Bloomsbury asked me to blog about the journey from writing my manuscript to winning the inaugural Bath Children's Novel Award, with my YA novel, Hurts So Good. What’s it like to win? Thrilling. And terrifying. Now, more than ever, I need to be clear in my head, about what I want to write. And why.
My manuscript evolved from an exercise on the Bath Spa MA Writing For Young People. We had to show character through action and dialogue, I thought about the worse thing my protagonist could do, and for me, that was abducting a baby.
The story of teenagers, stealing a baby caused controversy, from the get go. Violence is not my bag, so Hurts So Good is a psychological thriller, with the Nordic Noir emphasis on family and setting. I wanted readers to empathise with 16-year-old Ellie, not judge her actions, but to feel compassion and dread for her. The Norwegian Fjords and ancient forests, with wolves, gives my YA story its vibe of jeopardy and beauty.
Wolves get a bad wrap in Norway, the farmers hate them, and it’s illegal to shoot them anymore, at one point there were only 14 left in the whole country. Wolves are all about family, if you isolate an alpha wolf from its pack, it becomes aggressive, cunning, and unpredictable, and that’s the metaphor for 17-year-old Lukas.
Ellie wanted to be an edgy songwriter, who laughs at Insta-love, but she falls for a damaged boy, who taps into all her insecurities, and manipulates her. We’ve all been in love and done stupid things, but what if the great love of your life was dangerous? And you couldn’t see it?
Writing competitions
In any story, your main character needs to make an entrance on the page, to hook the reader. And ideally a book needs to make an entrance in the marketplace. I never expected to win The Bath Children's Novel, or get shortlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award, and I certainly never, ever, expected Sallyanne Sweeney to ring up and offer to represent me. Still pinching myself about that. One great advantage of being on a shortlist is you get feedback on your manuscript. My favourite comment was ‘Ellie reminds me of myself as a teenager, my 15-year-old daughter will love this story.’ It’s one of the best experiences of winning. Readers. Chatting to me about my characters, telling me they loved it, what worked, and what didn’t.
Most advice on writing is to read loads, and to write loads. All true. On the MA, we also wrote reflective commentaries about our work. It’s helped me enormously. I had more focus, a clearer through line, and more ideas. I find I am still the twelve-year-old tomboy, who flew over night gardens as a child, who loved Paradise Lost, and competing with my dad to solve thrillers.
Interview with Lucy Van Smit, Bath Children's Novel Award 2015 Winner
I have read the snippet of your book - a fascinating and difficult subject I would have thought. I can't wait to see it published so very good luck with it all.
Great advice from a great writer. I can't wait to read Hurts So Good when it's published.
Thanks Ian, best of luck to you, the Bath Children's Novel Award was terrific, well worth entering -