FIVE MINUTES WITH AUTHOR AND FORMER STUDENT JULIE CORBIN

Julie Corbin has written nine psychological/suspense thrillers, translated into eight European languages. An alumni of the Creative Writing Programme in 2008, here she talks about her writing journey.

When do you first remember wanting to be a writer?I was a voracious reader as a child. I always had several books on the go and visited the library at least once a week. I won a national short story competition when I was twelve, but it wasn’t until I moved to Forest Row in East Sussex that I felt I had permission to write too. In Edinburgh I would have been accused of having ideas above my station!

Why did you decide to join the Creative Writing Programme?  And how did you find out about it? I signed up for a writing course in East Grinstead and was immediately hooked. After a year, I wanted more and heard about the Creative Writing Programme in Brighton through a friend. At that point, I worked full-time, including weekends, but had a Tuesday off and that was the day the course was run. Serendipity, I thought.

Who were your tutors? Catherine Smith was my main tutor. She was wonderful. Truly inspiring, encouraging and insightful. She opened up a whole new world for me, and I will always be thankful to her for that.

What was the most impactful element of the course for you? Space to learn and grow, to fly. Spending time with like-minded people, making friends and feeling the thrill of possibility.

Did you start writing your first novel – Tell Me No Secrets -  on the course? I did, and I presented the beginning to the agent on the publishing weekend. The agent was disparaging, so I stopped writing that and moved onto something else. Catherine encouraged me to go back to it – ‘What does he know?!’ she said. (The first thousand and the first ten thousand words of Tell Me No Secrets went on to be shortlisted for two major competitions. Not every agent will like your work.)

What happened after the course finished? I finished my novel and submitted to three agents. Then I signed up for another course and continued to learn and to write.

Could you tell us about your route to publication with Tell Me No Secrets? I expected to travel hopefully and never arrive, but I was very lucky to find an agent on my first try. He gave me detailed feedback on my novel – what worked and what didn’t – five pages of solid-gold storytelling advice. I had literally lost the plot about a third of the way through and he told me that if I was able to rewrite from Chapter Six then he would sign me up. I did, and he secured me a three-book deal with Hodder and Stoughton.

You have since written a further eight psychological thrillers–  has your writing process changed over the course of these books? Not really. I still find it difficult to plan beyond the hook and plot point one, so I frequently write myself into corners. I find the first half of the novel the most challenging as there are so many decisions to be made but when I reach the tipping point, about halfway through, then I write very quickly to the end.

What’s next for you? I’m writing my tenth novel. I’m changing genre and writing a time travel trilogy set on the Isle of Skye. It’s the first in the trilogy so I’m trying very hard to plan this one!

You also run writing workshops – how does teaching writing affect your own practice? I really enjoy teaching. I love the process of helping writers develop their craft and inch their way towards the stories they want to tell. And listening to my own voice sharing what I know, reminds me to lean into the craft in my own writing.

In addition to your writing career, you work as a nurse. How do find juggling these two different careers? When I wear my uniform, I become the school nurse. I work part-time in a boarding school and love the atmosphere. (I spent four years writing full-time and missed mixing with people and sharing their lives.). My seventh novel, A Lie for a Lie, is set in a school and the nurse is the protagonist. I didn’t need to do any research for that one! And then, on my days off and during the long holidays, I’m Julie Corbin, writer.

What are your top tips for someone starting out in their writing career? Keep going. Find your tribe. Read a lot. Let writing and storytelling become your preoccupation, your default. Whether you’re in the car, on a bus, walking the dog, let writing be where your mind drifts. How could I develop that character? Is it a poem or a short story? Does the idea have legs to be a novel? What if I combined those two ideas? What if? What if?

Inspired by Julie’s journey? Our Creative Writing Programme and Advanced Writers Workshops are open for enrolment now, with a closing date of 16th September. Why not sign up for a taster session and see if they’re for you?