From pitiful draft to a publishing contract: meet my mentor in shining armour
I’m not reviewing a book today. I’m reviewing a writer and a mentor whose support was paramount in my manuscript, The Last Bookstore, being one of three shortlisted for Australia’s newest and richest literary prize – and now, being offered a publishing contract with Fremantle Press!
I have just heard that Laurie Steed has added one-on-one formal mentorship to his existing suite of literary teaching services.
My proud mum and me after hearing about the contract.
It’s the perfect opportunity to say out loud: the quality of The Last Bookstore and my ability to steer it this far through the industry has been thanks in large part to his guidance.
The Last Bookstore has been (so far) three years in the making. A full one year on the merry-go-round of taking it to agents and implementing their feedback.
One asked for new beginnings which I tried to provide but missed the mark. Another told me not all the characters were working. One said the writing didn’t work but the story was good. Another said the story worked but the writing didn’t. One said it lacked “sparkle”; another said it was too “quiet”. Suffice to say my manuscript wasn’t wowing anyone.
I had been smashing out work on my own for years. I’d gained foggy hard-won insights from being alone with my own work. Gleaned tips from books on writing. Agents who took time to provide feedback gave me valuable course corrections.
But it was all so difficult, so demoralising. And something still wasn't working.
Like a couple whose relationship was on the rocks, The Last Bookstore and I were “on a break” when I drafted my second manuscript.
An excerpt from that won me a place in the 1st Edition Retreat at Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre – three days of intensive mentoring workshops with Laurie Steed.
Laurie assessed countless manuscripts as a former editor at Margaret River Press, and I had read and loved his own first novel, You Belong Here.
In his workshops, lightbulbs began flashing.
Laurie taught me about beginnings and endings. Why they matter. What they do. How to analyse them in other texts and see what mine were missing.
About scenes and chapters, what the hell they are for and how to look at my own manuscript and identify the narrative arc and what was lacking.
About including sensory detail, how to truly “show” not “tell” and how to interrograte a paragraph.
Crucially, he also reassured me that I could, in fact, write.
And suddenly things began to happen.
First, they became fun. The second draft of my second manuscript was so much better, easier and more enjoyable to write (stay tuned for some good news on that book, hopefully soon!)
And I picked up The Last Bookstore again with a vow to do another structural edit, feeling the bravery and commitment necessary to tackle it, to a depth both totally agonizing and absolutely necessary.
Another new first chapter. Every scene analysed for its function, then rewritten. Bits chopped off. New bits written and sewn in. Characters cut. Others given room to breathe and open their mouths. And a new ending. Finally coming to grips with my story. And then, an oral edit, reading 84,000 words aloud and stopping to rewrite every paragraph.
Yes, I put in the hours, but without Laurie I would not have known what to do in them, these past six months. I had been at the end of my tether. It was those final two rewrites using what he taught me that got it over the line.
He also dusted me off after rejections and gave advice on handling agents, building a coherent career, using social media without selling out. Even his emails are so beautifully written, so uplifting, I sometimes can’t quite believe he’s real.
Laurie with me and my fellow 1st Edition-ers Mel Hall (recently longlisted for the Fogarty Award) and Emily Sun (recently shortlisted for the Deborah Cass Prize).
I’ve never bit the bullet on a professional manuscript assessment. I looked at the price tags and went, “nah,”; struggled on. Imagine if I actually hired Laurie to go through this manuscript, two years ago. I might have got this contract sooner, and had more joy along the way.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you are working, you must exit your hobbit hole and get professional advice.
If you have a manuscript in the bottom drawer that needs something – but you’re not sure what – I urge you to get in touch with him here.
To Laurie and KSP – thank you, from the bottom of my heart.