Lucy Dillon

Published November 28, 2010 | By Laura

Lucy Dillon is a successful author. Her latest book ‘Walking Back to Happiness’ has just been released. Lucy kindly had a chat with us here at Novel Kicks. We asked her where she finds her inspiration and which character from fiction she’d like to meet.

Where do you find inspiration?

All over the place. I read a lot of newspapers – you find the most fascinating ideas and stories in the corners, and in the announcements sections. Small ads. Births and deaths. Court reports. It’s all a real story that’s happened to someone, and affected their lives in extraordinary ways. I browse the internet constantly (far too much, actually), especially American eBay, and wonder about how things got there and why. I also gossip, and eavesdrop. A LOT.

Briefly describe what your latest novel ‘Walking back to Happiness’ is about.

When Ben Falconer dies unexpectedly at the age of 32, Juliet loses her childhood sweetheart, and their terrier Minton loses the master he worships. Juliet’s mother Diane feels terrible about interfering with Juliet’s self-imposed isolation in her unfinished ‘forever house’, but she needs someone to petsit the family Labrador while she, in turn, babysits her other daughter, Louise’s, toddler during the week. Since dogs are the only company Juliet can face, she agrees, and soon she’s walking all over Longhampton with her growing team of silent but friendly companions. But the dogs are easier to manage than their owners, and when Juliet starts to petsit a beautiful spaniel, all sorts of secrets are unleashed…

(I’m not very good at synopses – they tend to go on for pages, which is why I hand all cover copy duties to my excellent editor, Isobel!)

What’s your typical writing day like?

I start every morning with two cups of coffee, a bowl of porridge and a browse through the papers online; it gets my brain ticking over. Then I review what I wrote the previous day, edit a bit, and write until about noon, when I take my dogs out for their walk. It’s good to get an hour or so of fresh air, and I find walking seems to untangle sticky ideas. Then I make myself more coffee and carry on until about six. If I’ve got a big deadline, I work in the evenings too. That sounds like a lot of very dedicated slaving away, but it doesn’t really take into account by appalling on-line browsing habits…

How much do you ‘plan’ a book before you start writing?

I have to have some kind of plan to get started: a beginning and a rough end, at the very least. I usually have a couple of themes I want to work around, and a couple of big set piece scenes that I can already see in my mind’s eye. I need to know where my characters are going – I don’t have to know how they’re going to get there (that’s something that evolves as I’m writing), but it’s important to have some definite forward motion early on. Quite often I’ll go back and change things to reflect the discoveries I made about the characters later.

How do you approach the editing process?

Oh dear. Ask my editor! It depends how much time’s elapsed between delivering the ms and going back to edit it. If I’ve had time to step away from what I’ve written and detach myself a bit, editing is a really positive experience. I used to be an editor myself, so I know that edit notes are never ‘criticism’; it’s actually a form of compliment, because the editor loves the book as much as you, and wants to polish until it’s perfect. Even mega-selling authors go through one, two, three drafts before everyone’s happy. There are always aspects of a novel that the writer can’t see quite as clearly as a fresh pair of eyes, and I’d rather have the dodgy bits that don’t quite add up pointed out by my publisher than by readers on Amazon.

BUT, having said that, if I’ve only just handed it in, I do sometimes find it hard to see how I could have done it differently, and need to be guided gently by the nose around the problem. I’m very lucky in that my editor Isobel at Hodder has a brilliant understanding of how women’s fiction works, and also knows how to get the best out of her authors – by the time she’s finished, I know it’s going to be as good as it can be, and that makes any rewrite pain worth it.

Best/Worst thing about being a writer.

The best thing is undoubtedly getting paid to do something I love. I’ve always loved stories, and writing, and language, and books. The proudest moment of my life was winning the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award because it’s awarded by a group of people who are truly passionate about reading. It was an enormous honour, especially considering the other wonderful novels on the shortlist.

The worst thing is probably the panic I sometimes get when I look at the screen, and I just don’t know what happens next, and the clock is ticking. My imagination, annoyingly, won’t do a 9-5.30 day.

Which writers/books do you admire?

Like everyone else on the planet, I adore Sophie Kinsella and Marian Keyes, for their warmth and wit, and for the sheer pleasure they give me every single time I open one of those novels. It takes a phenomenal amount of skill to make writing look that easy, and to mix proper emotional weight into what seems so light and airy.

Do you feel that reading books by other authors is an important thing for a writer?

Absolutely. It’s the only way to learn how to be a writer, I think – by reading as much as you can, and working out why something moves you, or horrifies you, or bores you. You absorb the rhythms of good plotting, and the subtleties of characterisation without having to read a single ‘how to’ book. The only time I’m not reading is when I’m right in the middle of a deadline, and that’s only because my brain’s on autopilot and whatever goes across it gets typed; the line between ‘what I’ve made up’ and ‘what I’ve just read’ and ‘what my best friend just confided in me’ gets dangerously blurred…

Is there a character from fiction that you’d like to meet?

Rupert Campbell-Black. I mean, who wouldn’t? And Jackson Brodie, from Kate Atkinson’s recent crime novels.

Who are your ideal dinner guests?

I’d rather be taken out to dinner in Manhattan by the entire board of Sterling Cooper Draper Price.

Top five tips for writers.

* Don’t feel you have to have the whole novel plotted before you start. Often the best ideas will come to you as you’re writing, so get on with it. You can always edit later.

* If in doubt, read it out. Not sure if the dialogue is going anywhere? Read it aloud. Would someone say that in real life?

* A good way of kickstarting your plot is to consider the Worst Case Scenario. What’s the worst thing that could happen to your main character? What are they secretly afraid of? Why? What would they do if it actually happened?

* Everyone has autotype words, that you slather into your writing without thinking about it. Mine are ‘a little’ and ‘very’. Also, ‘slightly’, ‘rather’ and constant references to people’s eyes. Be aware of them, and remove 90% when editing; you mightn’t notice them, but an agent/editor will.

* Be careful of your neck and back if you’re using your laptop a lot. My osteopath says he’s raking it in from Laptop Injuries. It’s better to get a separate screen and keyboard, so you’re looking ahead while you’re typing; make sure you’re sitting properly, and break off every now and again to stretch. Yoga is your friend.