When I graduated and moved back to Newcastle I lost all of the resources Uni allowed – the theatre society, free rehearsal space, aspiring actor friends – but the one thing I could continue to do solo was write. So I did. And I stopped trying to write like how I thought you ‘should’ or emulate writers I liked. I wrote characters and situations that I knew about and jokes that made me laugh. I didn’t realise it at the time but it was the start of me finding my voice as a writer, that unique something that makes my work mine. That play became my first professional production, produced by the 5065Lift at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe. It was well received and was the first time I thought seriously that maybe I could do this as more than a hobby.
