In Conversation: Nina Milton and Lizzy Perkins

How Creative Writers Get Fit for Graduation

Reaching the final unit of your stage 3 (HE6) studies is a thrilling moment, but filled with some trepidation. In the Creative Writing Department, The final unit, 3.3 asks the student to create a self-directed outwardly facing project, by clarifying what they want to do as a creative practitioner, so that they graduate knowing where their writing can take them, and how to approach readers, agents, editors, publishers, audiences and producers in a professional manner.

I asked one 3.3 student, Lizzy Perkins how she had managed the big asks of the course work around this final unit, which include things such as writing a synopsis, entering writing competitions, and demonstrating how to reach prospective readers.

Firstly, she told me a little about her writing journey.

Lizzy: My writing journey started as a child when I wrote stories for myself. But life took over and I got married and had a family. Once my son left home, I decided I wanted to write a novel. I thought I needed lessons. I started classes in California where I lived at the time, but when we moved back to the UK, I found the OCA.

As my major project for level three, I chose to work on family stories of the First World War.  It is a ‘novel in stories’––each section narrated by a different generation, connected through the same original family trauma. I have managed to finish a first draft of approximately 120,000 words and I am now in the process of editing it.

Nina: When did you begin looking outwards from your degree writing towards external projects, and how did you do that?

Lizzy: After joining OCA, I was inspired by the Facebook posts of a student who was encouraging us to enter competitions. Since then, I have looked for publications that publish stories and poems that are in a similar genre to mine. I’ve been long-listed for the Rosemary McLeish Poetry Competition and had haiku published in the journal of the British Haiku Society. I’ve had a short story published in ‘Local Authority’, (a regional newspaper), and won the ‘Where the Light Begins Festival’, haiku competition, where my work was displayed in shop windows.

I’m hoping to create a website with a blog where I will post family stories and my grandfather’s letters to his wife, Grace. A website and blog can attract readership and create an email list.

Literary festivals and conferences are good for networking, learning about new books, and selling your work.  I went to the Stokey Lit Fest in London and found it inspiring. Emma Gannon was at that festival and I still follow her on Substack and buy her books. To make connections with readers and writers of historical fiction, I joined the Historical Novel Society.

I’m in a local local poetry group (Common Ground) and a local writing group (Medway Mermaids). This has led to me to attend open mic events. It is nerve-racking, reading at these events, as I am a writer not a performer, but it is nice to have people come over afterwards and discuss my poems.

I recommend the Mslexia Indie Press Guide which contains details of over 700 literary magazines and is a useful resource.

Nina: You’ve worked hard to get yourself ‘out there’, Lizzie, which is just what we want for our stage three students, although we recognise it’s a huge step for some writers. Which do you think has been the most effective? And which do you enjoy the most?

Lizzy: It is really useful to build a portfolio of short published works. This will show publishers that my novel-in-stories has an audience. However, connecting with local creatives, talking about our work, and celebrating our successes is something I find most enjoyable.

Nina: You’ve had a lot of success already. But you must have had rejections too. How do you cope with this?

Lizzy: Most of the work that I submit to magazines and competitions is rejected. As a fellow student says, it is a numbers game. The more I submit, the more I have published. Rejections are difficult to take. When I feel despondent, I talk with my husband and friends about it. I also post on the OCA Facebook group as they all understand how I feel.

Nina: What would you say to students who are moving towards Stage 3 studies at the OCA?

Lizzy: Level three is the culmination of the hard work in the previous levels. I would say that  the first unit, 3.1 is where the most work is done. The Creative Reading Commentary is hard but I found it very rewarding because of the amount I learned about my specialist subject. I’d tell students that, if you can finish 3.1, you can finish the whole level!

Nina: After graduation, how do you think you’ll use all this research and hard work, and, of course, your successes, to gear up your writing career?

Lizzy: In most ways as I feel like I have already started that journey. Submitting to publications, attending events, networking, creating a blog or website and approaching publishers are the main components of setting yourself up as an independent, professional writer.

Find out more about Creative Writing at OCA here.