Manchester Literature Festival Event Review: How to Start Writing a Book with Monica Heisey & Sheena Patel

Books do amazing things. They transport you to other worlds. They fill you with inspiration. They provide you with some much-needed comfort. Every now and then, a book will appear that not only makes you feel seen and heard, but will also have you crying from laughter, seething with anger and taking screenshots (or pics) at the same time.

Two such books have recently been released. The first is Monica Heisey’s Really Good, Actually, and the second is Sheena Patel’s I’m a Fan.

Really Good, Actually is a hilarious account of a 29-year-old, living in Toronto and going through a divorce. The between-the-chapters-chapters are disturbingly accurate examples of what most of us have done during breakups - fantasising about the first rendezvous with ex, unexplainable Google searches. You know, the usual post-relationship activities.

The only way to describe I’m a Fan by Sheena is powerful. The pages take us up close and very personal with the narrator’s experience of dealing with a narcissistic ex, who happens to be married and how it all plays out in today’s highly connected and social media-dependent society.  

Her story is raw and highly addictive. With both books being “must-reads of 2023,” the City Girl Network was lucky enough to be at a Manchester Literature Festival event where both ladies sat down with an audience to talk about inspiration, getting started and Harry Styles.

Despite both authors having experience in writing for TV, their approach to writing their debut novels was very different. 

Monica shared that she needed to get to know her main character, what made them different and where they were similar. These discovery exercises are the between-the-chapters-chapters.

Being someone who writes short, comedic scripts, it made sense to start writing this way and then build the story around her discoveries.

For Sheena, she claimed that she had no idea what she was doing.

She started writing during lockdown and spent a lot of time taking screenshots of Hinge conversations and accumulating images, memes and videos from political movements and events at that time. 

Rather than thinking of her book as one long prose, she took inspiration from poetry and Adam Curtis, choosing to see each chapter as a scene or isolated moment.

Her process worked. I’m a Fan is an intriguing read that makes you want to go on your own investigation and find out more.

As for Harry Styles, let’s just say he makes a very on-brand appearance in one of Maggie’s (Really Good, Actually) fantasies, prompted by Monica’s real-life experience of meeting him at a bar.

Key takeaway: If you’re thinking of writing a book, do so in whatever way feels right for you. 

And don’t be afraid to base a majority of your writing on memes. Or name your chapters after them as Sheena has. 

Both books are available to buy now.

You can find out more about the Manchester Literature Festival here.

Written by Hayley Ashworth, Manchester City Girl Community Coordinator