Sarah Easter Collins

How did you become a writer? I was a reader first, the sort of child whose nose was always buried in a book. Later, I studied English and Fine Art at university, and my love for these subjects have stayed with me ever since. I always felt the urge to write, but for a long time it felt like an immensely private, almost secret, activity. Then, in 2018, I took a ten-week course with Oxford University called ‘Getting Started with Creative Writing.’ That course was an important step for me because, for the first time, I was sharing my words with other people. Also, it made that small writerly flame that had been burning in me for so long become something of a bonfire: I realised without a doubt that I LOVED writing, both in terms of the craftmanship involved and the freedom it gave me to invent. Even more vitally, I felt as if I had somehow been given permission to do so. Later, while writing my novel THINGS DON’T BREAK ON THEIR OWN, I took an online three-month course with Curtis Brown Creative, the teaching arm of the literary agent Curtis Brown in London, at the end of which I was (brilliantly, wonderfully, life-changingly) offered representation.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.). I’m a huge fan of Barbara Kingsolver, Ruth Ozeki, Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, Bernadine Evaristo, Sarah Waters, Sarah Moss, Sarah Winman, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ian McEwan, Carol Shields, Jane Gardam, Anne Enright, Deborah Levy, Jenny Offill, Tobias Wolff, Kazuo Ishiguro, Meg Wolitzer, Miriam Toews, John Boyne, Claire Keegan, Maggie O’Farrell, Siri Hustvedt, Annie Dillard, Elena Ferrante, David Nicholls, Ben Myers…I could go on (and on…) I also read a lot of poetry, and I especially love Mary Oliver, Maya Angelou and Louise Glück. I love the language of poetry, the weight and importance given to each word, and the fact that poems do not necessarily offer up easy answers. 

Also, I should say that I am indebted to a teacher at my secondary school, Mrs Bradford, who saw something in my writing when I was an adolescent, and who was hugely encouraging to me. I have also had many wonderful tutors since. It is a very motivating thing to be told, ‘I think you can do this,’ and to all those teachers and tutors who are quietly empowering their students with that phrase, thank you. 

When and where do you write? I’m very much an early morning writer. I find writing very immersive, and I often find it hard to sleep deeply when I’m involved in writing a story. Rather I find I’m continually hovering somewhere between sleep and consciousness, with scenes and entire conversations running through my head. While I was writing THINGS DON’T BREAK ON THEIR OWN, I was getting up at four or five in the morning and creeping downstairs to write, accompanied by my beloved ancient lurcher, Sid. I don’t want to give the impression that this was a chore, not at all. I was enjoying myself immensely. 

What are you working on now? I am currently writing my second novel. It’s a story about secrets, friendship, privilege, possession, binary definitions, and the whole complex mess of familial relationships. At its heart is a mother’s warrior love.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? If I’m struggling with a certain passage or plot detail, then I will take the dogs up onto the moor and just let my mind roam. It’s amazing what a good walk can resolve!

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received? To read my work aloud. I think there is no better way for identifying what is not working, that is, sentences that are clunky or, for instance, dialogue that simply sounds ‘wrong.’ Also, I think Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing are superb. You can find them here. 

What’s your advice to new writers? Write the story YOU want to tell, the one that you are moved by, and that you believe in. Also, for the beauty, the craftsmanship and for learning how to write ‘between the lines,’ read poetry. 

Sarah Easter Collins: Writing and painting have always been my two great loves. My third is travel. I studied English and Fine Art at University and, on graduating, signed up for the Teachers for Botswana Recruitment Scheme where I was lucky enough to be posted to Maun, a village on the edge of the Okavango Delta, a vast wilderness full of extraordinary wildlife. I lived in a rondavel, drove an ancient VW Beetle, adopted some stray animals, and was never happier. Later I worked in Thailand and Malawi, before finally returning to teach in the South-East of England. Now I live on Exmoor, a little national park in the South-West of England, surrounded by open moorland, steep wooded combes, wild ponies, and a dramatic ragged coastline and where, in my spare time, I love running and wild swimming with our two dogs.

When I’m not writing I work as an artist. In my painting, as in my writing, I’m interested in shades and layers. I like the idea of a painting having a history. I love storm light, morning light, evening light, low light, and I’m especially interested in the way the light can change everything for one instant, creating ephemeral moments of wonder.