By Hannah Martin

Are you having trouble getting your creative writing flowing? Writing is widely considered to be a solitary activity, and if you are just starting out, it can be hard to know if you are moving in the right direction. According to Carrera and Lee (2022), the act of “writing is a dynamic cognitive process in which evolving ideas are organised into a coherent narrative,” [sic]. What if this cognitive process were demystified? If experienced authors shared their journey when starting the creative process, would more aspiring writers make it into the fiction market?

On Tuesday, September 30, 2025, I got the chance to explore this theory. The monthly Edinburgh Literary Salon took place upstairs in The Outhouse on Broughton St. Lane at 6:30pm. The crowd was full, the room was warm, and with pink cheeks, we all waited for a Q&A with an award-winning author to begin. It was a relaxed atmosphere with an air of understanding that we were all in the same place, people of all ages and backgrounds, to learn the ins and outs of a creative mind. 

‘Writing to the market is a fool’s errand’ … D. V. Bishop. Photograph: Felix Mosse

In conversation with Chairwoman June of the Edinburgh Literary Salon committee, New Zealand native D. V. Bishop captured the audience’s attention and hearts immediately. With sprinkles of well-timed jokes, Bishop, dressed in a t-shirt promoting his upcoming release in June 2026, described his career from a daily newspaper writer and comic editor to helping launch the Creative Writing Programme at Edinburgh Napier University. Currently a tutor there, he was not only imparting wisdom to his current cohort, but also to those in the room who had ever thought of putting their pen to paper in a creative way.

With 25 novels published, and as an author of Pan Macmillan, we were all on the edges of our seats to learn about his writing process. One could only imagine the glamour and strategic routine that goes into becoming an award-winning crime author, right? But Bishop, with his laid-back demeanour, imparted wisdom we all need to adhere to: “If you’re going to spend a year on a gig, you have to love it.”

He continued: “Writing to the market is a fool’s errand. You are chasing something that you can never catch up to. So you are far better to write the story about which you are most passionate.”

‘If you’re going to spend a year on a gig, you have to love it’… D. V. Bishop’s award-winning Cesare Aldo historical thrillers. Photograph: Pan Macmillan.

To some, it may seem simplistic, but Bishop is right. There is no point in tracking the trends and tropes of the fiction market and moulding your story to fit if you are not passionate about them. For aspiring authors just beginning the writing journey, the trick is to worry about getting your story down on paper first and to focus on finding an audience after. The publishing industry is constantly evolving; do not stifle your creativity all in the name of an ungrateful marketing machine.

To anyone with a story up their sleeve, make sure you listen to D. V. Bishop and pursue creative writing for love alone. Be the reason the fiction market is saturated with novels worth reading.

Photos courtesy of Felix Mosse, Pan Macmillan and CRIMEBOOKGIRL

Bishop, D. V., (2025), September Students Salon, ‘Edinburgh Literary Salon’. Attended on September 30, 2025.

Carrera, D. and Lee, S.W., (2022), Watch me write: exploring the effects of revealing creative writing process through writing replay. ‘In Proceedings of the 14th Conference on Creativity and Cognition’ (pp. 146-160).