Natalie Lewis: 'Have the courage of your convictions, know that your first draft will likely be horrendous but keep going'
BY Katie Smart
7th Mar 2023
Natalie Lewis worked on her debut novel during lockdown, she studied on our Writing Your Novel – Three Months course in 2020. Her book Don’t Believe the Hype will be published by Hodder & Stoughton on 13 Apr 2023. The novel follows a young assistant who lands a dream job in fashion PR, Natalie draws on her 30 years of experience working in the industry to create a vivid setting for the story.
We spoke to Natalie about her time studying with us, how she incorporated her experience of working in fashion PR to build the world of her debut novel, and her top tips for aspiring authors.
You studied on our three-month online Writing Your Novel course in 2020. How did this impact your approach to writing?
I did! But first I did two of the non-selective courses – Starting to Write Your Novel and then Write to the End of Your Novel. They both really helped me to get the first 3000 words I needed for the Writing Your Novel course as good as they could be before I applied. That course then changed everything for me – firstly it instilled me with a modicum of confidence when I was accepted, and then it focussed me and taught me so much technically and creatively. Learning how to structure a narrative arc, how every chapter must propel your plot forward (I was partial to a few comedic interludes just for the sake of them) and understanding the ebbs and flows of pacing – those were all fundamental and eye-opening lessons for a new writer. Then you realise you just must get on and finish that first terrible draft and know that it is only the very beginning of the process. Taking constructive criticism from my fellow students and our amazing tutor Laura Barnett was also instrumental to how I approached writing the book. You are guided how to give and take editorial feedback and how to read as a writer and there’s no question those tools impact your own writing.
Many writers find lifelong friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with any of your course mates?
I am. There’s a core group of us who are still in regular contact over email and slack and then we meet online to catch up about once every couple of months. Because we are dotted all over the place, we haven’t yet been able to meet in person but because it was a lockdown online course we are very good at and used to communicating through our laptops... It’s a group that constantly encourages, motivates, beta reads and cheerleads each other through life’s other demands, disappointments, and excitement (we even have a new group baby – well it technically belongs to just one of us, but we have fully embraced him as one of our own).
Your debut Don’t Believe the Hype will be published by Hodder & Stoughton on 13 Apr 2023. The story follows Frankie Marks, after she lands a dream fashion PR role at the prestigious GGC agency and things start to become chaotic when the world of fashion isn’t as glamourous as it appears. Can you tell us a bit more about the novel and the inspiration behind it?
Frankie is basically the worst candidate for a job in fashion PR. Ever. She gets the job by fluke, she doesn’t know the first thing about designers, she sometimes forgets to think before she speaks and she’s always hungry… But it turns out she becomes rather good at her job and when she takes on a new client in the form of Melissa Bailey, ex soap star turned designer, she is propelled into a whole new world taking her from shoots to catwalk shows to late night tv. It’s a sneak peek behind the scenes of the fashion industry while revealing the mechanics of how PR actually works – but at its heart it’s really a professional and personal coming of age story.
I’ve been in the fashion industry for decades looking after the pr for so many designers, brands, and high street names from net-a-porter to New Look to Victoria Beckham – and had so many incredible and absurd experiences that I wanted to write a fictionalised account of it all. As a PR you are always writing – releases, collection notes, quotes – but never in your own voice and I felt I had something of my own to say. So I took all the glamour, the not so glamourous and the downright ridiculous aspects of being a fashion PR as my starting points. The novel was originally called Seriously…? Because that’s what everyone said when I told them a story about what I was up to and that pretty much sums up the tone of the book…
You have first-hand knowledge of working in fashion PR. How much of your own experiences working in industry fed into the novel?
Inevitably I drew on my own experiences as a jumping off point. I took all mine and my colleagues’ memories and stories and then looked at them from Frankie’s perspective and created a new imaginary world. Because Frankie has a very distinctive voice and point of view it was incredibly fun to then jump into situations with her and see how she dealt with them. I also interviewed a lot of my old employees to find out what really went on behind their boss’ (my) back and took myself back to what it’s like when you get your first job, and you get something wrong with the lunchtime sandwich order, and you think that you are absolutely and most definitely about to get the sack and your entire world is about to end over a mistake about white not wholemeal bread….
Do you have any tips for writers working on novels that draw from their own careers?
I think the hardest thing is fictionalising your real-life experiences and making them believable but not completely derivative from fact. I redrafted Don’t Believe the Hype so many times and on each re-read found more and more things that I needed to tweak or completely rewrite. You start to understand what begins to read as memoir rather than fiction when you’re drawing from your own career and things you know so well – and you then need to rework those elements. I found that one of the hardest parts of all. But what really helped was talking to a lot of people I had worked with to get differing perspectives from my own – not just about my personal career but the industry as a whole.
You studied with us during lockdown, how did you stay motivated?
Truthfully lockdown gave me so much motivation. I have two teenage children so while they were in their rooms ‘at school’ I was downstairs writing and doing my course homework. The course gave me a much-needed structure and just before Covid I had very serendipitously (I call it cosmic timing) taken a sabbatical from work and so had all the time I needed to write which was such a luxury. Plus, I’m a PR. We thrive on deadlines. When Laura’s weekly task went up and I also knew I needed to write so many words a day for the book I was literally in heaven.
What does your typical writing day look like for you now?
I have no typical writing day right now. I’m back working, and PR often requires immediate action which takes away from any hard and fast daily structure for anything else. I write when I get a flash of inspiration or an hour to spare. I also write quite fast and I’m a pantser not a plotter so when I have an idea I just get typing or stick up yet another post-it note on my wall to remind me… Looking at that wall right now I can see a trip to Singapore, a broken shoe, lost luggage and some disastrous eyebrow threading. They’ll all find their place eventually…
What advice would you like to share with the aspiring authors reading this?
Firstly, you’re never too old. I was 50 when I started creative writing and had never done anything other than fashion PR for 30 years. Have the courage of your convictions, know that your first draft will likely be horrendous but keep going. If you have something to say – do it. And most importantly, be patient. It all takes a really, really long time!
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I have two books on the go. One sequel and one standalone. And Don’t Believe the Hype has been picked up by a production company in LA so there’s currently a lot of meetings with script writers and transatlantic zooms which is surreal/inspiring/exciting all at the same time and really firing up my imagination for more of Frankie…
Pre-order Don’t Believe the Hype, out 13 April 2023.
If you’re looking to take your novel-writing to the next level with expert guidance from authors and publishing professionals, apply for a three- or six-month Writing Your Novel course.
Photo of Natalie Lewis by Sophia Spring.