For
any graduate of the New Writers' Scheme Sophie Claire’s blog piece will bring
back memories of the days leading up to publication. For me that culminated in
the recent Joan Hessayon Award evening at the RNA Summer Party so I am delighted to welcome her today
to tell us of her own experiences
I’ve
been a member of the RNA since 2007 and I submitted 7 novels to the New
Writers’ Scheme before getting an offer of publication from Accent Press in 2014 for my novel, Her Forget-Me-Not Ex.
I think it’s fair to say I served a long apprenticeship and, although this was
frustrating at the time, I look back now and realise how much I learned during
those years.
Discipline: to make the most
of the NWS I had to write a minimum of 1 book per year. It’s the same for many
published writers. So even before I was published, I tried to adopt a
professional attitude and that meant no waiting around for inspiration to
strike: I was at my desk every morning to produce my daily word count.
Anything can be changed:
when I first began writing I was very precious about my work and it was borne
of insecurity (‘I wrote it once, but I won’t be able to write it again’).
However, the revisions often turned out to be far easier than I’d imagined because
by then I knew the characters so much better than in the first draft.
The importance of conflict: this
came up repeatedly in my NWS reports. I learned that in romance solid,
sustainable reasons are needed to keep the hero and heroine apart until the end
of the story, and those reasons (conflict) can’t be superficial misunderstandings
that could be cleared up with an honest conversation. They need to come from
within the characters, and should develop naturally as the novel progresses, as
secrets are revealed and issues are addressed.
Show more of the hero’s point of
view: this was advice given to me specifically for the type of short
romance I was aiming for and it might not be relevant to every novel. However,
following it improved my novel, Her Forget-Me-Not Ex.
It opened up the story, and helped to show the reader how the conflict between Luc
and Natasha was shaped by their attitudes and prejudices, and how these changed
as the story progressed.
Acknowledge your strengths: when a
report tells you you’re good at something, the writer means it! Re-reading my
critiques I can see that each year another element fell into place: I learned
to focus on the main characters, increased dialogue and pace, added more
emotion. It’s important to acknowledge how your work has improved, as well as
the areas which still need work, because staying positive is so important!
Being published doesn’t mean you suddenly
know everything overnight, but I do believe that, having climbed that steep
learning curve, the process becomes easier. For this reason I’ll always be
grateful to the experienced writers who read my manuscripts. Their advice was
invaluable and I doubt I would ever have achieved my dream of getting published
without it. I recommend the New Writers’ Scheme to all aspiring romance writers.
About
Sophie
Sophie Claire was born in Africa to a French mother and
Scottish father who settled halfway in Manchester, and Sophie still lives there
now with her husband and two boys.
Sophie was shortlisted for the Elizabeth Goudge Award 2011
and the Sophie King Prize 2014. Over the years she has worked in marketing and
proofreading academic papers, but writing is what she considers her 'real job',
even if she has yet to convince the bank manager.
Links:
Amazon UK
Twitter @sclairewriter
What a positive and encouraging piece, Sophie. Thank you for joining us today and good luck with Her Forget-Me-Not Ex
The RNA blog is brought to you by
Elaine Everest
& Natalie Kleinman
If you would like to write for the
RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com
10 comments:
Thank you, Sophie, good luck with your book. Elaine xx
7 years, 7 NWS novels? Phew! I have made a note that tenacity is clearly a desirable quality in a new writer.
Realising you have the power to change your work, even if means deleting whole pages, is wonderfully freeing though, Sophie. I think learning not to be precious about your writing is hugely important if it's to grow. Nice post. Thanks for sharing and best of luck! :) x
Yes Philippa - tenacity, perseverance, or sheer pig-headedness!
Thanks Elaine and Sheryl.x
Great post Sophie. Congratulations on your graduation!
Thanks Rachael!x
Thanks, Sophie. This is my first year on the NWS and your words are so encouraging.
This is such an interesting post, Sophie. I'm hoping to apply for the NWS scheme in Jan 2016 and if I'm lucky enough to be accepted I'd love to learn all the things you've mentioned. Good luck with your new book!
Glad to hear it, Wendy. I hope you find it helpful - a lot of people have!
Jan, it's a real privilege to have been part of the scheme - fingers crossed for you that you get a place. In the meantime I recommend Kate Walker's 12 point guide to writing romance. It's a really good place to start.
Post a Comment