This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Julie Myerson, author of The Quickening, which came out in paperback at the end of April, recently spoke to us about her writing and her latest book, part of the Hammer horror series, about a romantic Caribbean holiday that takes a sinister turn.
Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?
It depends on what I’m doing. When in final stages of a novel (as I am right now) I tend to be at my desk by about 9 and often work right through till 7 or 8 (7 days a week!) with small breaks. But you can’t keep it up for ever – it just gets too exhausting – and I frequently wish my mental and physical stamina could keep up with my imagination. On the other hand, twice a week I have to fit in my pilates class which I’ve been doing for more than 20 years. I have a spinal scoliosis and without pilates I could never have sat and written all these books. And then again, once I finish this book, I intend to spend at least a week gardening. I never cease to be thankful for the fact that I am totally in control of my own working life/hours.
When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?
That’s an odd idea! Celebrities, never. And I don’t think I ever knowingly base a fictional character on a real person. But I do write about the things I care about, so whatever I feel most passionate about and whoever most concerns me at any particular time will almost certainly creep into my work. I love writing about children – I think they tend to be badly done in fiction. More than any children I have ever written, I think I am proudest of the children I put into THEN. They are not even slightly based on my own children, but all the feeling and love that is there absolutely comes from my own experience of being a mother.
What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?
Oh dear, there are so many and they change all the time, depending on what I’m doing/writing or reading. Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido is a gorgeous, sexy, wise and generous classic which, over the past 20 odd years, I have given to a lot of friends – in fact I’m not sure I could be friends with someone who didn’t love it! Right now I really admire Sarah Waters – she is doing so many things that feel exciting to me both as reader and writer. And I recently discovered Shirley Jackson (Hangsaman, what an incredibly powerful and creepy book!). Wuthering Heights is a book I have come back to several times and probably always will. It changes every time you look at it – and for me that is the sign of a very great novel.
What is your writing process? Do you plan first or dive in? How many drafts do you do?
No planning. Dive in. Listen to the peculiar, sometimes upsetting, voice in my head. Spend months and months working out who these people are and what’s happening to them. Write it. Panic because I don’t understand a word of it. Cry a bit. And then the best bit. The strange and exhilarating process as, slowly, the writing takes over and I begin to make sense of it all. It’s a bit like a room that starts off in total darkness and then, one by one, the candles are lit and you see what’s there and, if you’re lucky, it blows you away.
I don’t really know how many drafts, because I don’t write like that. But in any one of my novels, any given paragraph will have been worked over maybe 15 to 30 times…ie a lot!What was your journey to being a published author?
I’d wanted to write novels since I was 9 years old. But I only wrote stories and poems really until I was 31 and had just had my first baby and found myself living with a writer (my husband Jonathan) who took me seriously and suggested I start a novel while on maternity leave which I continued (evenings and weekends) when I went back to work. By the time I finished it, I’d had a 3rd baby. I entered an excerpt in the ELLE talent contest which, very serendipitously, was judged by Hilary Mantel. A few weeks later I had an agent, a two book contract with Picador and publishers in several countries and was able to give up the day job. I look back sometimes and am not sure how I did it (it was exhausting writing like that with a job and 3 babies) but the truth is I had a very supportive partner who knew that I would never be happy until I’d at least tried to write a novel.
What do you think is the biggest myth about being a novelist?
That we earn lots of money. Or that we EVER make an artistic decision based on what we might stand to earn. Having said that, every writer who manages to earn just enough to get by (and most of us have to do other stuff like teaching or journalism) tends to feel very lucky. What better life could there be than being paid to spend time sifting through your imagination?
What advice can you give to our readers who want to write a novel of their own?
Don’t wait till you have ‘time’ or ‘space’ or ‘energy’ or a ‘good idea’. Sit down for 5 minutes a day, EVERY day, and write. If you’re lucky, the 5 minutes will grow and you’ll find yourself able to spend longer. But 5 minutes is all it takes to start writing something and too many people (especially ones with jobs or families as I had) put it off while they wait for the ‘right’ conditions which never come. A writer friend gave me this advice long ago and I will always owe him for it.
What are you working on at the moment?
The novel I am trying to finish (see above)! It’s taking way longer than I thought it would, but – fingers very crossed – I am close to the end.
Thanks, Julie!