Write What You Know? No, Write What You Love
Penny Haw
Life is too short to peel an apple before biting into it. It’s too short to worry about whether your eyebrows are perfectly arched or your dance moves are weird. Life is also too short to write books you don’t love.
Sure, it’s tempting to pursue other people’s ideas of what you should write. After all, what do you know? What if they’re right and you are, as that not-so-little voice in your head regularly suggests, clueless? It’s also reasonable for authors to try and create the kind of books they think the market wants. Isn’t that a certain road to success? Alas, it’s not. Given the shape-shifting nature of the publishing market no one, not even the best-informed editors and publishers, knows exactly what the market wants. Moreover, by the time your book is written and published, the market’s perceived appetite will have changed several times.
What about the adage, “Write what you know”? Well, yes, that might do—provided you love what you know. I believe the other saying, “Write what you’d like to read” is more useful. If you write what you love, it follows that you’ll love to read it—and you’ll need to read it often before it’s published. Most importantly, write what you love to write and what you love to read because it will make you happy.
My first book, Nicko, the Tale of a Vervet Monkey on an African Farm is a children’s chapter book based on the true story of my grandmother’s life with a monkey and several other animal friends. I grew up knowing about Nicko and I loved turning his story into a book.
When I wrote my contemporary fiction, The Wilderness Between Us, I set it on a hike in the Tsitsikamma region of South Africa. Why? Because I love hiking and the area. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed describing how the powerful combination of nature and compassion changed the course of two women’s lives over a few days. I wrote about hiking, animals, trees, plants, adventure and complicated lives and characters who interested me. The book was fun to write.
However, nothing gave me as much pleasure to write as my next book, which is a work of historical fiction, entitled The Invincible Miss Cust that tells the story of Aleen Cust.
Aleen was Britain and Ireland’s first woman veterinary surgeon. I discovered her when I began researching an idea for my next book. As a child, I fantasized about becoming a veterinary surgeon. I grew up on a dairy farm, where I thrived among the cattle and on my horse with my dogs at my side. There was no job more appealing to young Penny than that of a veterinary surgeon. However, I also loved reading, writing and storytelling, which eventually won me over. I became a journalist and, more recently, an author.
Yet, my love for animals never waned. So, as I thought about a new writing project, I imagined setting it in a veterinary practice. My main character might be an impressive woman veterinary surgeon, I thought. This led me to googling the history of women in veterinary science. That’s when I came across Aleen and her extraordinary story. It hadn’t been my intention to write historical fiction but, when I read about her and discovered that, aside from a short biography published more than thirty years ago, no one had told Aleen’s story, I couldn’t resist it. Even then, I didn’t foresee the joy it would give me.
Writing about Aleen, who decided she wanted to become a vet in 1878 when she was ten years old and overcame immeasurable obstacles to do so, was something it seemed I’d been preparing to do my entire life. It wasn’t just her love for animals and her desire to work with them that I connected with. I was also in awe of her energy, drive, and dogged determination to lead a purposeful life—the life that she wanted despite what her family, and Victorian society and its patriarchal laws insisted upon.
As Aleen dominated my thoughts while I researched and wrote The Invincible Miss Cust, it seemed to me that I’d come full circle and found myself at home with her, a farmyard of animals and a head full of inspiring stories. What a happy place that was!
I worked with a veterinary surgeon friend, Richard Lyons to get the technical details right. Richard also happens to be Irish. So not only did he help me treat dogs, hoist horses, save cows and deworm sheep (yup, I imagined I was a vet), he also guided me through the technical aspects and on all things Irish. This was important since Aleen was born and eventually worked in Ireland, a country she loved.
I’ve worked as a writer my entire adult life. It gives me great joy and I can’t imagine doing anything else. However, I’ve never loved writing any story as much as I enjoyed writing The Invincible Miss Cust. I hope that readers will enjoy reading Aleen’s story as much as I enjoyed telling it. I also hope that they will be as inspired as I am by Aleen’s resolve, ingenuity and tenacity. Essentially, I hope that the enjoyment I had writing it will be passed on to readers.
Indeed, life is too short to write books you don’t love. There are so many unknowns in publishing, no guarantees and many things you cannot control as an author. But you can choose to write what you love. Not only will it make you happy but it’s probably also what you’re good at and what you are likely to be most proud of.
So, choose to be the happiest author you can be. Write what you love.
The Invincible Miss Cust by Penny Haw:
Aleen Cust has big dreams and no one―not her family, society, or the law―will stop her.
Born in Ireland in 1868 to an aristocratic English family, Aleen knows she is destined to work with animals, even if her family is appalled by the idea of a woman pursuing a veterinary career. Going against their wishes but with the encouragement of the guardian assigned to her upon her father’s death, Aleen attends the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh, enrolling as A. I. Custance to spare her family the humiliation they fear. At last, she is on her way to becoming a veterinary surgeon! Little does she know her biggest obstacles lie ahead.
The Invincible Miss Cust is based on the real life of Aleen Isabel Cust, who defied her family and society to become Britain and Ireland’s first woman veterinary surgeon. Through Penny Haw’s meticulous research, riveting storytelling, and elegant prose, Aleen’s story of ambition, determination, family, friendship, and passion comes to life. It is a story that, even today, women will recognize, of battling patriarchy and an unequal society to realize one’s dreams and pave the way for other women in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
Buy it here:
Bookshop.org: https://bit.ly/3p7uSR0
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3bKbRkz
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3P9iIlf
Bio:
Penny Haw worked as a journalist and columnist for more than three decades, writing for many leading South African newspapers and magazines before yielding to a lifelong yearning to create fiction. Her stories feature remarkable women, illustrate her love for animals and nature, and explore the interconnectedness of all living things. The Invincible Miss Cust is Penny’s debut historical fiction. She also the author of finalist in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) 2022 Star Awards, The Wilderness Between Us and a children’s book, Nicko, The Tale of a Vervet Monkey on an African Farm. Penny lives near Cape Town with her husband and three dogs, all of whom are well walked.
https://www.instagram.com/pennyhaw/
https://www.facebook.com/PennyHawAuthor
Category: How To and Tips
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
