At the heart of writing - at the apex of storytelling - there is only one principle, and it winds like a golden thread across all the books and courses. But it gets lost in the ever-spreading panoply of detail that the creative writing industry relies on to keep its wheels turning. This book pulls out that thread, polishes it and reveals the way it penetrates storytelling. It will be invaluable to anyone creating fictional worlds - but most particularly to novelists, who are most in danger of forgetting it. Or not noticing it in the first place. Tim Lott knows he can't teach anyone to write a novel (that's one of the lies propagated by the novel-writing industry). But he can teach someone how to build a firm platform on which they can stand in order to explore whether they have the talent, will and determination that writing a novel takes.
Tim Lott Book order
Tim Lott's novels and memoirs delve into the intricate landscapes of human relationships and the inner lives of his characters. His writing is celebrated for its depth and keen insight into the human psyche. Lott's narratives often explore themes of identity, memory, and the search for meaning. Through his distinctive voice, he offers readers profound emotional experiences.






- 2023
- 2022
A brilliantly observed story of crises and reconciliations within families and stepfamilies and the conflict between Millennials and their Baby Boomer parents, set in the turbulent times of 2020.
- 2019
When We Were Rich
- 432 pages
- 16 hours of reading
The brilliant new novel from the author of The Last Summer of the Water Strider
- 2016
A captivating 1970s-set novel that is both a coming-of-age and an End-of-an-Age story: about love, the lure of idealism, innocence and decadence
- 2013
When two brothers take a road trip to visit their ill father, their journey reveals both an unexpected friendship and some surprising truths.
- 2013
It was the 13th of September, 13 days after my 13th birthday, when I first learned how to be invisible.
- 2009
The Scent of Dried Roses
- 304 pages
- 11 hours of reading
An exploration of the author's parents' lives, his mother's inexplicable suicide in her late fifties and his own bouts of depression. It conjures up the pebble-dashed home of his childhood and the landscape of postwar suburban England. It tells a story of grief, loss and dislocation, yet also of the power of memory and the bonds of family love.
- 2006
The Seymour Tapes
- 260 pages
- 10 hours of reading
Dr Alex Seymour seems to have it all - with a solid marriage of twenty years, two teenage children, a new baby and an unblemished career as a London GP, his life seems perfect - but then a simple trip to the local supermarket changes things irrevocably. As he witnesses a shoplifter foiled by a combination of the owner�s beady eye and the surveillance camera under the counter, Alex Seymour starts thinking about the reality and the fragility of his own seemingly perfect domestic situation, and what he does not see. With a son he suspects is stealing, a daughter whose first boyfriend may be going too far, and a wife he thinks is being unfaithful, Alex needs something to help him find out the truth and put him back in control. Enter Sherry Thomas, the mysterious Managing Director of Cyclops, a surveillance shop, and the catalyst for Alex Seymour's descent into a world ruled by cameras, tapes, lies and deceit, with devastating consequences. A gripping story of suspense that mirrors modern preoccupations with surveillance, tabloid voyeurism and morality.
- 2003
Daniel Savage's marriage and career have failed and his love life is a disaster. All he has left is a grimy bedsit and his six-year-old daughter. Who does he blame for his life? Himself. Men in general. And women, of course. Because Daniel thinks women are a nightmare from which there's no waking up. Is he right?
- 2003
Tragic and hilarious in equal measure, Tim Lott’s story of Charlie and Maureen Buck’s ailing marriage and their climb up (and down) the social ladder during the 1980s is a wonderfully honest portrait of ordinary people living through an extraordinary time. Steeped in the decade’s cataclysmic events, packed with the crimes and misdemeanours we visit on each another, ‘Rumours of a Hurricane’ is a powerful tale of change, how we face it – and how we don’t. ‘An outstanding comic novel. Places the 1980s under sceptical and merciless scrutiny’ Literary Review.
