Mslexia

Photo © Charlie Hopkinson

Why did you become a writer?

When I was six we moved to a house opposite a library. Being in Scotland, you could take out four books, provided two of them were nonfiction – but that included myths and legends, poetry and natural history. Then I discovered the Chalet School and Jo Bettany, always covered in ink, and realised – aged eight – that writing could be a job you were paid for. From then on, I never wanted to do anything else. I remember walking the dog on the beach and making up Famous Five stories in my head.

How did you start?

I decided to become a journalist, as a way of paying the bills really, and write creatively in my spare time. My first book was an angst-ridden novel about a lesbian love affair that was rejected by around 50 publishers – quite rightly. But an actor from Gay Sweatshop thought it might make a good play, so I took out everything except the dialogue and they actually produced it. So then I started trying to write plays, and got an agent, but I was hopeless at it and he fired me.

I had every Monday off and used the afternoon to write novels – five hours a week, every week; very disciplined.

Meanwhile my journalist career was taking off and I was working on the Sunday Mirror during the week. Then I read a book by Sara Paretsky and a lightbulb went on in my head. I thought, I’ll write a lesbian crime novel. It was the heyday of the feminist presses and they were crying out for crime fiction, so the timing was perfect. I had every Monday off and used the afternoon to write novels – five hours a week, every week; very disciplined.

What was your darkest hour?

When you’ve found an agent, you think you’ll be alright, so being fired was the lowest point for me. It was the first time I’d failed at something; until that moment I’d been this driven overachiever. It really knocked my confidence. I thought: oh shit, I must be really crap. That’s why I wrote crime fiction; because there was a formula to it, I knew what I had to do. It was like a safety blanket.

How do you go about writing a novel?

I used to have a method and it worked for 15 novels. I’d get an idea and some characters and play around with them, having conversations in my head; then I’d write a detailed synopsis, one paragraph for each chapter. Then I’d start at the beginning and write 1,500 words a day until it was finished.

But seven books ago it stopped working. I started the synopsis, but couldn’t get past the first third. It was like trying to wrestle water. So I began writing anyway and got to the same point and couldn’t get any further. My deadline was creeping nearer, so three weeks before I was due to hand the book in I booked in to a remote guesthouse in Italy – and wrote 65,000 words in nine days. My fingers actually hurt! Next time I came to write a book, exactly the same thing happened: I wrote the first 60 pages, then sat around agonising for six months, and wrote the rest in a six-week frenzy. So that’s my new pattern.

The book always starts in the same way, though. I’ll hear or read something that gets me thinking, ‘what if?’ What if someone walks past a wedding and recognises the bride as a girl she babysat for 15 years earlier? What happened to her in the meantime? That’s the premise for my next book.

Can you talk us through a typical writing day?

I go to my office at nine and start by revising the previous day’s work, which propels me into the next bit. I tend to go to sleep planning the next chapter, so I usually know where I’m going. I write in 20 minute bursts, interspersed with emails, phonecalls, cups of coffee, plus three longer breaks for meals and watching single episodes of whatever boxed set I’ve got on the go at the time – currently Homicide: Life on the Street. In between I keep writing – even in the shower I’m still thinking about it.

Is writing a joy or a torment?

A bit of both. There are days when you can just feel the book taking shape, others when it’s like carving granite with a teaspoon. But there’s nothing I’d rather do. If it was all joyful, what would be the challenge? I always want to be the best I can at what I do and try to make each book better than the last.

Looking back, what would you have done differently?

I think I should have studied PPE or philosophy and maths at Oxford instead of English Literature. I spent all my time at university discussing philosophy and I loved the elegance of maths.

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

Just do it: hammer through your first draft until the end.
Don’t mess around making your first chapter perfect, because you’ll have to rewrite it anyway.
Carve out a regular ‘writing time’ and don’t make excuses. If you can’t commit to your own writing, why should anyone else commit to it?

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