ISABEL COSTELLO – (Writing) Each Book Is A Different Story

ISABEL COSTELLO – (Writing) each book is a different story

I have written three novels over twelve years: one which got me an agent (as yet unpublished); my debut Paris Mon Amour (2016) and my new novel, Scent.  Each has been a unique experience and part of a learning curve which will never end. I now work with other writers on their manuscripts and in a world where ‘writing tips’ abound (often more anxiety-inducing than constructive), the only thing that matters is what works for you.

For most writers, that’s an ongoing process which develops with each project, just as our real lives do in the background (don’t get me started on that). An open mind and willingness to try new things are traits you’d hope for in a creative writer and they’re as important to process as any other aspect of storytelling.

It’s a weird and wonderful thought that some people are reading Paris Mon Amour and Scent almost back-to-back when they were published five years apart (PMA has just been reissued). Both are set in France and occupy my home territory of midlife and female sexuality but the way the two novels emerged was different.  Some of that was inevitable, some deliberate, as I experimented with new ways to deliver my vision for Scent and (less pretentiously) to make my job easier. 

Long story short: some of my old habits didn’t need changing after all.  Some of my new approaches worked, some didn’t.  These were the biggest revelations:  

First draft – words mount up whether you count them or not

I enjoy every phase of writing novels apart from first drafts. I love having something to work with, develop and improve but generating it in the first place is a real challenge especially as I’m not a fast or wordy writer. With PMA, I set myself a weekly target of 3,500 words to produce a first draft in six months. Many writers do find wordcount goals motivating but for me it made the whole thing feel like a chore. Sure, it’s nice to see the numbers creeping up, but as I discovered when I took a different tack with Scent, that happens anyway if you keep showing up.  Instead of setting myself word count targets, I sat down to write for two hours at a time. Things progressed at the same rate but I enjoyed it so much more.

To edit or not to edit as you go

With my debut I felt I wasted a lot of time re-reading and polishing the text even in the early stages – we all know how much a manuscript changes from first to final draft. But when I stopped doing this, I lost my connection with the characters and the belief that Scent would ever amount to something worth reading. Far from being a pointless waste of time, I realised that editing as I go along is an integral part of my writing process.  Trying new methods and deciding the old ones actually serve you is also a valuable outcome. 

Re-type draft

My most dramatic experiment, both in terms of results and the horror and disbelief it inspired in other people!  I got the idea at a workshop led by Andrew Wille just after receiving constructive and helpful feedback on the first draft of Scent from my agent and closest writing partner. The latter’s observation that the novel wasn’t, as I’d been thinking, about a failing marriage but a love story between two women instantly made me see it in a different light.  Retyping the entire 90K word draft (from scratch not from memory) to capture this new slant was the most exciting and transformative thing I’ve done as a writer. Now I can’t imagine writing a novel without this step – my post about it is one of the most viewed on my Literary Sofa blog.

Editing – saving the tricky bits until last

Even if you are lucky enough to work with people who really get your book, receiving edits can be daunting. With PMA I worked my way through the text slowly from beginning to end but the more complex Scent called for a different approach. I completed the edits in three layers; simple things with no repercussions elsewhere first, then issues which did impact on continuity, buying myself time to mull over the remaining tricky nuances concerning motivation, plausibility etc, which I left until last. My editor wanted a sentence added in a key place which could have ruined a pivotal moment a few chapters later if I messed it up. I must have tried twenty versions and still wasn’t sure if my best effort worked. She thought it was perfect.

Automated Read Aloud

It’s all too easy when editing to see what you think is there. I could never read a whole novel out loud but using the Read Aloud function on Word proved very effective at revealing clonky phrasing, repetitions and missing words. Strangely, for a first-person novel about intimate, female experiences, the only voice I could put up with was male: hearing some of this stuff from ‘George’ was pretty comical. Text to speech has come on hugely and while it’s still rather mechanical, I’m grateful to George – he even read this article to me. To my surprise, after a frustrating creative drought, I heard a voice inside my head say I’m ready to do it all again – a bit differently, of course.

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Isabel Costello’s debut novel Paris Mon Amour was published in 2016, followed by Scent in 2021 (Muswell Press).  Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and magazines. She has run the Literary Sofa blog for ten years and is a keen supporter of independent publishing.  Isabel is a writing mentor, tutor and book doctor and co-founder of Resilience for Writers.  Originally from Wiltshire, she has lived in London for 30 years and has lifelong connections with France, where both of her novels are set.

SCENT

‘Every day in Paris carries proof that love exists, in the air, on the streets and behind closed doors. Just not mine.’

When Clémentine and Édouard’s last child leaves home, the cracks in their marriage become impossible to ignore. Clémentine’s work as an artisan perfumer is no longer rewarding and her sense of self is withering. Life tilts irreversibly when, decades after the disturbing end of a bisexual love triangle, her former lover Racha resurfaces. But what does she want from Clémentine, if not revenge? Set in Paris and Provence, this is a captivating and intimate portrait of a woman navigating conflicting desires and a troubled past whilst dreaming of a fulfilling future.

 

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing