My Journey To Publication: Charlotte Duckworth

I was 6 or 7 when I wrote my first ‘book’. In hindsight it was a shameless Spot the Dog rip-off, created especially for my baby sister. I don’t have any conscious idea of when I knew I wanted to be a writer. I just always loved books, reading and making up stories.

Throughout my childhood I wrote, and even finished my first ‘novel’ when I was 12, typing the whole thing up painstakingly on my electric typewriter (which still goes down as my best present ever). My god I loved that typewriter. Writing was the only thing that came naturally to me. Compared to everything else, I found it easy, but better than that, I found it fun.

I studied Classics at university, and in my final term went to see the careers advisor and told him that I wanted to be a novelist. He told me not to be so ridiculous, and suggested journalism instead. So I applied to do a post-grad qualification in magazine journalism, and spent the next ten years having the time of my life working for interior design magazines. As Plan B jobs go, it was certainly not to be sniffed at. I loved it. But I always knew that creative writing was what I was best at.

When I was 24, I finally finished my first ‘proper’ novel, written in the evenings and at weekends and (sorry to my former employers) sometimes when things were quiet at work. I joined an online writing forum around this time and it was a revelation to meet lots of other people who were trying to do this crazy thing too. The forum became such an important part of my writing life. It was where I made some of my closest friends, and it was also where I finally shared my writing with other people. You could upload extracts of your work to be critiqued by others, and the feedback I had was really encouraging.

I think it took me about 18 months to write my first book. I edited it using advice picked up online but also from creative writing manuals. Then when I thought I could do no more with it, I decided to send it to agents. I bought the Writers and Artists Yearbook, and picked a handful of agents to submit to. I printed off my first 3 chapters, polished my covering letter to within an inch of its life and spent a fortune on postage. It’s mad now to think that I had to submit through the post rather than via email and shows how long ago it was!

As expected, the rejections rolled in. But a friend from the forum had just signed with an agent who was setting up on his own and looking for new writers, and she suggested I submit to him. So I did, and he asked to read the whole manuscript. I sent it off and nervously waited.

I had a blog at the time, and one day I noticed someone called Caroline had left me a comment, claiming to be a literary agent who’d heard about my book and wanted to read it. I was so surprised I assumed it was spam, but I googled her and she was indeed a bonafide agent, just starting out. Later that day I had an email from the other agent who had requested my entire MS saying although he liked my book, he didn’t think it was one for him, but that he’d shared it with his friend who was interested. And that was how I found my agent, Caroline Hardman.

We worked together on that first book, and submitted it about six months later. I am pleased that I was quite prepared for it to fail, because it did. No one wanted to buy it, but a few of the publishers were positive about my writing and wanted to see my next book. So I went away, licked my wounds for a bit and wrote another one. It was much more commercial than the first, both Caroline and I agreed. We were cautiously optimistic about it selling, and within a week of it being submitted to agents, we had some positive noises.

But then the rejections came in. And the editor who expressed the most interest didn’t manage to get it past the rest of her team, as it was too similar to a book she had bought just a week before. When her rejection came through I remember Caroline saying ‘I think I might cry’ and feeling a strange kind of shock myself. I knew it would be hard, but I didn’t know it would be this hard. To spend the best part of four years working on two novels only to have both of them come to nothing is very difficult.

I wrote another book, but by then my heart wasn’t in it, and both Caroline and I agreed it wasn’t up to scratch. Disheartened, I hung up my writing boots for a while, and instead focused on my day job. I started my own content marketing agency, which turned out to be surprisingly successful. It was a relief to feel I had some control over the success of my efforts for once, and for the next few years I didn’t write a word of fiction.

I sold my business when I became pregnant. Maternity leave was a strange and bewildering time, and suddenly I realised I had lots to write about. And so I sat down and poured out all my feelings. I wrote the first draft of The Rival in just ten weeks. I sent it to my agent, and she loved it. After a few minor revisions, she sent it out, and we had a pre-empt from a major publisher within a week, followed by an offer from another publisher later that day. It was crazy.

I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason. I don’t regret all the years I spent writing books that didn’t see the light of day. They’re part of a very necessary apprenticeship that I’m happy to have undertaken. And they’ve made me feel truly grateful for the position I’m in now. It’s been a long road – nearly ten years, four completed manuscripts, god knows how many rejections – but the feeling of finally holding my own hardback was all the more sweeter for it.

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Charlotte Duckworth has spent the past fifteen years working as an interiors and lifestyle journalist, writing for a wide range of consumer magazines and websites. She lives in Surrey with her partner and their young daughter. You can find out more on her website: charlotteduckworth.com.

Twitter: @charduck 

Facebook: @charlotteduckworthauthor

Charlotteduckworth.com

About THE RIVAL

An addictive psychological suspense about ambition, female rivalry, and how far you’d go to get what you want.

‘A Chilling read with a killer twist’
The Sun

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NOW
Helena is a career woman with no job and a mother without a baby. She blames Ashley for destroying her life. But is what happened really Ashley’s fault?

THEN
When Helena hires Ashley to work for her, she’s startled but impressed by her fierce ambition. They form a dream team and Helena is proud – maybe this is the protégée she’s always wanted to have. But soon Helena realizes that nothing will stand in the way of Ashley’s drive to get to the top. And when Helena becomes pregnant, everything she has worked so hard for is suddenly threatened, with devastating consequences…

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‘Brilliant and insidious’
Lucy Clarke, author of You Let Me In

‘Absolutely terrific, a beautifully written debut from an exciting new voice in psychological fiction’ Cass Green, author of The Woman Next Door and Don’t You Cry

‘A compelling addictive read… I absolutely loved it’
Karen Hamilton, author of The Perfect Girlfriend

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips