How I Became a Writer, by Jennie Walters

I became a writer (and I still can’t quite believe that’s what I am) in a roundabout, step-by-step sort of way. I was working in children’s publishing when a colleague looking for new authors suggested I write a story for her. At first I thought, ‘I couldn’t possibly do that!’ And then I thought, ‘What if I had a try?’ And somehow, page by agonizing page, Forest of Doom (‘Read it and shriek!’) took shape. By the end, I’d learned perhaps the most important writerly quality: persistence. Now, twenty-five books later, I can still work for hours and end up with two mediocre paragraphs, but I know that if I sit down at my desk every day, take it page by page, write and endlessly re-write – many months later, there’ll be a book at the end that’s as good as I can make it.

Yet although the process may be 99% perspiration, there has to be 1% inspiration in the mix. People often ask where writers get their ideas. In the case of my Swallowcliffe Hall historical trilogy, it was dates that inspired me. I suddenly realized that a young Victorian girl could have had a daughter of that age in 1914, on the brink of the First World War, and a grand-daughter her age in 1939, on the eve of the Second. So there was the timeframe for my three novels. I decided to root them in a grand old English country house, large enough to accommodate an army of servants besides the aristocratic family who’ve lived there for generations. Now I had two worlds, side-by-side yet poles apart. Instantly there would be secrets, frustrations, jealousy and heartache, as well as a fascinating glimpse into history.

During my research I learned about girls taken into service at the age of eleven or twelve, kitchenmaids who were up at five to light kitchen ranges, housemaids who could only dust the legs of drawing-room furniture, and masters who would not allow servants to see them (one maid had to jump into a hall cupboard to hide). Of course there were exceptions: kindly mistresses who would nurse their girls through sickness, for example. But what a wonderful breeding ground for stories! From 1890 to 1939, our world changed beyond all recognition and opportunities for young women, in particular, were transformed.

Now the world is changing rapidly again. Writers can make their work available in a completely new way, thanks to the ebook phenomenon. When my Swallowcliffe Hall books appeared in print, there was only a short window of time for them to prove themselves. If the first volume in the trilogy didn’t sell, bookshops wouldn’t take up precious shelf space with the second or third. Now, though, all three volumes can exist in cyberspace for years to come. OK, so we authors have to become more proactive about marketing, but the advantages are huge. Your story doesn’t have to be narrowly categorized: the people who want to read it can decide if it’s a book for teens or adults. Readers and writers can connect in ways that just weren’t possible before. 

 
So why not take the plunge? Write, re-write, have your story edited, re-write again – then put it up there, tell a few people and see what happens. You might be surprised!

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Jennie began her career in children’s publishing before starting to write her own stories. Under the name of Lucy Daniels, she wrote four titles in the Animal Ark series and the Perfect Ponies trilogy, and then under her own name, created the Party Girls series of ten books, published by Hodder, and the Swallowcliffe Hall trilogy, published by Simon and Schuster. These are the books she has recently released as ebooks, along with a new novel for teens, See You in My Dreams. She lives in London with her husband and two grown-up sons.

www.jenniewalters.com