Case studies : Writer: Karen Campbell

Karen is a writer of contemporary fiction. She holds an MA in English, Drama and French, as well as a MLitt in Creative Writing, both from the University of Glasgow.

I initially did an MA at the University of Glasgow, then returned to Glasgow to do a part-time postgraduate Masters (MLitt) in Creative Writing. This was a two-year degree, and I graduated in 2003.

Having an encouraging tutor patiently await my latest chapters was a great way to get over any writer’s block, and by the end of the two year course, I pretty much had the bones of my first novel ‘The Twilight Time’ laid down. Coming to the end of my second year, I began combing through the Writers and Artists’ Yearbook, sending off a synopsis and three chapters of the book to various literary agents, before I struck lucky and secured my agent.

We then began the next stage in the journey: taking the novel to publishers. It’s important to remember that publishing is a very competitive - and subjective - trade, and we had to be patient, until after several publishers and several rejections(!), Hodder & Stoughton signed me up for an initial two-book deal, thanks to my current editor, Suzie Doore.

In terms of getting my writing out there, I’ve had some excellent reviews for all three books published so far, and I’ve been at various festivals like Edinburgh International Book Festival, which all raises your profile with a wider audience. I was also lucky enough to win the Best New Scottish Writer Award in 2009, which also helps.

I love the creativity of my job, and the freedom. Of course, with writing you still have publishers’ deadlines, but you feel much more in charge of the process - it’s you that’s making the words turn into sentences, and paragraphs, and chapters, and a narrative, nobody else.

I also love getting feedback from readers, people who’ve read and enjoyed your work. I absolutely think that creative writing is a three way process - there’s the writer; the book that they’ve made, and the person who is reading it, who joins the triangle together and makes the book come alive, rather than have it remain as just inert print on paper.

The best things about working in this sector are that you get paid (usually not hugely well, considering how much time and effort it takes to research and write a book) for doing the thing you love most; you get to meet some great, enthusiastic readers, librarians, booksellers, festival organisers and folk in the publishing trade; you get to create worlds, characters and events that you can control (to some extent, though it’s surprising how often characters and plots go off at tangents you’d never anticipated); and you get to see the fruits of your labour sitting on bookshelves. That slim, bound rectangle which says: I did this. Do you like it? Indeed, if nothing else, your book on that shelf says: I was here.

My advice for graduates who want to go into writing would be keep going! Keep crafting your work and developing your ideas, because there's always room to get better and better.

Look at your market - who's publishing books similar to yours? Get a copy of the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook , which lists every UK agent and publisher, write a synopsis of your book and send that, the first three chapters and a covering letter out to agents you think may be interested.

And finally - although I said look at the market - don't write for the market.  Your voice should be unique if you want your story to stand out. Ultimately, your voice has to be truthfully yours, not a pastiche of what you think an agent or a publisher might like, if you want to gain true satisfaction and pride in your craft.