Six Universal Truths About Writing Novels

The Girl in the Maze. I was on a creative writing course and was drafting short exercises for different assignments. But some time in the second year of the course, in spring 2017, I realised that what I was creating were not separate pieces but part of a longer story which by late 2021 would have a name, a cover and be sitting on a bookshelf.  Since then, I’ve written a first draft of my second novel and am working on a third. Over the course of those four years I realised that there are six universal truths about writing novels. 

Write what you know.

My father died in 2015, followed six months later by my mother, with whom I’d had a very difficult relationship. In late 2016 I found myself writing about a woman dealing with her estranged mother’s death. It was only several thousand words in that I realised I was writing about me. My protagonist in The Girl in the Maze finds something while clearing out her late mother’s flat which sets her on a trail of discovery helping her to better understand her mother.

Sadly I didn’t discover anything in my mother’s flat which helped to explain our difficult relationship but writing the story was a form of therapy in itself and I now feel at peace with our relationship which is why the book is dedicated to her. Although the facts are different, the emotions I write about in The Girl in the Maze are ones that I experienced. If you write what you know, it will be true, even when it’s fiction. 

Finding a writing routine is the best way to get words down on a page.

Find a time where you feel at your most creative and are least likely to be disturbed. For me, it’s early morning. Before the first Covid lockdown, I read The 5am Club by Robin Sharma. I’ve always been an early riser but I’d never had much routine about what I did when I got up early. Over the past couple of years, I’ve written from 5am-7.15am and then get the kids up for school and get ready for my day job. I always write in the same place – on the sofa in my sitting room overlooking the street watching it slowly come to life. Finding a writing place can be helpful in getting those creative juices to flow – it’s as if the writing gods know that when I sit down at this time in this place, I’m there to write.

You’ll need to find what works for you.

Just as some  people work best in the morning and some are night owls, you’ll need to find how you write best. Some writers plot out their entire book and research for months before ever putting pen to paper. Others start with a character and see what happens. Some authors write by hand and have plot ideas on post-it notes around their room. 

Others (like me) use software such Scrivener to arrange our plot, characters and locations. Some people (again like me) write rough. When I’m creating a first draft, I try not to think too hard when I write, I just get the words down on the page. My feeling is that you can’t edit a blank page. Once I’ve got a rough first draft, I go back and hone it. But other writers swear by writing more slowly and editing as they go. There are so many ways to write a novel that you’ll need to experiment to work out what’s best for you. And that may change throughout your writing career. I’ve certainly taken a different approach to writing each of my first three books. 

You’ll learn to juggle.

Only a select few make a living from writing novels so you’ll need to learn to combine your writing with a day job and certainly with caring responsibilities, family, friends and mundane stuff like housework. But that’s not all bad. If you find the right routine and ringfence your writing time, then having a day job can actually be beneficial to your writing. Because I of my day job I have a limited time to write and while this can sometimes be frustrating, it really focuses my mind. I know I can’t procrastinate as I only have two hours a day. Writing is a solitary existence and I love it all the more for that. But while I’m quite an introverted person, I do need company and my day job gives me colleagues and clients to chat to. It also gets me out of the house or I would literally sit on the sofa all day! 

Everyone thinks they can write a novel – and they’ll tell you so.

If you ever tell anyone that you’re writing a novel – even when you’re a published author with many novels to your name – they’ll either say that they think they have a book in them or that their auntie Jean/sister/ mate down the pub is writing a book too. And maybe they are. The thing about writing a book – and I started writing books in my late 20s but took until I was 45 to actually finish one and get a publishing deal – are that they’re relatively easy to start but fiendishly difficult to finish. 

Write every day, even if it’s only a sentence.

The writing muscle is like any other muscle. It gets stronger the more it’s exercised.

—

Cathy Hayward’s debut novel The Girl in the Maze was published in e-book on 28th October and in paperback on 25th November. You can find out more about her writing journey at www.cathyhayward.co.uk or on Twitter @cathyhayward7 or on Instagram @cathy_hayward_writer 

THE GIRL IN THE MAZE

Traversing three generations of women torn apart by family trauma, The Girl in the Maze explores the complex relationship and challenges involved in both mothering and being mothered.

‘I would caution you against delving into the past. The past is often best left exactly where it is.’
Emma Bowen has never had a close relationship with her mother, barely speaking with her in the last years of her life. But after her mother’s death, Emma finds something that might just explain the distance between them.

Discovering letters between her mother and grandmother, it seems to Emma that her mother has always been difficult.
As she searches for answers about her own childhood, Emma is drawn into the mystery of her mother’s enigmatic life. The more she finds, the more lost she feels, but Emma is determined to uncover her mother’s past, and the secrets held within it, whatever the cost.
An enthralling story of three women, generations apart, linked by one terrible tragedy.

PRAISE FOR THE GIRL IN THE MAZE

‘an evocative narrative of suppressed emotions, missed chances and shifting loyalties. [Hayward’s] rich and moving prose both haunts and intrigues’ – Rosie Chard, author of The Insistent Garden

‘a multi-layered haunting history, powerful because it’s just so close to all of our lives.’ – Fiona Perrin, author of How to Not Get Divorced
‘raw and compelling’ – Rebecca Netley, author of The Whistling

‘an elegantly written, totally gripping story . . . I was swept away by it.’ – Katy Regan, author of The Story of You
‘packed with mystery and intrigue and peopled with such real, flawed characters I felt like they might walk off the page.’ – Laura Pearson, author of I Wanted You to Know

‘a well-researched and emotional book that will take you on a journey filled with family drama, deceit and deep-buried family secrets.’ – Jessica Jarlvi, author of When I Wake Up

‘Moving, sometimes shocking, and always compelling’ – Justine Bothwick, author of In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips