and Amazon AU
During her battle with illness, Lucy Ellis found solace in writing a novel about the mysterious death of Amy Robsart, the first wife of Robert Dudley, the man who came close to marrying Elizabeth I.
When my husband sometimes says to me, ‘Why don’t you write something that sells?’, my lips purse tight together, and they stay pursed. Tight. I need to take a long moment before I speak to my non-writing life-partner. It is bad enough that the gatekeepers publish books according to current marketing trends, disregarding so many works of genuine quality, let alone my dear husband believes this is what I should do too.
And I refuse to see not writing to trends as some kind of failure. I have written long enough now to know failure, for me, goes hand in hand with writing without passion to drive me. I know, because I have tried to write to market trends. It just does not work for me, not when writing and completing a novel means a commitment of years. And this is the thing. If I wrote according to current trends, by the time I finished that novel, it would probably prove a pointless exercise because, years later,
I would expect ‘current trends to be completely different. I am also doubtful about whether the finished novel would end up being a work I would be proud to see published. Is this because I see writing as an art form, or am I too idealistic for my own good because I believe it is vital to write from my heart and soul for my work to have heart and soul?
Then I think, why shouldn’t I write from my heart and soul? For me, writing is a calling. It’s what keeps me sane, and I know that is simply because I write about what is important to me. Giving voice to those in the past whose voices were so often erased simply on account of their gender is one reason why I write. It is also what inspires me – what opens the door to my imagination and drives my research.
In my writing practice, research either reassures or shows me I need to find out something before I can go any further. Nowadays, the need to know guides my Tudor research and prevents losing too much time investigating a fascinating detour. Nevertheless, these research detours present opportunities for accidental discoveries. Omissions and erasures also present powerful story opportunities.
So many historical fiction writers I know speak of serendipity that comes out of research – those eureka moments that finally open our eyes to what we are really writing about. Research (and writing) is an adventure. Not only are we going into the unknown, but we are also discovering the unexpected, which enriches us as writers, and therefore our writing. Beyond that, I know the unexpected will often end up being the beating heart of the story I am writing.
All this has made writing my life adventure. Writing is the tool that has shaped me – helping me grow and live a life of true fulfilment. Writing has not added a lot of money to my bank account, but it has made me rich in ways that matter. I have learnt so much through writing. I have deepened my understanding of myself, of life. I have learnt so much about the real people I so often give voice to in my storytelling. Their histories are not dead to me – but throbbing with the pulse of life.
Creating itself throbs with life – something I wanted to show in my most recent novel, Shades of Yellow. A reader described my novel as a love letter to writing and, while it has other important layers, that is true. My character Lucy mirrors my passion as a writer. She echoes my beliefs as a writer. Like when Eric, the fictional agent of Lucy’s grandfather, suggests to Lucy to craft Elizabeth I as a witch.
She clicked her pen in thought. The silent house seemed to amplify the sound. Not wanting to disturb anyone, she put down the pen and recalled what Eric had said, You could make Elizabeth Tudor a witch.’ He laughed. ‘That would really stir the pot with the historical fiction purists. But it would also help sell the book.’
Not liking the suggestion at all, she considered a diplomatic answer. ‘I suspect there are already novels that tackle Elizabeth, the witch angle – especially since Henry VIII accused her mother of using witchcraft to snare him into her power.’ ‘It’s worth thinking about.’ He lifted his eyebrows as if in challenge.
Lucy picked up her pen and returned to her journal.
I don’t want to make Elizabeth a witch, even if it sells books. I don’t want to write a novel that goes against my beliefs or casts an undeserved shadow on the once living. Elizabeth wasn’t a witch. Neither was her mother. (1)
I don’t want to make Elizabeth a witch, even if it sells books. I don’t want to write a novel that goes against my beliefs or casts an undeserved shadow on the once living. Elizabeth wasn’t a witch. Neither was her mother. (1)
Years ago, I heard Sophie Masson, a respected and well-published Australian author, say at a HNSA conference that to be a writer is to be a lifelong learner. I thought then and think now, that this is so true, just as true Kundera’s words: ‘the writing of a novel takes up a whole era in a writer’s life, and when the labour is done he is no longer the person he was at the start’.
Writing a novel does indeed change me and take an era of my life. My fastest time to complete a novel was the two years it took for me to write The Light in the Labyrinth. If I am to commit to a project, it must mean something to me. Otherwise, why am I sacrificing my time and energy to create this work?
Tillie Olsen wrote in her book Silences decades ago, ‘The world never asked you to write. My long ago and still instinctive response: What’s wrong with the world then, that it doesn’t ask - and make it possible – for people to raise and contribute the best that is in them’
Tillie Olsen wrote in her book Silences decades ago, ‘The world never asked you to write. My long ago and still instinctive response: What’s wrong with the world then, that it doesn’t ask - and make it possible – for people to raise and contribute the best that is in them’
One way I contribute what is best in me is by writing. But to write dictated by what is trending, why should I?
Wendy J Dunn
1: W.J. Dunn, 2025, Shades of Yellow.
2: Kundera, M. 2006, The Curtain: An Essay in Seven parts, HarperCollins Publishers, p. 61.
3: Olsen, T. 1978, Silences. New York, Delacorte Press/ Seymour Lawrence, p. 172..
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