Mslexia

Photo © Charlie Hopkinson

Why did you become a writer?

My sister’s seven years older than me so I had a lot of time on my own when I was little, and I used to disappear off into my own imaginary worlds. I was quite a creative child; I liked writing and painting, but I was also a bit neurotic and fretful – I still am – and I was a real tomboy. My dad worked as an engineer, so we had a lot of fun building things together. I often think of my books as being like little structures.

How did you start?

I had about a year of rejections before it was accepted – but it seemed much longer than that.

I was doing a PhD on lesbian and gay historical fiction and started thinking that I’d like to try a lesbian historical novel. I’d been reading a lot of American lesbian fiction and it seemed so unambitious, I thought I must be able to do better than this! I still felt like an academic, but I got interested in trying this one book (Tipping the Velvet). When it was finished I sent it to about 10 publishers and agents – including Virago. All the publishers rejected it, but I did get an agent, and after trying lots of other publishers, she sent it to Virago and they took it. So I had about a year of rejections before it was accepted – but it seemed much longer than that.

What was your darkest hour?

That was definitely when I was writing The Night Watch. It was partly the subject matter, which included the break-up of a relationship, which mirrored events in my own life. But there were also enormous technical problems with that book – writing in the third person, using a cast of characters, a plot that goes backwards instead of forwards... Part of the problem was being well-known and that sense that people were waiting to see what I’d produce next. There was a period of about six months in the middle of writing it when I was just gritting my teeth, trying one thing after another, and nothing seemed right. I remember jogging around my local park in tears, thinking I just can’t do this.

How do you go about writing a novel?

Because I write historical fiction I feel I need to connect with the issues of the period, so I always start by researching what people were thinking at that time. That means I can create characters that are somehow representative of their era. Then I have to find a structure that will allow me to address the issues I’ve identified. With The Little Stranger, the novel only came alive for me once I’d come up with the idea of using a poltergeist as a way of exploring class tensions in the 1940s.

I write a synopsis for myself really, to get my ideas organised – but I might never refer to it again. I usually start at the beginning of a book and just work my way slowly through it, several chapters at a time, annotate them, then rewrite them and print them out again – I might do that three or four times per section. It's quite a laborious way to do it – going over and over sections that will probably change later on, when I come to rewrite the book as a whole. I sometimes wish I could work in a different way – be a bit looser about it.

Can you talk us through a typical writing day?

I start writing at about 10 and I make myself write at least 1,000 words a day. That way I know that I’m making progress. Sometimes that will take all day, other days I can write 1,400 before two o’clock. But I’m tempted to bunk off every day!

Is writing a joy or a torment?

It’s always a torment – interspersed with moments of excitement and joy that lift the whole experience and remind you why you’re doing this. Sometimes a word or a phrase will come that will express exactly what you need it to, and that is so satisfying.

Looking back, what would you have done differently?

Nothing really. I feel I’ve had a charmed career so far, with some amazing strokes of luck. But I do regret all the fretting I do. How will this next book be received? What does that mean for my reputation? What should I do next? I have this superstitious idea that fretting stops bad things from happening. When I’m on an aeroplane I feel I have to concentrate really hard to keep it in the air.

What are your three top tips for first-time novelists?

Read like mad, but read analytically and try to be conscious of each novel’s devices – because they might be useful for your own work. Watching films can be instructive too, because the narrative is so condensed. 

Be disciplined. Graham Greene famously wrote 500 words a day. Jean Plaidy managed 5,000 before lunch. My minimum is 1,000. They might well be rubbish, but you can always return to them later and make them better.

Don't panic. If you hit a crisis, work doggedly through it. Talking the problem through may help you remember what you were trying to achieve before you got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way.

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