New year, new writing goals: Julia Crouch on getting started, finding inspiration, and writing what excites
From The Writing Life by National Centre for Writing
December 29, 2025 · 43 min · Episode 359
About this episode
Julia Crouch shares her advice for setting writing goals and finding inspiration in the New Year.
In this episode of The Writing Life Podcast, crime writer and NCW tutor Julia Crouch welcomes the New Year with us and shares her advice and encouragement for the writing year ahead. Julia is the author of ten internationally published crime novels, including Cuckoo, Tarnished, The Long Fall, and Her Husband’s Lover. Unable to find a sub-genre of crime writing that neatly described her work, she came up with the term Domestic Noir, which is now widely accepted as the label for one of the most popular crime genres today. Julia has been a Visiting Fellow on the UEA MA Creative Writing Crime Fiction and teaches online for Faber Academy and the National Centre for Writing. She co-runs the Brighton Crime Wave, a bi-monthly crime fiction night. She sat down with NCW’s Holly Ainley to discuss the different ways to be a writer, and to share her advice for getting started and staying motivated. Together, they discuss the benefits of cultivating a daily writing habit, finding inspiration in unexpected places, and being kind to yourself in the pursuit of your goals. Get a head start on your writing goals with NCW Academy, the home for creative writers. You can find out more about our…
People in this episode
Host: Holly Ainley
Guest: Julia Crouch
Topics covered
- writing goals
- inspiration
- motivation
- crime writing
- daily writing habit
Keywords
- writing
- goals
- inspiration
- crime novels
- Domestic Noir
- writing habit
- motivation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: National Centre for Writing, Faber Academy, Brighton Crime Wave
Books & works: Cuckoo, Tarnished, The Long Fall, Her Husband’s Lover
Places: UEA
More episodes of The Writing Life
- Madness and Magic: Hannah Murray on her memoir The Make Believe · June 1, 2026 · 57 min
- Experimenting with narrative form: Ashley Hickson-Lovence on About to Fall Apart · May 18, 2026 · 51 min
- Writing the self in memoir: Camilla Balshaw on Named · May 4, 2026 · 46 min
- Storytelling in graphic novels: Anna Trench on Florrie · April 20, 2026 · 43 min
- Stories of humanity & connection: Jenni Fagan on The Delusions · April 6, 2026 · 43 min
- The path to publication: Grace Murray on Blank Canvas · March 23, 2026 · 35 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Writing Life podcast page.