Margaret Hollingsworth - Toronto, Canada

Margaret Hollingsworth is an award winning writer of short stories, plays and fiction. Originally from the UK, Margaret emigrated to Canada in 1968 where she has lived and written since. For a full biography and profile go to her website.

FE: How did you get your first novel published?
MH: It's all who you know! Without an in, even a small one, it's a real uphill slog to get anything published or produced. I'd advise people to socialize at literary or writer's gatherings, go to readings and talk to whoever is there, take writing courses, one of your fellow students will probably get into some sort of position of power - or maybe it will be you - read the journals, contribute stories to literary mags. subscribe to Quill and Quire so you have an understanding of the Canadian scene. (Libraries usually have it behind the counter and are loathe to part with it).

1st book of fiction was a collection of stories 'Smiling Under Water' and thereby hangs a tail and a tale. The editors at Collins read it, courtesy of a friend who was 'well in', and decided it would be the lead volume in their new line of fiction. Just before it was due to be published they were bought up by a consortium led by my agent. I thought I was made for life until he decided not to publish my book! I was too upset to send it to other large publishers (this always takes months or years and I'd already waited two years), so, when an acquaintance who has a small publishing firm offered to publish it I said yes please. It's out of print now of course, but still available on sites like Amazon.

FE: Why do you write?
MH: I think I write to punish myself. Sadly it's the only thing I feel I do well, the thing that gives me most pleasure (and pain) i.e. makes me feel alive, connects me to the world of words which has always been my structural underpinning, and theatre which I fell in love with when I saw my first amateur production of an Agatha Christie play when I was six.

FE: What’s your greatest challenge with writing?
MH: The greatest challenge right now is motivating myself - I've had a career and I'd like to rest on my laurels. I don't feel like having to make the effort to keep reinventing myself as is the case for all but the lucky few of 'senior' writers - if I don't make the effort I'll be starting from ground zero which is pretty much where I am now.

FE: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
MH: Keep writing, keep schmoozing, don't be discouraged - it's a very competitive world out there and opportunities seem to be diminishing. It goes without saying that you should look to the electronic media as a means of broadcasting your skills and maybe inventing new forms. Don't let rejection discourage you - be playful.

FE: What are you currently working on?
MH: I'm working on a play and I have ideas for a novel - I swore I'd never write another - and a memoir revolving round my father and his connections with the British communist party in the North of England.

FE: What's the worst 'day job' you've had to hold to support your writing habit?
MH: Day jobs? So many - I think the most boring was being a facer at the Post Office - i.e. I had to spend days and weeks making sure the stamps were in the top right hand corners and the mail was the right way up. I was also a filing clerk in the United Africa Department of Unilever, filing cables about Ground Nuts waiting to be promoted to the heady heights of the typing pool - it never happened.

FE: Who are your inspirations?
MH: Inspiration? I don't think I have any - certain authors give me a real lift and urge me to try harder - I've always had an affinity with Japanese writers - my current favourite is Haruki Murakami. I like the seemingly careless mixture of surreal and earthbound.I'm not a great fan of conventional narrative.

FE: Are there any writing programs, workshops or courses that you're a big fan of?
MH: I don't think it matters which workshop or writing programme you attend. If you find a teacher who inspires you, or who is willing to spend time over your work, stay - if not think about leaving. Beware of creative writing teachers who teach their own style and preferences as an example. Look for a teacher who is well-read, eclectic, flexible and intent on drawing out the best in their students rather than imposing 'rules' and 'should-be's'.

Institute for the Future of the Book

I found this site recently when I was looking for something else. Affiliated with the University of Southern California, the Institute for the Future of the Book describes itself as 'a small think-and-do tank investigating the evolution of intellectual discourse as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens. There is a ton of information on their pages, a blog and links to a ton more information.

It's an interesting notion to ponder. Anyone taking the time to read this blog must be interested in the written word and also in technology. I love exploring new ideas in the arts- writing, music and visual art- and we now have the capibility to express ourselves in ever-changing multi-media. Blogs, ebooks, cellphone novels are just a few places that the written word has become a norm. As much as I like experimenting with the new, the thought of a world without books, newspapers or magazines is an alarming one.

If you are interested in this subject you should definitely take time to browse through the work of this think-tank. I will be doing just that myself.

Musings from the Fiction Exchange

This is me, in case you want a face to the name. I've been slow to post recently and I have been thinking a lot about what I am trying to do here. I was trying to hard to be a neutral 'resource' that I don't think I added any personality and so I am going to be a bit more me and a bit less neutral.

I have been working on a new novel and am happy with the progress so far. The process of writing raises a lot of questions for me and I would love it if this site gained followers who contributed their views, thoughts and ideas. The question that I have been pondering today is, whatever it is that you write- whether short stories, poetry, screenplays, novels or whatever, do you plan it all out before you start and if so, in how much detail? If not, how do you manage to control where it goes or how it ends up?

I read a book on writing screenplays some years ago and it changed the way that I planned my stories. Before I read that I planned very little and could easily get stuck or lost. Fast forward to five years later and I am 10,000 words into my latest piece of writing and I know exactly where I am, where I am going and it is so so much easier. The only thing I don't have enough of is time.......

Any thoughts are welcome.....

What do I know anyway?

The 'What do I know Anyway?' section (located towards the bottom of the write hand column) is here for the purpose of sharing the ups and downs of a new writer.

I started writing casually around 1999 as a creative outlet. I'd always painted until then but found words easier and more rewarding to shift around on paper. I abandoned my first attempt at a book in 2002 after writing about 200 pages which I thought were pretty good. I sent it out to about 20 publishers and received 3 rejections and a lot of silence.

Over the next years I took some writing courses, joined a writing club, built up a network of readers to give me constructive feedback and learned how to critique others' work. I would also say that I learned how to read properly; to really notice what was being said and how the author constructed characters, events and drama. During that time I became enamoured with the short story, reading as many as I could and writing about 5 myself. I also wrote a screenplay and another novel- which for the sake of argument we will call my first novel. The only thing I ever tried to get published during that time was non-fiction pieces in local publications- articles, interviews and reviews.

By the time I started on my second novel in 2005 I was starting to feel like I might possibly-one day be...gulp... a writer. I couldn't not write.

I approached my second book in a totally different fashion- I felt equipped, like I knew what I needed to do to make this work. Starting it's life as two different short stories, the characters grew and started to feel like friends- the events and people were with me for the entire 3 years that it took me to write it. During this time I also worked a full time professional job, renovated an apartment and had a couple of children. I'm not trying to show-off or anything, just point out that real people with real lives can still write- it just takes time.

In January 2009 I decided that I would start trying to find an agent. That brings us up to date with the launch of the Fiction Exchange and if you're interested, you can find other random incidents from my writing career in this section- posted as they occur.

Catherine O'Flynn in the Hot Seat

Catherine O’Flynn is based in Birmingham, England. Her first novel, ‘What was Lost’ was published in 2007 and her second novel is due out in 2010.

FE: How did you get your first novel published?
CO: I sent it out to about fifteen agents in a fairly clueless way. I just went for ones that accepted unsolicited manuscripts (it never occurred to me that I should approach others and try and get my manuscript solicited) and got back either no response at all or a generic rejection letter that gave no indication the ms had been read. I suppose I wasn't that surprised really - I knew the odds against me were enormous and I've never been much of an optimist so I kind of assumed rejection would be the inevitable outcome. Eventually though a friend recommended an agency to me and I sent it to them and they liked it - something which still to this day is probably the single most miraculous piece of news I received. My agent worked with me on the book - suggesting some work that needed doing on the ms. When it was ready she sent it out to four major publishers all of whom rejected it. The main problem seemed to be that it didn't fit in with any clear genre and wouldn't be easy to 'place' in the market. We opted then to go for a small independent publisher (Tindal Street Press), as we thought they might be more risk taking and see beyond genre. This turned out to be true and they put everything they had behind the book.

FE: Why do you write?
CO: I think it's usually just to get to the bottom of something that's niggling at me. With What Was Lost I wanted to answer the basic question 'What was it about the shopping centre where I worked that so got under my skin?' Writing is a way of exploring my thoughts and understanding how I feel about things.

FE: What’s your greatest challenge with writing?
CO: I suppose the challenge is coming up with a story that allows me to do the exploring mentioned above. I think coming up with a story that isn't too big and isn't too little is something that takes up a lot of my time.

FE: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
CO: Oh God - probably that they should disregard advice from novelists keen to dispense it. The only thing I can think of is to write because you enjoy it or find it helpful in some way. You have no control over publication, but if you get something out of it for yourself then whether you are published or not is not the most important thing.

FE: What are you currently working on?
CO: I'm working on what I hope is the final draft of my second novel. I haven't developed a snappy description of it yet. Its theme I suppose is ageing - both of people and of cities. The main character is a superficially corny local tv news presenter who is haunted by disappearances and the stories that never make the news. It's about town planning and brutalist architecture as well. It sounds terrible doesn't it? I will never make a blurb writer.

More about Catherine

More about What was Lost