Learning from Lionesses by Rebecca Seaton

 

Learning from Lionesses by Rebecca Seaton

 

 

I’ve been hooked on the Football World Cup this summer and it’s provided lessons that applied equally well to writing.

Resilience

Resilience is key. However, it really is something we only get better at by doing. More than once, England had to come back from a problem to achieve what they wanted. The path to writing success (whatever that is) is also beset by obstacles. We need the ability to bounce back from rejection. One way to do this is by being objective: if we learn something from the knocks, we can take that to the next submission or edit. This means becoming increasingly self-aware, not just being dismayed at others not appreciating our work but trying to see their input objectively.

 

Communication

The people we are pitching our work to may not understand it because it’s not their type of thing. However, more often than not, we haven’t sold the idea well. A publisher once said to me, ‘It’s not usually the premise that’s the problem, it’s the execution.’ This is so often true. If others don’t see a character the way we do, why is that? Have we listed information rather than letting a character do the talking? Perhaps the plotting is rushed and their denouement as the villain/revelation as the answer to the prophecy/ is unconvincing because we didn’t lay enough of a trail earlier on. Just as communication between players is flawed if it only happens as desperate shouting in extra time, so the most important bits of our story need to be communicated clearly throughout rather than thrown at the reader at the end.

 

Team 

England worked as a team. This is about communication but also about roles. Just as Sarina Wiegman had to put players in the right positions, so the author has to decide on character roles – and when to introduce them. Many writers talk about characters making their own choices once on the page and I’m sure Wiegman felt the same watching the pitch at times! But we should really know who main and minor characters are and how this fits with plot. You can have a new love interest or potential suspect come in partway through but it isn’t fair to introduce them on the last page! Some characters will come in and out of the action (like Lauren James) but they shouldn’t do so without reason or be forgotten. It’s no good if the murder’s solved but we have no idea where Aunt Gertie went after chapter three. I generally plot important characters and events in each chapter. I change things as well but it’s really important to ensure any changes are consistent across the whole text. You can send players off but they can’t magically disappear.

 

Like the England team, the writer’s life involves both failures and successes. But ‘Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial...’ (James 1:12) Remember, whatever’s happening in your writing life, it’s only one chapter in your journey. And there’s always the next match!

.

   

 

 

 

 

Rebecca writes fantasy novels, magazine articles and the occasional play. She had her first novel, A Silent Song, published through Pen to Print’s Book Challenge competition and is currently working on the second book of a new trilogy.