Anna Davis: 'I don’t mind what genre the work is in as long as it feels like the writer has something interesting to say'
BY Discoveries
26th Oct 2022
CBC and Curtis Brown are proud to be partnering with the Women’s Prize Trust and Audible to run Discoveries, a unique writing development prize and programme, which offers practical support and encouragement to aspiring female novelists of all ages and backgrounds, from across the UK and Ireland.
This week the Discoveries team talk books and writing advice with Anna Davis. Anna is the founder and Director of Curtis Brown Creative and the author of five acclaimed novels which have been published in twenty languages. She has been a journalist and Guardian columnist, as well as a Curtis Brown literary agent. Anna is on the Discoveries 2023 judging panel – she will be joined by chair of judges and founder of the Women's Prize Kate Mosse, acclaimed authors Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Chibundu Onuzo, and Curtis Brown literary agent Lucy Morris.
You previously worked as a literary agent, and you are also the author of five novels. What inspired your move from agenting to establishing Curtis Brown Creative?
Some years ago (a number of years so large that I will avoid being specific) I was a lecturer in creative writing at Manchester University, where I loved helping students to shape up their novels. I preferred teaching to agenting, partly because it enabled me to work with writers from a much earlier stage of the process than an agent does – and I was more interested in this than in making book deals. It occurred to me even then that this kind of teaching was something I could do more nimbly and effectively from Curtis Brown (where I was already working). We could run courses that would be more focused and practical than a university MA, and could also demystify the publishing industry and introduce our students to the Curtis Brown agents. It took a few years before I really moved on this idea – but in 2011 we opened the doors of Curtis Brown Creative, and there has been no looking back.
Curtis Brown Creative run a variety of courses for authors at different stage of the writing journey. What courses would you recommend to complete novices?
We have lots of courses that would suit people just starting out. If you’re wanting to try something new, play with ideas and find your voice, I’d suggest our four-week online Creative Writing for Beginners course. Or if you’re already clear that you want to write a novel, I’d recommend the six-week online Starting to Write Your Novel course. Both of those courses are centred around teaching videos written and presented by me, and you get to join fellow writers in a secure forum space to share writing and discussion, and to get feedback from a professional author-editor. Alternatively, you might like to try one of our brand new Inside Story courses (which follow a similar online and video format), and take your inspiration from major authors such as Marian Keyes, David Nicholls and Tessa Hadley.
What are some of your favourite moments from running Curtis Brown Creative over the past 12 years?
Oh gosh – how to pick and choose?! I of course love it when students find agents and get amazing book deals – I’ve relished every moment of Bonnie Garmus’s success with Lessons in Chemistry this year. She had MONTHS in the Sunday Times Top 10 (and including some weeks at Number 1), and it couldn’t have happened to a more lovely and generous writer. But actually, in addition to the obvious high points you’d expect me to talk about, I love it every time a student has a breakthrough in one of our classes – that moment when you’re talking about their novel and you can almost see something click into place as they quite suddenly realise how to solve the problem they’re grappling with. Finally, I’d mention the launch of our Breakthrough Writers’ Programme, which we started up last year to provide mentoring, scholarships and free courses for under-represented writers. It’s sheer joy to work with the amazingly talented writers who get onto the programme.
Many writers lose momentum partway through the first draft – what tips do you have to help them keep writing?
Keep going. Sit down to write every day or whenever you can. If you can’t push forwards, step sideways and do some work in your notebook – take some time to play with your characters, try some free writing to prompts to see if you can loosen up your imagination. You never know what you’ll discover. Also, pick up a book or two by authors you admire and remind yourself of why you’re trying write in the first place. And rest assured – all writers struggle, you are not alone!
What books have you enjoyed reading recently?
I’m currently reading Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait, a sumptuous historical novel set in sixteenth-century Florence at the court of the Medicis. I’ve also just read Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie – the first novel of hers that I’ve read, and it’s terrific. My favourite novel in some time, though, is Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, which was utterly out of this world in the best possible way.
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors getting ready to submit to Discoveries 2023?
Take your time to get your opening material as good as you can before you send it in. There’s no rush as long as it reaches us by the closing date. Print it out and read it on the page – this will help you to spot things you couldn’t see on the screen. Read it aloud – especially your dialogue – to find out how it sounds to the ear. But above all – do it! You have nothing to lose and potentially everything to gain.
What will you be looking for from entrants when reading for Discoveries?
I’m looking for intriguing ideas that make me want to know more; for writing that glistens and has a real feel to it; and for characters who fascinate me. I don’t mind what genre the work is in as long as it feels like the writer has something interesting to say. But you know what? Whatever I say I’m looking for, it’ll be something else that ends up attracting my attention. That’s the joy of Discoveries. And remember that we’re not looking for a finished, polished piece of work – we very much read the entries as works in progress.
Are you an unpublished female writer thinking of entering Discoveries 2023? Get advice on how to write a great opening that will hook the judges and start preparing your submission, by joining our free Your Novel: How to Get Started webinar on Tues 1 Nov, 7.00pm-8.30pm. This online event will be chaired by author and founder of the Women's Prize Kate Mosse and features a panel of expert speakers including Sui Annukka, winner of Discoveries 2022, author Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Curtis Brown Creative founder Anna Davis and Curtis Brown literary agent Viola Hayden.