How to be Unstoppable: Philippa East on the relentless rewriting of Little White Lies.

“I’d already written this book 12 times, working on it non-stop for almost two years. But it wasn’t enough.”

Thriller writer Philippa East tells how she dug deep to do multiple redrafts to land her agent and a book deal with HarperCollins.

Not so long ago, when tidying out a cupboard, I came across a box marked DRAFT ONE. I recoiled in horror, knowing exactly what it was. The awful, terrible, sh*tty first draft of the manuscript that eventually became LITTLE WHITE LIES.

I wrote that draft in 2015, having only ever completed short stories before. That draft was a Frankensteinian monster – little more than a patchwork of disordered scenes. I believed in the premise of the book (a family trying to cope with the return of their missing daughter, seven years after her abduction), but really had no idea how to make a full-length novel work.

After getting a tonne of feedback, I began to re-write. Characters, plot, voice, pacing – so much needed fixing. In September 2016, I went to the York Festival of Writing and immediately liked the look of the one-to-one agent I sat down with (Sarah Hornsley). She had some pertinent feedback (the whole weird omniscient narrator POV wasn’t working AT ALL), but asked to see the full. Amazing!

The novel, though, was still a mess. I was still rewriting and rewriting, this time trying to include Sarah’s feedback too. It was brutal: the editing just never seemed to never end.

At last though, a full year on from Sarah’s manuscript request, I felt I was ready. By now the MS was on draft 12(!!). Alongside submissions to a handful of other agents, I sent the full in to Sarah. A couple of tense weeks later, I received her response:

There is a lot I like here but I think at the moment it isn’t twisty enough for me to offer representation. I would love a call with you though to discuss some of my editorial thoughts...

By now I’d already written this book 12 times, working on it non-stop for almost two years. But it wasn’t enough. Sarah felt the plot needed a big twist. She also thought it would work better written from two alternating POVs, instead of one. In other words, she was pretty much suggesting I rewrite the whole damn thing.

A huge part of me felt simply too exhausted to start all over again. I had done my best, and if my best wasn’t good enough, what more could I do? But a little voice in my head wouldn’t shut up. She’s right, it kept saying. She’s right.

And so, I dug as deep as I could, and told Sarah I would give it a go.

The next couple of months were agonising. Coming up with a brand new twist idea, and re-drafting the book into dual POV (which I had never done before) were two of the biggest challenges I have faced as a writer. I had to push myself so far beyond my current level of competence, while trying not to freak out about how much was at stake (agent representation, a potential publishing deal, etc. etc.).

I inched my way there, trying to avoid a nervous breakdown. Finally, I achieved what I wanted. Not perfect, but good enough to represent my vision – and to secure me representation from Sarah.

Over the next eight months, I rewrote the rest of the novel – all 85,000 words of it. (Again.) Together, Sarah and I went through at least another 4 relentless drafts.

So was it worth it for me, in the end?

By October 2018, I finally had a MS that Sarah was happy with. She talked me through her submission plan, advising that it would be about a month before we had any firm offers. Oh, and just before we sent it out to publishers, could I edit the climactic scene just one more time?

By the end of the week, I was ‘on sub’. Six days later, we had our first offer and a couple of weeks after that, LITTLE WHITE LIES sold at auction to HQ/HarperCollins.

I celebrated with Pink Cava and made sure to enjoy the moment.

After all, an editorial letter would soon be on its way…

Philippa East grew up in Scotland and originally studied Psychology and Philosophy at the University of Oxford. After graduating, she moved to London to train as a Clinical Psychologist and worked in NHS mental health services for over ten years. Philippa now lives in the Lincolnshire countryside with her husband and cat. Alongside her writing, she continues to work as a psychologist and therapist. Her prize-winning short stories have been published in various literary journals. Little White Lies is her debut novel, and is available in paperback from Hive  and Waterstones and in all formats via Amazon.

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