Last week I asked you to send me your questions on any topic - perhaps I fancied myself as a bit of a relationship columnist - but, unsurprisingly, all of the questions were related to writing!
There are a lot of writers among you who are curious to know how I finished Rosewater, and what my creative practise looks like. I’ve picked a question that encompasses all the elements of the most frequently asked questions.
Q: How do you finish writing a book? I’m also interested in how you approach your creative practice. What’s your routine? How do you write? How do you edit?
I’ll break this down into sections.
How do you finish writing a book?
This is a very pertinent question given that I’m writing my second book. And struggling, if I’m being honest, to make my way through. The subject matter of this book is something which is painful, close to my heart, and the grief that I’ve experienced is fairly recent.
Rosewater was a completely different case. A lot of writers I’ve spoken to find there’s a different energy that propels the first book compared to the second one. There’s apparently no recreating that timeline or process. I think everyone’s journey for the first book looks completely different. Some people take a year, some people take ten. For me, I wrote Rosewater fairly quickly. Although it’s important to note that prior to writing Rosewater - I had started another novel. With that one I think there were the seedlings of some good ideas, but the concept felt too constructed. What I needed to do was take a step back and think about the story that my heart wanted to tell, the story that I desired to read the most, the story that felt truest to the things that I wanted to say. About the world and how we interact as human beings. About how we see each other and how we show up to love.
When I did that it enabled Rosewater to come fairly naturally. The reason why that first attempt wasn’t great and didn’t end up forming the basis for my debut novel, was because I was trying to write a specific version of a kind of book - rather than going with what I wanted to write.
I want to be, and hope I am, the sort of writer that shares purely from my heart. Rather than what I think might sell or what I think other people might want to read. I definitely write for myself. Rethinking how I wanted to show up to write made it clearer and easier. It felt a lot more fluid, sitting down to write from the heart, rather than sitting down to write from a space that was too neatly constructed.
Elsie, my protagonist, really presented herself to me first and foremost. Her voice was so strong, it was so clear and direct, I now realise writing her was also helping me shape my own voice. To stand in my own power to become more clear and direct myself.
It felt like I was being driven, propelled by forces other than my own desire, to write the book. But I also think it’s important to contextualise. I was writing this book shortly after leaving my job as a CEO, after making the decision to start a masters, and most importantly, after finding out that my dad was sick. Rosewater became a place of refuge for me. When I first started writing the book - there was a practical element. You have made this decision, you want to be a writer, you don’t want run a business, you want to tell stories. If you don’t make time for this, those things will not happen.
I don’t know if it’s the Capricorn in me, but that was a solid amount of motivation. Then when my dad got sick it became this place of refuge. It became a place of creative safety where I could escape the harsh realities of what was happening with him and his condition. It was a space that belonged to just me. I think the absolute joy of having a creative space that was just about me exploring the big themes around love and grief, around loss and what home meant, was enough to propel me. To keep me going and to finish writing Rosewater.
How do you approach your creative practise?
I’ve worked across quite a few different mediums, including audio and documentary. I first started my career working in factual television, and I’ve now moved into the realm of drama and fiction. I definitely feel most happy and creatively stimulated where I am now. Most like I’m able to express my perspective, the things that I’ve learnt, and the depth of feeling I’ve experienced. I feel so certain this the kind of work I’m supposed to be doing. I think theres a lot to be said about having tried a lot of different creative practises out before I got here.
I had a really amazing boss in my first factual television job who told me it’s always useful to try things out. This was much to my dismay. I was fresh out of uni, loving Louis Theroux, and I wanted to be a very serious documentary teller.
But I listened, and I tried out a couple of weeks on First Dates. Shadowing, learning, doing a bit of research. The point she was making - is that you don’t know what you do and don’t like until you try it. My creative practise has been shaped by this very fundamental teaching.
Thanks to trying different forms - I often have a very clear idea whether something feels like a book, a film, a short film, and I usually go off that instinct. I like that I can think about things existing in different contexts.
I do work very intentionally, and I only work on projects where I connect with the characters, story and heart. But I also now know it’s always good to try things to figure out what you like. I’ve done quite a few writers rooms now, and they’ve all been very different styles of projects.
The biggest part of my creative mindset nowadays is that I’m not trying to force, push or rush. I’m taking the time. I’m really thinking about the core of the story that I want to tell. Of course you heighten it, you might put it into a different genre - but actually thinking about what the integrity is behind the work.
There are some projects I’ve dreamed about for years before I write them into a pitch. I think that level of time and care means that you set yourself up to succeed. Of course, I’m in the early stages of my film and television career - but I can feel that this approach is working for me.
What’s your routine?
I’ve actually recently changed my routine. It’s important to remember we don’t all need the same structure or ways of doing things. We all have very different ways of retaining information or times of the day that work best for us. I’ve realised that working solely in the house is something that drives me a little stir crazy - so I’m taking myself out half the week to a workspace. Just being in a room with other people is the type of stimulation that I need to do some of my key research and outlining. When I struggle to write or come up with ideas, it means I need to let it all breathe. I need to go out into the world, observe, be curious and engage with art in different forms. I actually struggle to read when I’m writing a book - but I can read if I’m writing film or TV.
How do you write?
I just write! That’s a terrible answer, isn’t it? I’m not a massive planner when it comes to novel writing, which has made the transition to film and TV interesting. In the latter you spend a lot of time outlining beat by beat exactly what is going to happen before you sit down to write.
It’s been an adjustment but also very useful. Of course you can always deviate from your outline - but it’s interesting to think about the rules that apply in different spaces.
How do you edit?
I get everything that I need to get down on the page - and once that is down - I then start to edit. I have friends that edit as they go along and that works for them - but it just doesn’t for me. I think there’s something to be said of just getting mess down on the page, and then sifting out what is brilliant and what needs to go in the bin.
There’s the editing on paper, and there’s the editing you do when you’re in a room with people discussing ideas and talking it through. I find it very useful to have people who I can go back and forth on creative ideas with. That’s a key part of the process for me.
I hope my rambly response to your question is useful!
Please do keep sending me questions at thefeelsliv@gmail.com.
Also…
This week on my podcast Why I Move… with Nike and Elle I was joined by fashion influencer Camille Charriere & Deputy Editor at Elle UK Lena de Casparis. We spoke about the collective joy that can be found in working out and the industry’s harsh standards on body image. You can listen here.
EIC @kenyahunt
ELLE UK @elleuk
Production Agency @curlymedialtd
Featuring @camillecharriere @lenadecasparis
Studio @spiritland