I remind myself that these are part of the job, often the rejection isn’t because the work is unsatisfactory but it somehow just doesn’t fit requirements or be to the judge’s taste, and getting work sent back is only a precursor to polishing that work and sending it out again. Rejections that give useful advice are brilliant. Also practically every writer has these so I see receiving them as just part of a normal writer’s lot.
What did you find most helpful in building up your writing career?
Writing Magazine/Writers’ News for their market information, they advertise lots of competitions and interviews with hints on how published authors achieved their success as well as their warnings on pitfalls to look out for. It is a good way of reaffirming that it isn’t just you scribbling away and to help keep you going.
What is your writing routine?
I write most days, the exceptions being Christmas, certain very close family birthdays, my holiday and given when I know these things are coming up I increase what writing I do just before and after these events. That way if you based things on a daily word count, I probably am writing daily. I write in the evenings, some weekend afternoons and take the attitude a little and often is better than a lot not very often at all!
What do you find most difficult to write?
Hard to say as I enjoy writing all the different things I do. I find mood is probably the factor that affects me most in that being moody makes me tired more quickly and I know I write dreadfully when tired. I must “’fess up” and say when really tired I have been known to nod off over my keyboard!
Who are your favourite authors and why?
Terry Pratchett for creating such a fantastic world (in every sense) and characters that develop and for his dry wit. Jane Austen for her sense of timing and irony. P.G. Wodehouse for his wonderful humour. His prose is a joy to read (though I suspect he’d never get his long sentences past most editors these days). Agatha Christie’s detective novels I adore though I can’t say whether I prefer Marple or Poirot. Josephine Tey for The Daughter of Time, one of the few novels to make me change my mind about something.
What is your favourite piece of work to date and why?
I will always have a special place in my heart for A Helping Hand, my first published work in Bridge House’s Alternative Renditions anthology. To date, 2012, it remains my only published work in print/book form. I’m very fond of my novels and Eileen in particular as I love writing lines for her. A magical character who has no problems with hypocrisy and breaks the rules is huge fun to write for. I also particularly like my The Lady in White (published on Shortbread) as it is my first piece of historical fiction and received a very positive response from other Shortbreaders.
How do you prefer to write - direct to computer or pen on paper first?
I do both! For novels I always write the first draft to paper and use the typing up as my first edit. For short stories I write directly to screen but always edit on a hard copy print out. I’m happy with both methods though I don’t think I could write a novel directly to screen (probably due to a novel always being more complicated than a short story in terms of word count, sub plots etc). I find it easier to “see where I’m going” when working on a print out.
What writing magazines and/or websites do you find helpful?
Writers’ News/Writing Magazine. Mslexia. Christian Writer. I love looking at Neil Gaiman’s Journal, Patsy Collins’s site, Help! I Need a Publisher, Time To Write, BBC writersroom, Slush Pile From Hell (very funny and a dire warning!), Writer Beware (US site though the general principles apply).