Where do you write?
At the moment, all over the house! I live in a small Victorian terrace in South West London and although we have a desk in the spare room, I don’t actually use it much. I like to see the garden so if I’m at home alone writing then I sit in the kitchen. If I want some company I write from the sofa while my husband watches TV. When I was pregnant with my second child I always wrote in coffee shops near my son’s nursery where he stayed just for the mornings – if I went home I knew I would fall asleep! I also wrote a lot of my debut in a public library. It was A level revision time and it wasn’t particularly quiet but I’m quite good at ignoring everything going on around me. My son is two and my daughter is seven months old so I’ve learnt that carving out time to write is really difficult and when I get it, being fussy about the surroundings isn’t an option! I’ve written in airports, hairdressers, supermarket cafes, gyms- grabbing any windows of time I can get.
What do you have on your desk?
A hairbrush, a lot of notepads, drinks, hot chocolate, cherries, make-up, hair ties, research books – I feel most relaxed in disorder!
Which is the most inspiring object in your workspace?
I have made a scrapbook of all my son’s artwork from nursery and I love flicking through it. The lack of inhibition is great, and the way he just does his own thing with the brief.
What does your writing process, from gathering ideas to finished manuscript, look like?
I only have my debut and my current project to go on so the process will probably change, but or both I was lucky to stumble upon the idea quite organically (both are based on true stories). I then go through a period of very directed research to make sure I have all the information- which in both cases was pretty limited- so I know what I’m working with. Then I start to imagine, which isn’t as romantic as it sounds! I use huge sheets of paper and a three act structure- and a lot of rubbing out. Slowly, I cobble together a first synopsis and gradually I hone it and iron out any creases. When I start to write I try really hard to keep going through a first draft even if I am not very impressed with what I’m coming up with. I try and get this done relatively quickly to keep up momentum. Then I just wade through the manuscript loads of times. At first I focus each draft on checking I’m happy with the plot. I like this bit the best- I really enjoy the process of overcoming plot issues as it feels like really compelling problem-solving. Then once the manuscript is generally acceptable I give myself a different focus for each edit, for example to make sure a relationship between two characters follows a convincing thread, or to check that the voice is consistent. As the manuscript becomes more polished, the focus of each draft becomes more specific and fine-tuned. It all feels a bit laborious by the end so I am keen to mix up the process in my next novel.
What can you see from your window?
A lot of plastic toys in the garden – a slide, a seesaw, a ride-along ladybird! We recently moved here and my husband and I promised each other the house wouldn’t become a giant playroom…
Have you ever had a particularly good piece of writing advice?
Yes. When I did a course at Curtis Brown Creative, Norah Perkins, an agent at the company, was really inspirational. She read some early work of mine and advised me to make the world I was building smaller. To focus on far fewer characters, and to hone in on the present moment. She said to stay as close to the character as possible. As soon as I started doing this, I began to see results.
