Anna Freeman: 'We all attach a massive amount of weight to our writing, but if you can keep it light, you’ll find it so much easier to experiment'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
18th Apr 2023
Anna Freeman is a novelist, radio presenter and creative writing tutor. Her two historical novels, The Fair Fight and Five Days of Fog, are both published by W&N. The Fair Fight has been optioned for TV by Scarlett Johannsen's development company, These Pictures. Anna is also the host of Radio 4's human interest arts programme, Sketches: Stories of Art and People.
We're thrilled that Anna is the tutor of our upcoming Writing Your Novel – Six Months course, our flagship online course with feedback from expert tutors and industry advice from literary agents. Apply by 28 Apr.
We spoke to Anna about her advice for aspiring authors, fictional dinner guests and Peaky Blinders…
What's the most rewarding part of teaching creative writing on our six-month Writing Your Novel course?
It has to be watching the novels develop! My very favourites are those writers who come in feeling totally stuck, people who’ve been working on an idea for a long time and never managed to bring it fully to life. Finding a way to help those writers meet their own intention is so rewarding. Almost as fun is watching the writers who begin the course with only the seed of an idea and watching that idea blossom.
Both your award-winning debut, The Fair Fight, and your second book, Five Days of Fog, are historical fiction novels with strong female characters at their core. What inspires you to tell the stories of these women and how do you create such memorable characters?
Both stories came about when I found out about real women in history doing things I’d never heard much about, and became wild to know more. The Fair Fight is centred around female boxers, and Five Days of Fog around a female gang. I think I’ve always been drawn to physical power in women, even though my own arms are like noodles. Or maybe because they’re like noodles. In both books there’s a character who feels more like me, who wants to be close to that kind of power without being sure if she’s capable of it herself. Which sort of answers the second part of the question, in that all the characters in all the books have a tiny piece of me in them, or a piece of someone I’ve known, or both. Drawing from real life is the best way I know – maybe the only way – to make my characters breathe.
Your latest novel, Five Days of Fog, has been described as ‘Peaky Blinders with a feminist twist’. Was the gangster family epic TV series any influence on the book?
No, because I actually didn’t watch it until quite a while after the book was done! I was late to that party. But it’s an amazing show.
When you’re working on a novel do you have a writing routine or any rituals?
I have to drink too much coffee and walk the dog before I start work. Fairly often the third part of the routine is to lie on the floor feeling like I won’t be able to write anything. But that usually passes after a bit. I’ve started to think it might be an integral part of my process.
If you could invite three fictional characters to a dinner party, who would you invite and why?
I’ve tried to play this game before, and it makes me feel strangely anxious. I think it’s because even though there are quite a lot of fictional characters I feel super connected to, like Eleanor from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, or Martha from Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, I don’t actually want to eat dinner with them. I know them inside out, but they’ve never even heard of me. The imbalance would be so uncomfortable. I think it’s best if I just keep my voyeur status and they never know a thing.
Do you have any thoughts on the best way for a writer to get the most out of their six-month Writing Your Novel course?
Firstly, stay playful if you possibly can. We all attach a massive amount of weight to our writing, but if you can keep it light in your own mind you’ll find it so much easier to experiment with the ideas of the course.
And secondly, be brave. Submit your shakiest writing for workshop, not the pieces you feel confident in. Trust that the group and the tutor know what drafts look like, and won’t be judging. Trust that your tutor will be able to spot the gold in the heap of muck, and help you dig it out.
And thirdly, speaking of judgment, never compare your works in progress to published books. Published books are a team effort and have been combed over by agents, editors and copy-editors. Before that happened, they looked much more like the piece you’re sweating over now. In fact, what looks like a mess to you now is almost certainly how it’s supposed to look at this stage. Writing is weird like that.
Do you want to learn more from Anna Freeman? Applications are open for our upcoming six-month Writing Your Novel course (online). Deadline 28 Apr.
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