How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Start Writing

An Interview with Victoria Bromley

By Thomas Hankin

Design Mollie Boardman

Let’s face it, we’ve all dreamed of writing our very own book. We get that irresistible surge that comes with what we think is a best-selling story, sprint to our laptops, excitedly open Word to start writing… and then either realise what we have is actually best-selling horse manure for garden centres, or we get distracted by our favourite series on Netflix. Assuming they haven’t cancelled it, of course. Writing is easy for brief bursts of misguided brilliance, but attempting the marathon that is writing a whole book?

How on earth do they do it?

In this article, we hope to answer that ever-burning question. We talk with aspiring student writer Victoria Bromley. Victoria, a recent creative writing graduate and co-founder of the literary journal, Swim Press, speaks about the challenges of abandoning perfection, advice for similarly ambitious young writers and how she keeps herself committed to such a gargantuan task.

What’s the book about?

I find this question so difficult to answer but it’s always the first question anyone asks me when they know I’m writing a book, understandably. I think asking what a story is “about” is a lot more complex than asking to outline the plot or genre of the book. To briefly summarise, my book is about the meeting of a girl and boy in Edinburgh, but the boy tragically dies that night by drunkenly falling off Arthur’s Seat. She begins to fantasise about the relationship they could have had were he still alive. The story itself is more about falling in love with the idea of someday and exploring mechanisms of grief. My main character, while initially unnamed, takes on the identity Peter, the boy who died, gave her as he compared her to Kate Winslet in Titanic from her ginger curls, and she proceeds to introduce herself as Kate to his friends and family. She tries to gain access to the man Peter was by getting close to his best friend George, feeding off his knowledge to inform her daydreams. Soon she begins to prefer the comfort of her own imaginings than face reality.

What does your writing process look like? Do you have a set number of words you try to write to each day, like Stephen King, or is it more free-flowing?

I like to believe I have a disciplined writing schedule, although that isn’t fully true. Ideally, I want to write a chapter a week, in which I envision my novel spanning 30 chapters in total, give or take. To meet this goal, I often write 500-1,000 words a day, which is manageable as I work part-time and live at home, so I don’t have many responsibilities which demand my time and attention. However, I don’t always write every day. In a long-distance relationship, I don’t often write during the days I spend with my boyfriend as we don’t often see each other, so that time is reserved for making the most of our time together. Other days, when I am at home and can write, time escapes me and I realise I’ve written nothing, or hardly anything, all day. It’s important I find a productive yet healthy balance between pushing on and getting the words on the page while not being too hard on myself on the days I’m devoid of inspiration.

How did you come up with the initial idea?

Originally, the idea began as a short story. I was inspired by Small Leaf Press’ theme ‘Daydreaming’ and wanted to write a story about a girl who witnessed the death of a boy she met one night and daydreamed about the possible life they could have lived together. Then I wrote Evergreen, and it was accepted for publication. Unfortunately, the anthology was never published, yet I was urged to submit the story elsewhere. This was just before I started my third year of university and I needed to come up with an idea for my creative writing portfolio, so I submitted Evergreen for my first workshop. The seminar tutor asked if it was set anywhere specific. When I said that it wasn’t, he suggested I set the story in Edinburgh and have the man fall off Arthur’s Seat. With Edinburgh being one of my favourite cities, I fell in love with the idea. I soon realised I had more ideas which couldn’t be contained within the limitations of a short story, so decided to transfigure the plot into a novel.

How far through the writing process are you?

I have just surpassed 33,000 words so I am one third of the way through my first draft. Ultimately, I am working towards a total of 100,000 words which should equate to a 350-page novel. I had the first two chapters of the novel from my third-year creative writing project, however I spent a while on the preceding two chapters, constantly doubting whether the novel was worth pursuing beyond its initial academic purpose, and I kept experimenting with structure and voice which slowed my progress. It wasn’t until I abandoned my perfectionist mentality that every chapter had to be perfect before I could move on, having spent almost a year constructing and editing only two chapters, that I began to see the story take real shape. I just needed to plough onwards and get the words on the page.

The 90 Day Novel by Alan Whatt has been a saving grace in the writing process. His advice has been a helping hand in reassuring me that the first draft is just to follow the story where it wants to go, that it’s supposed to be messy and chaotic, and that I shouldn’t go back and edit until the full story is on the page. Ideally, I want to have a completed first draft by the end of the year. Then I can start the heavy lifting work of structural edits from the foundation of the first draft.

A lot of potential writers are great at coming up with the initial idea but do not have the discipline to keep on writing, or they get distracted. How do you keep yourself committed to writing it?

It’s been my dream to write a novel for over a decade now. While many writers have the same ambition, I agree that the desire to write a novel isn’t the same as having the drive to write it. While I had the first two chapters of the novel when I graduated university last summer, it wasn’t until October 2022 that I decided to commit to finishing it. I was at a literary event in Knutsford and a children’s author, who pursued her passion for writing a book later in life, urged every young, aspiring writer in the room to put pen to paper and make their dreams happen; I went home and decided to do just that. I planned the next few chapters of the novel, scoped out the entirety of the plot, and dedicated parts of my day to getting more words on the page.

As mentioned, The 90 Day Novel has been paramount in driving my enthusiasm and commitment to this novel. There’s a snippet of advice each day to help guide you in the right direction, to boost your confidence and reassure you that the first draft is hard but rewarding. The three-act structure the book promotes has helped me visualise the overall structure of the book, so I can signpost my progress and get excited for the plot points to come. I also watched a Ted Talk from a Costa award winning novelist and there was one thing he said which struck me the most: as a writer, you’re the first person who gets to enjoy your writing. Now I look forward to what I’m going to create, and open myself up to being surprised by my characters and their story. I don’t fully know where the story is going, it depends where the story wants to take me; I need to finish writing the book, not just because the delayed gratification is killing me, but I need to know how it’s going to end.

Would you have any advice for those wishing to write their own books?

Writing a book is a marathon, and recognising the determination and resilience needed for such a project is the first thing any aspiring writer needs to accept, so they can plan accordingly. For those who love instant validation, me included, we must disregard the idea that only the final product will bring us joy. With this understanding, it sets you up with the mentality needed to sustain a long project. Here I present five pieces of advice for those embarking on such an adventure:

• Don’t be too attached to your original idea. Be open to following the story where it wants to go. The story needs to be malleable so it can evolve naturally into the best story it can be.

• Set manageable goals. These can be yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily targets which will organise and track your progress. If a daily word count is too daunting for you, then setting specific goals each day may be the trick. You may think to yourself: today I’ll finish the scene where the main characters argue so tomorrow, I can finish the chapter on a tense cliff-hanger.

• Don’t be too strict with yourself. My favourite piece of advice from The 90 Day Novel is to give yourself permission to write poorly. It’s important to prioritise getting the first draft on the page than worrying about how polished the prose is.

• Don’t go back and edit. Let the story reveal itself to you in the first draft. You can iron out the irregularities or plot holes at a later stage. Just keep getting those words on the page.

• Don’t talk about your project too much with other people. Everyone will want to know what your novel is about, and I’ve already expressed the difficulty in answering that question, especially when you’re just gathering your thoughts for the story together. Even if you think you know your story, you may begin to question details and motives when you talk about it with others, and their reaction or input may shift the course of your story. Trust that you are the best person to write the story. Only ask for writing assistance in the editing stage where you will be more confident in understanding your story.

As a founding member of your very own journal/magazine, Swim Press, which would you say is more challenging to work on?

My initial reaction to this question is that my novel is definitely more challenging than running Swim Press. There is a lot of variety in what I do for Swim Press, from social media management to general admin tasks, which is different to the monotony which comes with working on a continuous project. With Swim Press I’m a part of a team whereas writing a novel is a very isolated experience. Having a team for support and to delegate tasks is more manageable. While I do write blog posts for Swim Press, I don’t do nearly as much writing for the journal compared to my novel, and being able to post a 2,000-word blog post often feels more rewarding than writing 2,000 words of my novel as that’s only 2% of the overall project that I can’t share with anyone yet. Swim Press is more dynamic and collaborative which I don’t really see as a challenge, per se, but a fun hobby which develops my skills to someday break into the publishing industry. Whereas with my novel, the end result is often out of sight, so I am reliant on my own https://swim-press.co.uk/blog/

Swim Press is an independent literary and photographic journal, centred around giving undiscovered and emerging writers & photographers a platform to showcase their work.

They can be found on Instagram @Swimpress

By Stella Konstantopoulou

There was once this city made of hard-working people, full of riversides, green and canals. It had stadiums and schools, churches and parks and stores. And the story went.

There were birds chirping, laughing kids and the shining rays slowly and steadily kissed that city each morning, and the story went.

There were glasses filled, wines drank, trembling hands held, naked skin kissed and in another complex there were TV sounds from the living room, tired men on the couches and sleeping dogs on the carpets. The moon winked at that city each night before closing its aisle curtains, and the story went.

There were bombs heard, cries screamed, and throbbing boots loud on its stone concrete. What is that? The sound of 1939 has come and oh – the soldiers – oh the sailors – oh the people. The buildings collapsed, taking every ounce of dignity and hope for humanity with them. And the story went.

The stones got picked up again, the tears were wiped away, the blood was cleaned, the fading smiles slowly returning, the fallen buildings were, one by one, piece by piece, rebuilt. And the story went.

And trust was bred again, and laughter was soon heard, and jobs opened up, and restaurants thrived, and schools got built and churches were filled. What is that? The sound of hope’s return, the laugh of the wicked silenced. And the story went.

The teacher’s rewarding letter was brought home by the smiling four-year old, the final exam was passed by the teenage girl, the acceptance letter was slowly opened in the trembling hand of the nervous half-man, and the football offer found its way in the inbox of the 23-year-old passioned ginger-head whose fingers were anxiously pulling at its roots. And the story went.

And the city thrived, and the people no more wept, and the flowers bloomed again. And the stories got told, the once collapsed buildings became skyscrapers, and the shattered glass of the past is long forgotten now when the new one decorates the 25-story buildings. And what is that sound? Whose are those hesitant, yet steady as hell footsteps? Christ, is it my turn? And the story went. . .

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