Peter Denton was one of my writing students and first began his novella, Blemished, in one of my classes. It received warm reviews and urging to continue with it, I’m so thrilled he’s completed it. Peter is a perfectionist writer and always lays down the plot and works on characters and setting in advance of beginning a story. This ensures he can focus fully on the writing itself because he’s thoroughly tested the water and his storylines before putting his fingers on the laptop for his first draft.
Before sending Blemished over to me, Peter had been working on it and honing it to get it to its best point. It’s always good advice – from Stephen King himself – to begin a new project when you hand your work over to someone else, either editor or agent, and Peter began a short story and has also fleshed out the bones for his first full-length novel – exciting times. Here’s Peter’s interview:
How long has it taken you to write Blemished and how many drafts had you written?
It took me far too long to write Blemished! The first draft took around eighteen months. Mind you, there was quite a lot of procrastination going on there! Sometimes a few months would go by without me actually working on the story. Once that first draft was complete though, I took another six months to edit and write three more drafts before I finally felt comfortable enough to share it and ask for some constructive feedback.
Where did the inspiration for Blemished come from?
I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers and I just had this idea rattling around my head for a while: what if a
bullied child never fully recovered from their emotionally-scarring experiences? I wanted to examine the psychological impact of teenage trauma, how it could have long-lasting effects that ripple throughout someone’s life.
Why did you choose a female protagonist for your main character?
That’s a good question! I’m not entirely sure. The story idea that was rattling around in my head just always had a female protagonist, and so I went with it.
Did your convincing portrayal of a female character pose any characterisation difficulties?
It’s nice that you think it was a convincing portrayal. I hope it is. I’ve never written from a woman’s perspective before, and I really didn’t want it to be cliched or come across as patronising. Luckily my wife was on hand to help with a few of the nuances of writing about a teenage girl and her older self. Just little things like how she would act, what she would be thinking, how she would feel …
Is Blemished your first novella and did the process for writing a novella differ from writing a short story?
Yes, Blemished is my first novella. Excluding any flash fiction pieces, it’s only the second story I have ever written. To be honest, it started off as a short story. That’s how I pictured it in my head when I was plotting. But then it naturally began to evolve into a longer piece. I wanted to give the story a bit of breathing room, really give the characters a chance to experience their situation and – hopefully – any readers a chance to empathise. The story dictated its length and I adjusted my mindset accordingly.
Were there any books, series or films that provided the inspiration for Blemished?
Not really. I mean, not consciously at least. The only book I can think of (which I’ve read) that centres on a female protagonist at school is Stephen King’s Carrie. While I am a huge fan of Mr King’s, I didn’t want my story to contain any supernatural elements. I wanted it to be grounded, real, relatable. Something that could have happened to any one of us under different circumstances.
Did you set out to write Blemished in its current genre, or did your story gravitate in a particular direction?
I’d love to say that Blemished initially started as a YA rom com and evolved, but to be honest I always wanted it to be quite a dark story. It’s just the genre that I naturally lean towards and it’s certainly the one I enjoy reading the most.
Have you got any advice for anyone wanting to approach a longer piece of writing?
Stick at it! Blemished is not a long novella; it’s only around 20,000 words. But to date that is the longest piece I have ever written in my life – and that includes university dissertations. For that reason alone, I think I just found it hard to focus on this one story. And that’s really why it took the better part of two years to complete. It’s the middle bit of the novella that gets you! Once the excitement of starting a new story wears off, you just want to get to the payoff: the ending. But there’s that middle bit which contains all the vital story arcs and character development … you’ve just got to put those blinkers on and power through. Having a writing schedule is something that helped me. Setting aside a specific time each and every day to work on your current project, even if it’s just a few minutes, can help build discipline.
Are you hoping to publish Blemished as a novella or within a compilation of stories?
I think it would be better as part of a compilation. You don’t get many novellas published solo, especially here in the UK (I believe they’re a bit more popular in the US). I always enjoy reading short story compilations – I have all of Stephen King’s. So maybe when I’m a renowned novelist (!) I’ll include Blemished in a collection of my short stories.
Any other information on your writing process or specifically about Blemished? Or anything you learnt while writing Blemished?
I am still relatively new to writing, but one thing I have learnt is that I am definitely a plotter. I can’t even contemplate starting to write a new story without having a really good idea about characters, twists and – crucially – the ending. So, I enjoy spending the time writing a fairly detailed synopsis; it’s like having the bare bones of a skeleton that I can add the meat and muscle to. Things may deviate from the plan as the story starts to take shape, but I need that initial blueprint to help me get going.
How can your readers follow you?:
Twitter: @PCMDenton
Website: www.pcmdenton.com