6 Bits Of Writing Advice From Richard Osman

Richard Osman has written the bestselling series, The Thursday Murder Club. In this post, Writers Write features 6 bits of writing advice from Richard Osman.

About Richard Osman

Richard Osman (born on 28 November 1970) is a famous British TV presenter, mostly on quiz shows. His first books were spin-offs from his TV shows, such as The 100 Most Pointless Things In The World (2012).

In 2020, he wrote his first cosy mystery novel, The Thursday Murder Club, which was a huge international success. Osman has confirmed that Steven Spielberg has bought the book’s film rights in 2020. The novel revolves around four pensioners in a retirement home (a spy, a nurse, a psychiatrist, and a trade union leader) who discover a murder plot and then team up to solve the case.

The novel has turned into a series. The fourth book, The Last Devil To Die, was released in September 2023 and instantly turned into a New York Times bestseller. The fifth book in the series, The Impossible Fortune, was released in September 2025.

Osman has sold over 17 million books worldwide.

6 Bits of Writing Advice From Richard Osman

1. Don’t listen to your inner critic.

‘When someone else reads my books for the first time, it’s absolutely terrifying, every single time. Every time, you think: I’ve done something horribly wrong, or they’re going to see through me this time. […] Of course I don’t read them – I’ve not read a single review, nor will I. You have to trust yourself and trust your readers, I think. I’ve had enough reviews over my TV career to know to ignore them.’ – Interview with Breaking News

Everybody has an inner critic. It’s important to check up on what these voices in the back of our heads say. Some things might be worth following up on. But don’t listen to that inner critic when it’s trying to slow you down or even prevent you from showing your work to others. Then it’s all about fear – and that is one of the Ten Things That Stifle A Writer’s Creativity.

2. Create a writing habit.

‘You know how you never, ever want to go to the gym? So your whole day is, how am I going to put this off? And then at some point, the trainers are on, and that’s it, you’ve got to go to the gym. Writing is like that – I will find any excuse to not go and sit down, anything. But once I do, then I’ll do two, three hours – I try and do 1,500 words or a chapter each time.[…] So once I’ve sat down, I’m disciplined, I’m good. No distractions or floating off, no internet.’ – Interview with Breaking News

Writing is all about creating a habit. Just like your body knows it’s time for the gym when you put your trainers on, you need to find a trigger that makes you go into writing mode. That could be a special coffee mug you use when you sit down at your desk. Or s special CD you switch on. Here are some ideas on Writing Habits Of Famous Authors.

3. Readers fall in love with characters.

‘When you’re writing, you have to start with the characters – you can make it as exciting as possible and have a great plot, but if you don’t have characters who people care about, then no one’s interested. You have to want to follow these people.’ – Interview with Breaking News

This is part of the larger discussion among writers about what works best, a plot-driven novel or a character-driven one?

Eventually, authors must decide this for themselves. However, a reader’s identification with a strong character is essential to keep the reader’s attention.

4. Writing in the voice of a character helps you get unstuck.

‘Joyce is the character who thinks most like me. Her mind constantly wanders off in different directions. She was just a dream to write, talking very earnestly about murder, then veering off into some anecdote about her vacuum cleaner. […] I enjoyed listening to her doing that, and writing it all down for her. For large periods of writing I felt I was possessed by the spirit of a 76-year-old woman, and I have to say I recommend it to anyone.’ – Interview with Bookpage

Strong characters will help you through the tricky spots. If you have a clear vision of who they are, they will act their part as if they possess a secret life of their own. All you need to do is write it down!

It’s one of the reasons why writing coaches recommend creating a character bio before you begin writing. Why don’t you check out this character questionnaire to get you started?

5. Write what you love to read.

‘No one’s born a crime writer. And I write crime because I read it. And because I love to write, and because I love to write the sort of books I read.’  – Interview with The Guardian

Every genre has its rules and requirements. By all means, experiment!  Many famous authors have done it, and with success. For example, J.K. Rowling started writing young adult fantasy with the Harry Potter series. Then she wrote a crime novel!

The difficult part is not how to switch genres, it’s what genre you choose when you first start writing. Richard Osman gave it away: you start with the genre you love reading the most. Why? Because then you already have learnt all the rules. Just by reading! Don’t make things harder than necessary.

If you’d like some more help, here’s a blog post on how new novelists can find their genre.

6. Focus on what the readers want. 

‘I would rather be mainstream and successful than a critical darling […] When I’m writing my novels, I’m never thinking, “I want you to admire me as a prose stylist and to really think about what I am doing to the art form [of literature].” I just want to tell this story as entertainingly as possible. And I want you to keep on reading.’ – Interview with The Age

Critical acclaim is wonderful. But is it a good idea to chase this when you’re still in the writing process? It would mean you’re writing for your vanity. Most readers notice this and then they stop reading. They might not even buy your book if this vanity is already apparent in the first line.

Writing to entertain the reader means authors put themselves at the readers’ service. It means that a book wants to be read. And re-read. That’s what writers want, don’t they?

The Last Word

In this post, we looked at writing advice from Richard Osman. On Writers Write, you will find advice from many famous writers such as Agatha Christie, James Joyce, and John Irving.

Let them inspire and help you on your writing journey!

Source of image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNk7lGkPIKs&t=285s via Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Osman_2022.png Attribution: librairie mollat

By Susanne Bennett. Susanne is a German-American writer who is a journalist by trade and a writer by heart. After years of working at German public radio and an online news portal, she has decided to accept challenges by Deadlines for Writers. Currently she is writing her first novel with them. She is known for overweight purses and carrying a novel everywhere. Follow her on Facebook.

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TIP: If you want help writing a book, buy The Novel Writing Exercises Workbook.