Show Your Working is a regular column exploring how some of our favourite writers get things done. This month, we take a peek into the writing routine of author, screenwriter and KYD co-founder Hannah Kent, whose new novel Devotion is out now from Picador.
Hannah’s desk during the writing of Devotion, with helper. Image: Supplied
What does your workspace look like?
I have a study at home that I work in. I love it. There are some beautiful bookshelves built in, a standing desk with my computer on it (and coffee cups, pencils, trinkets and paperweights given to me by friends and family), a secondhand couch which I like to read on when my cat hasn’t covered the cushions with copious amounts of cat hair, and a rickety second desk piled with books and papers and dictionaries and, if I’m being honest, a few crispy potted plants I always forget to water.
I love a neat work space, but having little kids and no lock on the door means that my study is often messy. The chaos is irritating, but I try to accept that this is what my working life looks like now: abandoned lollipops stuck to my drafts, drawers of stationery pulled out onto the floor. Five years ago, I needed calm and order and silence to write. I’d love those things still, but it’s not going to happen any time soon. Learning how to work while Bluey squeals in the background has hopefully made me a more focused writer.
Learning how to work while Bluey squeals in the background has hopefully made me a more focused writer.
Are you an analog or digital writer?
I’m predominantly a digital writer when it comes to drafting a manuscript, mainly because I type much faster than I write by hand and typing seems to give me more opportunities for creative flow. But when I’m in the research stages I like to keep an A4 notebook full of ideas and thoughts and writing suggestive of voice and tone, or details concerning character. I sticky tape in all the post-its and bits and pieces I dash down when away from the desk. All the scaffolding for a novel, such as timelines, chapter outlines, character lists and collated notes on necessary topics, I type up and then print out to stick on the wall above my desk. Photos, too. Paintings, sometimes. My research notes I keep as digital Google docs. Occasionally I’ll make analog index cards so that I can access necessary details quickly.
I print out my drafts and early writing, as I read and edit my work better on paper. I also often use post-its on the back of my office door to plot my novels, too, as I sometimes have difficulty grasping the overall arc of a novel (especially when I’m wrapped up in things at sentence level), and I find post-its a useful way to see, at a glance, what is happening and when.
Image: Supplied
What sort of software and hardware do you use to get your work done?
I work at a desktop computer. It keeps me anchored to my work in a way that a laptop, with its possibilities of travel (and procrastination), might not. If I travel, I take my current project’s notebook with me, but I tend not to write much on the road. I’m too distractable and prefer to read instead.
For my first two novels I used Microsoft Word, but I tried Scrivener for Devotion and loved how easy it was to move large bodies of text around, as well as the left sidebar which does away with the endless scrolling otherwise required to check something 50,000 words later. I am not a linear writer: Scrivener suits my fragmented approach to novels. For shorter freelance work I use Google Docs, and for screenwriting I use Final Draft, which I love. And at the end of the day, I email drafts to myself. This works as a secondary back-up, but seeing all those emails in their folder, hundreds of them, also works as a good reminder that I am making progress, and that novels take time and persistence.
While I still do most of my work under a gargantuan amount of self-doubt, I don’t give as much meaning and weight to those feelings.
Describe your writing practice?
For years I had a very strict routine, carried over from my time as a student. At the desk no later than 8.30am. One thousand words a day when writing a novel. But now my life is much busier. I have more domestic and caring responsibilities. Sleep is rarely unbroken, and I am frequently interrupted when at work. So now I have relinquished the idea of a stable routine. I write when I can, for shorter amounts of time. My wife gives me a huge amount of support, and when I’m really under pressure, she takes on more so that I can meet deadlines. But I’m wistful about my old routine. I’d love an eighth day in every week.
Has your writing practice changed over the years? If so, how?
I think I have slowly learned to trust the creative process. I now understand that uncertainty is inevitable, and while I still do most of my work under a gargantuan amount of self-doubt, I don’t give as much meaning and weight to those feelings. I try to have faith that, with enough time and rewriting and persistence, I’ll get to where I need to go, and that those scary moments of ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ are symptomatic of creativity, rather than a threat to it.
The combination of movement and getting outside acts as a kind of magic…it makes me receptive to and curious about the world around me.
How do you encourage inspiration to strike?
I like to walk. Walking and writing work so well together, I think. The combination of movement and getting outside acts as a kind of magic upon my mind. It calms me and it makes me receptive to and curious about the world around me. If I’m struggling to move forward in a project, a long walk will always help me untangle creative problems. I also like to read poetry if I feel my spirits flagging. A good poem will reinforce my own love of language, will bring me back to the joy and comfort of words.
What’s next for you?
It’s been a few weeks since Devotion was published, and I’m finding such happiness in speaking to and hearing from readers. For the first time in years I’m able to finally read books I deferred because of work, and I’m looking forward to filling the creative well again before beginning on my next project.
Devotion is available now from your local independent bookseller.
Learn how to write historical fiction with Hannah Kent in her online writing course for KYD.
