Fiona McPhillips: 'Work with your characters’ hopes and fears, get to the heart of what will devastate and drive them'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
1st May 2024
Fiona McPhillips studied on our six week Writing a Psychological Thriller course in 2020. Her debut novel When We Were Silent is out tomorrow with Transworld.
We spoke to Fiona about the inspiration behind her dark academia thriller, tips for writing suspenseful fiction and her upcoming second novel.
You studied on our six week Writing a Psychological Thriller course in 2020. How did the course impact your approach to writing?
It was a really valuable insight into the structure of psychological thrillers and the expectations of readers. I don’t tend to plot beyond knowing the beginning, middle and ending of my books but I particularly liked Erin Kelly’s plot map showing the progression of all the questions asked and answered in her novel, He Said/She Said. For me, that was a really interesting way of looking at plot and pacing to ensure that as soon as the reader is given one answer, they are faced with another question. Always keep them on their toes!
Your debut novel When We Were Silent is out tomorrow with Transworld! It is a gripping and addictive feminist dark academia thriller set in Dublin’s most exclusive private school. Can you tell us a bit more about the novel and the inspiration behind it?
When We Were Silent is about outsider Lou Manson who enrols at the prestigious Highfield Manor convent school in 1980s Dublin. But Lou is not there for prestige, she has come for revenge. Highfield is hiding a dark secret and Lou is there to expose it.
When We Were Silent was born in 2020 when two things came together for me at the same time. The first was that I had the good fortune to read Anne Lamott’s book on writing, Bird by Bird. My big takeaway from that was to write about my childhood. Lamott describes it as “that time in your life when you are so intensely interested in the world, your powers of observation are so acute and you feel things so intensely.” So I went back to my school days.
At the same time, I was listening to the BBC podcast Where is George Gibney? about the former Irish swimming coach who evaded prosecution in 1994 for years of abuse of the young swimmers in his care. I was so moved and inspired by the people who spoke out against him, and they painted a very clear picture of how he was allowed to keep abusing kids for so long, how slow everyone was to believe he was capable of it and to understand the full horror of what “it” actually was.
When I started writing, I wanted to marry those two things – the determination, loyalty and joy I remember from my own teenage years and the forces that try to steal that power.
How did you feel (and what did you do to celebrate) when you heard that Transworld were going to publish your debut novel?
We accepted a pre-empt from Transworld in the morning and Flatiron in the US in the evening so it was a whirlwind! I’d already planned to meet a friend for dinner so I was trying not to keep looking at my phone while US negotiations were ongoing. Then I had to act all nonchalant when the final offer came in. I probably had desert.
Do you have any top tips for writing suspenseful fiction?
For me, fiction is all about character. When you really understand and bond with your protagonist then the impact of each escalating conflict you put them through is felt all the more deeply. So work with your characters’ hopes and fears, get to the heart of what will devastate and drive them. And then drop hints and clues as to what you have in store for them but withhold enough information to keep your characters guessing and your readers turning pages.
As a journalist and screenwriter, you must be very used to writing to deadlines. Did you impose similar deadlines to keep yourself on track when writing your novel?
Because I was runner-up for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger in 2021, I was in the very fortunate position of having agents and publishers asking to read my finished manuscript. Unfortunately there was none. I had only written the few chapters needed to enter the competition! I set myself a deadline of nine months and I’m not sure there could have been any greater motivation than knowing people were waiting to read my book. It also helped me to think commercially from the start in terms of what sort of book I was writing and how it would sit in the marketplace alongside my comps, My Dark Vanessa, The Secret History and The Girls.
You studied with us during lockdown, how did you stay motivated?
See above! I actually found it way easier to work without the distractions of the school run and endless activities. I was also very lucky to receive an Arts Council literature bursary for that year which meant I could focus on writing without having to take on any additional freelance work.
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I’m currently working on my second novel, due out in late 2025/early 2026. It’s another reading-group thriller that centres around a boy who goes missing at a rave in the Dublin mountains in 2001. Twenty years later his remains are found and the friends who were with him that night are thrown back together – and they are all suspects in his murder.
When We Were Silent is out tomorrow!
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