Give me a deadline, someone!
We at the Writers Workshop love being nosy about our members’ writing lives and hearing about their writing journeys, practices and philosophies! This month, we asked member Rachel Reynolds to share her thoughts.
What I’m working on
I’ve recently completed the first draft of my second book, Blood Hounds, a follow up to my debut novel, Blood Poison, self-published as Rae Reynolds. I’m now on the daunting journey of editing it.
Inspiration comes from the mysteries that lurk in family histories – all those skeletons in every family’s cupboard waiting to be discovered, and how our past might influence who we are. The past is my main character’s business. James is an heir hunter who, while searching for the rightful recipients of money and property, unwittingly uncovers a murder, and yet he has buried his own difficult background. Another character, Melissa, is determined to understand how her unusual past is affecting her present. It’s Who Do You Think You Are meets Heir Hunters.
Why I became a writer
I began writing after my children were born, when I wrote a light-hearted diary about the perils of parenthood. I’d had training for everything else I’d taken on in life, and it turned out I was ill-prepared for the challenges of motherhood. This was at the time Nicola Horlick (dubbed ‘Superwoman’ by the media for balancing a high-flying career with raising six children) was telling women they could have it all. It became clear that women were doing it all, not having it all. Even Cosmopolitan quietly dropped its strapline: ‘For women who juggle their lives’! My diary reflected my inability to juggle anything, and not just because of my poor hand-eye coordination. An extract of the diary ended up being published in The Independent after I won a television competition, and I also published a few articles in the Yorkshire Post off the back of it.
In many ways I think writing is like parenting – I’m not entirely sure I could say why I entered into it, but I couldn’t not enter into it! Despite the overwhelming feeling of inadequacy, the panics along the way, the utter despair at times, and fooling myself I was getting quite good at it, the enrichment to my life far outweighs the frustrations. Mostly.
My writing challenges
When the road gets a little rocky, I have a tendency to chase a pretty butterfly or tuck into lemon cake, and it takes all my willpower to get back on track. As much as I love writing, there are times when I’d rather do anything – even ironing – than sit down and write, so I must often remind myself that I dredged up the self-discipline from somewhere to finish my first novel …. eventually … and it did feel good. Give me a deadline, someone!
Also, I can be really excited about a scene that works like a dream in my head, but something diabolical happens and it loses its brilliance when it’s transferred to the page. Writing good prose is hard, and I have to do a lot of editing, sometimes removing whole sections that aren’t moving the plot forward, even though I was ever-so pleased with them at the start. Some of those paragraphs end up in a ‘snippets file’ to be recycled later so that I don’t feel they’ve gone forever … even though I find that I never put back what I’ve taken out. The hard grind begins when I am arguing with myself about whether a particular paragraph has earned its keep … hence my frequent pursuit of butterflies. And lemon drizzle.
My writing ambitions
I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d like to be published and be on the shelf in Waterstones (I’ve even checked where my book would sit on the shelf in a bookstore – not at eye-level, unfortunately). However, I’m quite content if getting traditionally published doesn’t happen, since I intend to self-publish when the manuscript is as polished as I can make it. Finishing the final edit is my main goal, but it’s OK to dream further because, as someone wise once said, If you don’t build castles in the air, you don’t build castles anywhere.
Why I joined The Writers Workshop
A writing community is the lifeblood of a writer. Finding and working with my tribe at the Writers Workshop in Sheffield has helped me grow; and the support, friendship and encouragement has been, and continues to be, invaluable. Access to professional help whenever I need it is also a big plus of the Writers Workshop, including Beverley’s gentle querying of my characters’ motivations, Anna’s excellent marketing advice and Lorna’s in-depth edit of my first three chapters. The Workshop has been the best thing to happen to my writing, and I credit it with giving me some of the tools I need to improve the book and, hopefully, get it out there.