcasting about it on my @Substack.

Together, hopefully, we can write our books.

https://t.co/l0snAYFOqt

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

I'm reposting some of my writing advice videos, to go along with launching A Writer's Diary Podcast.

Here's the most popular -

My Favourite Creative Writing Exercise of All Time https://t.co/GLxhO8ReDp

@HumanitiesUoS @SotonEnglish @philipwhale @Carole_Burns @UoSMedia

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

I'm reposting some of my writing advice videos, to go along with launching A Writer's Diary Podcast.

Here's the most popular -

My Favourite Creative Writing Exercise of All Time https://t.co/GLxhO8ReDp

@HumanitiesUoS @SotonEnglish @philipwhale @Carole_Burns @UoSMedia

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

@SotonEnglish @HumanitiesUoS @ArtsUniSouth @unisouthampton @UoSMedia @CMCWsoton @UniSotonLibrary @OctoberBooks @SotonForward @Carole_Burns @will_b_may @amm_hunt

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

"For the overwhelmed poet, this poetic artifice is deeply enabling, allowing what was previously unspeakable to finally be spoken."

'the overwhelmed poet'!

This year's FT Prince Memorial Lecture by Dr Mary Jean Chan was outstanding -

https://t.co/HEDE4kNJRZ

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

If you're interested but have questions, I can put you in touch with the organisers.

@DavidGurnham @law_humanities

[Toby Litt @tobylitt]

Creative Writers wanted: Call for abstracts

Stories of ‘Separation’ and ‘Gathering’ in Legal and Creative Imaginaries: a Legal Humanities and Creative Writing Workshop

Wed 1 and Thurs 2 July 2026, @unisouthampton

Deadline for abstracts: December 1, 2025.

#WritingCommunity