I have just written the fourth in the Home Front series, set in a North East pit village during the 2nd World War. My mum was born in a northern pit village, I spent much time there as a child, staying with my Uncle Stan. As an author I keep returning to the north, wanting to honour the people I came to know, and of course, my Mum.
Perhaps that’s what writing means to me? To be able to unpick my past, and my parents’ past, and weave it into a novel to say – hey look, this is the world then, here is the stoicism, the courage, the community, the uncomplaining strength of the women, and the men.
Certainly my first novel was based on incidents in my mother’s life. My first book was taken so I had to learn the craft on the hoof and in public. That first book was flawed, but driven by the theme of courage and endurance it kept on course. I would say that about ten years later my understanding of the craft was in place: the required structure, with the novel opening in the main character’s normal world, but at a point of change, the rising arc of tension, the crisis point two thirds of the way through, and then the last third of the book. Keeping in one point of view in a scene to encourage reader empathy, have a theme – the message if you like, and antagonists to thwart the main character on their ‘journey’.
I learned that writing is a team effort. First try and find an agent. Which means having at least the first three chapters written. I was so lucky, and found Vivien who was willing to take on a raw writer, with four children, and a giddy personality. She happened to know that Catherine Cookson was about to leave her publisher, and here was MG with a novel about the north east. Into that slot I went.
When taken by a publisher there is a team behind the book: the jacket designer, the marketeer, the Publicity Dept, and crucially the commissioning editor, add to that the copy editor, and the proof editor. What they need from the writer is a novel delivered on time, a willingness to listen to the commissioning editor who can see flaws in the book, ones which need to be rectified – to a deadline.
Nowadays, there is the option of self-publishing, which given that the PR department of a publisher expects a great deal to be done by the author is certainly a feasible option, but do use the services of an editor to sort out the book.
But is that all there is to being a writer?
Not for me. Perhaps it’s the way I was brought up: if you have a skill, share it. So I do. I began to teach creative writing ages ago and perhaps I gain more from this than those I teach. On the whole those eager to learn are so interactive, such amazing fun that every group I have ever worked with has just ‘rocked’. Some haven’t gone on to write, but the discipline of organising their thoughts, and planning their work has allowed them to decide what it is that really appeals to them, and off they go, setting sail in a different direction.
I have set up a charity, Words for the Wounded, which uses writing competitions to raise funds, (not this year, just in case Covid side swipes us and we can’t continue, but back next year) and through which I also edit veterans’ novels, and work with them, page by page. We are a small charity, run by four of us, Dick who does IT, Jan Speedie, a book reviewer, and Penny Deacon, a crime writer. Every penny raaised goes towards helping the veterans. We’ve done a Mud Challenge, a sky dive and all sorts of things. Next year Hadrians Wall. Would I have had the confidence to get that started unless I had an understanding of the writing world – NO.
I am editor of Frost Magazine where we have a great team of writers, and of course our managing editor, and owner, Catherine Balavage, a fount of wisdom, and not a slouch as an entrepreneur, writer and actor herself.
Being a writer for me, does not mean shutting yourself in a garret and writing in isolation. It is important to be out in the everyday world, which is grounding. In addition you are observing endless fascinating scenes, you are prevented from being precious. And just perhaps you are writing books and magazine stories that give pleasure, and importantly, helping other writers some help along the way. Not a bad way to earn a living …
The latest Annie Clarke: Christmas on the Home Front is available on Amazon.co.uk
