Chrissie Manby is the Sunday Times bestselling author of 36 books and was nominated for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance for Getting Over Mr Right. She spoke to us about the three things every writer is asked and the power in taking a few minutes each day to work on your craft.
It’s more than twenty years since I published my first novel – I’ve just handed in my thirty-sixth – and along the way I’ve answered lots of questions about the writing life. The most common question – and one most writers answer with an eye-roll – is ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ My answer to this is that if you’re not bothered by ideas every waking second of the day, if you’re not constantly making up stories based on conversations overheard at the bus stop, then you probably need to ask yourself if you want to be a novelist. Ideas are everywhere.
Next! The second most common question is: how can I find the time to write when I’ve got a full-time job? Answer: leave Facebook. I published ten books before I quit my day job.
If you write for fifteen minutes every single day, you’ll have a novel finished in fifteen months
Anthony Trollope, one of Britain’s best-loved Victorian novelists, got up at dawn every day to write two thousand words before he went to work. Now, he was a particular swot. But it’s a myth that you need to have acres of free time ahead of you before you can make a start on that novel. Park the children in front of the telly. Ask your other half to make his / her own tea. Set a timer for just fifteen minutes – everyone can find fifteen minutes, even if they have to lock themselves in the loo – and write. I’ll bet you do two hundred words. If you do that every single day, you’ll have a novel finished in fifteen months.
The Third question is: how can I get published when I don’t know anybody in the publishing world?
Guess what? Once upon a time, neither did I.
I just took a risk
I didn’t grow up in a house full of books. I didn’t have a godparent who worked at a publishing house. I certainly didn’t know any authors. I lived in Gloucester, which wasn’t exactly the centre of the cultural world. I just took a risk. I sent off some short stories to a couple of magazines. One of those stories was picked up and the rest is history.
Now, this was way back in the mists of a time before the Internet and the Internet has changed everything. Now it doesn’t matter if you’re living in the middle of nowhere. It’s easier than ever to get your work out there. You don’t even have to buy a stamp.
Connect. Reach out. Ask questions
Join an online writers’ group. Follow your favourite authors on Twitter. Follow agents. Follow publishing houses. Find out whether your nearest bookshop or library is hosting an author for a reading. Don’t press your manuscript into the novelist’s hand and ask if they’ll pass it to their agent – reading a book closely enough to give considered advice is a big time commitment to ask – but listen for clues as to what you need to do next.
When you commit to being a writer, you will find a way to be heard – or rather read! While you’re honing your craft, keep your ears and heart open.
Connect. Reach out. Ask questions.
Just make sure that the first question isn’t ‘where do you get your ideas from?’
Instagram: @chrissie_manby Twitter: @chrissiemanby
www.chrissiemanby.com
