Niamh Hargan: 'To a large extent, I think the comedy is the romance'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
11th Apr 2024
Niamh Hargan studied on our Writing Your Novel – Three Months course (online) in 2020 and, more recently, our six-week Writing a Romance Novel course. Her debut novel Twelve Days in May was published in 2022 followed by her second novel The Break-Up Clause in 2023.
We spoke to Niamh about creating believable chemistry between romantic leads, friendships in the writing community and The Break-Up Clause being optioned for television.
You studied on our Writing Your Novel – Three Months course (online) in 2020. How did the course impact your approach to writing?
Participating in the CBC Writing Your Novel course was genuinely life changing for me. Before doing the course, I had never really shown anyone anything I had written beyond an Instagram caption. I would absolutely never have described myself as a writer. I didn’t work in publishing or know anyone who worked in publishing, and none of my friends were writers. I had no academic background in creative writing whatsoever. I remember, at the beginning of the course, being too mortified to even type (much less say) the words “my novel” because it just felt so ludicrous.
I signed up for the course on a bit of a whim during Covid (we were all doing crazy things – my sister had recently purchased a full-sized loom…). I had always wanted to write a novel and I thought lockdown might be a good time to try. Nobody who knows me would be remotely surprised to learn that I immediately decided the best first step would be to take some sort of class
I remember finding out about the CBC course via a Google search on a Saturday, and the deadline for applications was 48 hours away, on the Monday. Now, at this stage, my desire to write a novel was still pretty generalised in nature, and I’d imagined being tutored in a similarly pie-in-the-sky fashion. I was shocked to discover I would actually have to come to the CBC course with a plot and some characters! I spent the Sunday drafting a synopsis – all I was really aiming for was something that made sense, with a beginning, middle and end – plus writing the first 3000 words. Given the necessary haste of the whole thing, I was really surprised to be selected for the course, and that of itself felt like such a wonderful vote of confidence. (Interestingly, most of those first 3000 words did end up in Twelve Days In May, and the fundamental shape of the novel also stayed pretty close to my initial synopsis).
Overall, I cannot sufficiently emphasize to you how little I started off knowing, either about anything to do with the mechanics of storytelling, or about the process of getting an agent and being published. The CBC Writing Your Novel course taught me so much about both. It provided a roadmap and really helped me feel that finishing a novel and having it published, while definitely challenging things, were ultimately things that lots of normal people before me had managed to do. It made those goals feel legitimate and achievable.
Your debut novel Twelve Days in May, was published in 2022 and is set over a 12 day period in May during the Cannes Film festival. Can you tell us a bit more about the novel and the inspiration behind it?
The novel is the story of Lizzie and Ciaran. They knew each other as university students, parted acrimoniously and are thrown back into each other’s lives when they both end up attending the Cannes Film Festival. Ciaran’s a hotshot movie director now, and Lizzie’s there in a somewhat less glamorous capacity, but when Ciaran’s new film ends up in difficulty, guess who he’s forced to turn to for help?
Part of my day job has always involved attending lots of film festivals (it’s a drag but someone has to do it, etc etc). The Cannes Film Festival in particular always struck me as a brilliant setting for a novel. First of all, it permeates public consciousness in a way that not many other festivals do. I think that idea of a ‘peek behind the curtain’ – taking readers into a world that they already have some sense of, but that also remains a little mysterious – generally works well in fiction. Beyond that, Cannes is obviously just a really fun and escapist setting, and the basic scenario at hand during the festival – i.e. tons of disparate people flooding into a small town for a finite period of time – struck me as offering lots of dramatic potential.
Your second novel, The Break-Up Clause, was an enemies-to-lovers romcom that was published in 2023. The love-hate relationship between your two lead characters, Fia and Benjamin, really sizzles on the page. How did you create chemistry between your romantic leads that feels believable?
This is the question at the heart of all romcoms, and I don’t know the answer to it! Ultimately, you go with your instincts as a writer and how well it works ends up being a subjective judgment for the reader. I know what does not create believable chemistry for me personally, and that’s two characters who we’ve been told are super attractive just saying lots of really romantic things to one another.
By contrast, if the two central characters are both funny, and (at least eventually!) they find each other funny, that’s pretty much always going to be a winner for me.
I don’t necessarily think of a romcom as having comedy bits and then romantic bits. To a large extent, I think the comedy is the romance. However, so much of that really is a question of personal taste.
I do think that the nature of commercial romcoms now is that you’re often going to be putting characters in scenarios that might be described as “heightened.” However, you as the writer have to believe it and approach it with some sincerity. Readers will smell it a mile off if you don’t.
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met on the courses you were a part of?
Yes, I really valued the support from my fellow participants on the three-month course. Several of them were generous enough to read the full draft of my first novel before I started sending it to agents, and I’ve much enjoyed reading their work in return. We’re all in different locations but it’s been lovely to follow everyone’s progress online.
On the six-week Writing A Romance Novel course, fellow participant Heather Darwent and I realised we lived locally to each other. We were both awaiting publication of our first novels at that time (hers being The Things We Do To Our Friends), and since then, it’s been so great for us to be able to get together and chat about all things writing and publishing. I know we would be friends even if neither of us was writing books, but I don’t know if we’d ever actually have met had it not been for writing and the CBC course.
You studied with us during lockdown, how did you stay motivated?
Because of the restrictions on travel and socialising, I actually had a lot more time on my hands than usual. I was writing at my own pace, and the whole thing felt like a bit of an escape from everything that was going on in the real world at the time. So, motivation wasn’t a major issue for me at that stage. I didn’t feel much sense of having to ‘make’ myself sit down and get words on the page. If anything, motivating myself has ended up being trickier post-lockdown, when I’ve had to factor in proper writing deadlines and a busier overall schedule.
If you could only recommend one rom-com, what would it be and why?
The OG – Pride and Prejudice. Clever, funny, romantic, perfectly plotted – it’s the whole package.
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I’m now in the process of writing my third novel, due to be published in 2025. Excitingly, The Break-Up Clause has been optioned for television, and I’m involved in the development process there. I’m also working with another production company on an original project for screen.
Both Twelve Days in May and The Break-Up Clause are out now!
Find out more about our flagship Writing Your Novel courses
Or study on our six-week Writing a Romance course taught by bestselling author Jenny Colgan.