Nicky Greenwall: 'Working in television taught me how to create a sense of urgency in my writing'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
25th Jul 2024
Nicky Greenwall has taken an impressive range of courses with us since 2021. Over the duration of studying with us, she wrote her debut novel A Short Life (out now with Penguin Random House South Africa).
We discussed the inspiration behind her book, her career in television, and adapting A Short Life for the screen.
You’ve taken an impressive range of courses with us including our three-month online Writing Your Novel course in 2023. You have also taken all three courses in our How to Write Your Novel course series, Writing a Memoir and Writing Fiction with David Nicholls. How did studying with us impact your approach to writing?
What can I say? I’m hooked! A Short Life was written across the How to Write Your Novel course series in 2021. Although I have experience as a journalist, the etiquette and norms of the fiction publishing world are nuanced and not always Google-able. Anna Davis has a wonderful ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ style of teaching. It felt like she'd handed me a pair of 3D goggles. I could see my work differently, sidestep the pitfalls and laugh at my (now obvious) blunders. I signed with Penguin Random House in mid-2022. While I waited for publishing’s wheels to turn, I became anxious to explore what to write next. Writing a Memoir and the Writing Fiction with David Nicholls course allowed me to explore different avenues before I was able to settle into the novel I would develop on the three-month selective course. At that point, given my previous experiences with CBC, I felt confident the investment would pay off.
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met on the course?
Funnily enough, I enjoyed the reverse experience. Sometimes a stranger’s comment can be more valuable than a friend’s. Writing can be a lonely pursuit and it’s gratifying to share your work and be part of other people’s writing journeys too. The forum is structured in a way that, even though you introduce yourself to the group – the students get to know each other through their work rather than their CV. I found this liberating. It was an incredibly supportive and at times, intensely personal environment - especially when people are sharing stories drawn from their own lives. But, in much the same way you wouldn’t take a therapist out to dinner after a therapy session, I found it more helpful to keep the writing relationships limited to the course time. Either way, you choose the approach that works best for you and there’s no sense of obligation whichever route you take.
Your debut novel A Short Life is out now with Penguin Random House South Africa. It revolves around two car accidents that take place on the same night. One is fatal, and six friends’ lives will never be the same … Can you tell us a bit more about the novel and the inspiration behind it?
The novel was born out of a need to understand lack of control. It’s the story of a group of friends who come into conflict when one of them dies suddenly and in mysterious circumstances. The reader is encouraged to figure out if one accident had something to do with the other, and if so – what the consequences might be for the characters at the heart of the story. The central conundrum is: You can love a parent, a child, a partner and a friend simultaneously, but where will your loyalties lie when the people you love prove not to be on the same side?
Outside of novel writing, you are a former TV-presenter, entertainment journalist and producer. Does having a background in TV have any bearing on how you approach writing fiction?
Television taught me about ‘the tease’. The art of encouraging a viewer to keep watching after the commercial break is not dissimilar to convincing a reader to turn the page. I like to keep a fast pace. Working in television, specifically television news, taught me how to create a sense of urgency in my writing.
Would you ever produce A Short Life for the screen?
Maybe. Perhaps I need to enrol in CBC’s Writing TV Drama course with Colin Teevan next!
If yes, who would be your dream casting?
I’m a massive Mike White fan. I loved Enlightened and The White Lotus. If he’s directing, producing and developing the screenplay – he is 100% choosing the cast.
What’s the best piece of advice you received from your tutor Chris Wakling on our three-month course?
Separate yourself from the labour of writing. A good scene might take five minutes or five hours to write. How long something takes doesn’t always have a bearing on the quality but, it does have a bearing on how sensitive you feel when someone criticises it. Take time out between the work and the critique so you trick your brain into forgetting how long it took. That, and the word obfuscate. Chris was an incredibly collaborative tutor and even though he’s a well-established novelist he treated all of us like fellow writers rather than novices.
A Short Life is out now!