Melanie Bell

Author, Writer, Editor


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The Collaborative Process of Making a Play

Three actors prepare to take their (fictional) IQ test.

This month, I’ll have a play performed at London’s Tower Theatre for the second time. It’s been a massively collaborative process to get it there!

Last year, my short play The Pictures of Dora Gray was one of five chosen for the Writers’ Room showcase, featuring new writing from the Tower Theatre’s playwriting group. I’ve been a part of that group for two years now, meeting monthly. I’ve learned an immense amount from the experience, and it’s been great fun!

My fellow playwrights have gone on to produce, to direct, and to have full-length productions put on. Dora Gray was performed twice – at the showcase, and at the Barons Court Theatre’s scratch night. It was wonderful to see two different casts’ and directors’ takes on it. And the Writers’ Room showcase was the Tower Theatre’s most successful show of the year.

So, last year was great. Onward to this one! The creative team added new elements to the process this year, extending the development and rehearsal time. 

The showcase includes four plays, and we all had dramaturgical input. We got to see earlier drafts of the plays at a preview night, limited to the creative teams working on them. Then I worked with the director and assistant director to further develop my script. 

My short play An IQ Test for my Birthday went through several rounds of edits as we honed in on story arcs and worked to make the dialogue reflect, as clearly as possible, the unusual scenario of strangers meeting to take a group exam.  

One directorial suggestion was to use improv to flesh out some of the scenes. So, I shuttled back and forth to London for rehearsals. The cast members, each of whom brought a new dimension to their character, acted out their own versions of my scenes. The director recorded their improvised lines, and we drew on them while editing the script. 

It was a lot of work, and a lot of working together. Last year, I handed in a script, went to one rehearsal, and then saw the final play onstage. This time, I felt almost like part of the cast. I went to a dress rehearsal of the four plays last weekend, and it was magical to watch them all come to life together.

The play is stronger for all that collaboration. It will be performed from December 12-16, along with the other plays in the Home-themed showcase. You can get your tickets here. I can’t wait to see it shine!  


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Keeping It Simple for NaNoWriMo

One of my writers’ groups had a recent discussion about how easy it is to make a novel too complicated. This is a challenge I encounter a lot. 

I love worldbuilding and complex ideas. When I attended Julie Cohen’s writing retreat in France, she called me out for it: “Keep it simple, stupid!” I need to be able to describe what I’m writing in a straightforward way. Once I’ve gotten to the essence of it, I can complexify from there!

I’m doing NaNoWriMo again this year, and I’m starting something new. My first idea was one I’ve dreamed about since the pandemic, set in a beautiful, complicated world. I’ve tried to begin it a few times, but I haven’t been able to make a plot work with these characters and setting.

I hope to write that story someday. It might be one of those ideas that isn’t quite ready yet, one that I will someday gain the skills to bring to life.

But I had a second idea while brainstorming. This one’s simpler and more straightforward. I know how to describe it and make it sound interesting to listeners. I know how to structure it. 

That’s the one I’m writing.

Do you tend to overcomplicate your writing, too? What do you do to keep things clear?

Here are a few principles that have helped me take my narratives back to basics.

  • Know what the point of your story is.
  • Be able to describe it in a sentence.
  • Know what the stakes are – and feel emotionally invested, not confused.
  • Pitch your story to others. See if it a) makes sense to them and b) sounds interesting.
  • Make sure you want to write this story. A novel is a commitment!

Happy NaNoWriMo. Here’s to keeping things simple!


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Happy One-Year Anniversary to Chasing Harmony!

My first novel, Chasing Harmony, has been out for a year now! It’s now available in ebook format as well as in paperback, which I’m excited about because it means more people can read it. It took 10 years for this strange, literary, bisexual YA coming-of-age story to find a publisher, and I’m grateful it has a good home.  

My publisher, Read Furiously, has been wonderful to work with. One reason I chose them is that they donate a portion of royalties to charity, primarily literacy charities. Some of you might remember that my first foray into publication was self-publishing two poetry books as a teenager to raise money for charities… back in the pre-digital era of the early 2000s, when self-publishing meant applying for a grant, giving your files to the printer, and having them print the books out! I got extra “imperfect” copies of my first book, Tears for the World, to sell, because a hair got stuck in the printing press. 

Tears for the World raised money for Farmers Helping Farmers, a Prince Edward Island-based organization which helps farmers in Kenya, while Fire in the Sky raised money for a local literacy organization. With Chasing Harmony helping a similar cause, I feel like things have come full circle. 

In this whirlwind of a year, Chasing Harmony has been featured in an Autostraddle interview, on Reads Rainbow’s lists of July-December 2022 LGBT releases and Contemporary releases, and on CLMP’s end of year list for children’s and YA books of 2022. I’ve written craft articles for DIY MFA on what I’ve learned from the novel: how to write a coming of age story and how to craft a novel with alternating timelines. And at the Conscious Living Center, I shared my process of facing personal shadows as I wrote.

Chasing Harmony has a Spotify playlist and a book trailer:

It always makes me happy when I hear from someone who’s read Chasing Harmony, especially if they connected with the characters. I poured my heart into this story.

Read Furiously has scheduled a virtual book tour to celebrate Chasing Harmony’s anniversary, and if you’d like a review copy to feature a review, guest post, or interview on your blog, you can request one from Goddess Fish Promotions here. There will also be gift card giveaways! Stay tuned for more on the tour which is happening from August 28 – September 22! 

Here are Read Furiously’s kind words on my book’s anniversary:

“Last July we introduced a wonderful young adult novel filled with music, vulnerability, and lost love. One year later, we are still haunted and inspired by Anna Stern’s search for her authentic self.

Happy one year anniversary to CHASING HARMONY by Melanie Bell. If you haven’t experienced the magic of Anna’s musical talent, or haven’t fallen in love with Liss, or danced with Ay-a in a forest kingdom, we recommend making CHASING HARMONY a must read this summer.

We have big plans to celebrate one year – stay tuned!

CHASING HARMONY is available wherever books are sold.”


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Want to Write a Book? Tap Into Your Weird Obsessions

What do you Google at 3 am? What’s that one odd thing you can’t stop thinking about, perhaps to the point where you have a hard time explaining to other people why it captivates you? 

If you’ve ever dreamed of writing a book, one starting point is personal interest. Scratch that: personal passion, obsession, or even unhealthy devotion. 

If you’re this fascinated by a topic or idea, you probably won’t get bored engaging with it for thousands of words!

And if you’re looking to build a career as a writer, you can mine your obsessions again and again. How often do you turn to a favorite author because you love the themes they delve into and the approaches they take? If you feel like you’re writing about the same things over and over again, that’s not a bug; that’s a feature!

Alternatively, it doesn’t have to be the same thing each time. It can be an obsession of the moment. Going through an insect phase? (See what I did there with the “bug” thing?) Maybe there’s a book in that. Researching cybersecurity? Ditto.

As I mentioned above, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a healthy obsession. One of the factors that inspired my novel Chasing Harmony was losing a lot of music competitions in my youth. Sometimes I’d wonder: What did the talented winners have that I didn’t? What was it like to be them?

This was one of many factors that got me interested in researching the stories and lives of musical prodigies, and eventually crafting a fictional character who shows early and astonishing musical aptitude. 

So, what piques your interest? What can’t you stop thinking about? Could there be a book in that?


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NaNoWriMo Was a Wild Time

I started NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this November as an incentive to finish my fantasy novel, the one I’d been working on for a year and a half. At 55,000 words in, it was rolling along toward a conclusion, but it hadn’t gotten there yet. When I applied last year for a grant I didn’t receive, I listed November as a planned deadline for completing my novel draft. Without funding, I shelved some of my other project ideas, but I thought – hoped – the novel would prove doable, at least.

I’d found renewed energy for the project on my writing retreat in France this September. Our facilitator, best-selling novelist Julie Cohen, had told me the structure wasn’t working and encouraged me to restructure the whole thing. Which I did, one memorable day, with three colors of post-it notes sprawled across a bed. Those post-its now live in a notebook of mine, but it was an interesting experience to have them all over the furniture, and to think deeply about how my story needed to move forward.

Then, in October, I moved home, so not a lot of writing happened for a month. A lot of furniture shopping and adjustment happened instead. By the time November rolled around, my flat was furnished and felt more like an abode than an empty space. I was ready to come back to the novel.

Much like the writing retreat, so vivid in recent memory, I wasn’t sure how much I’d get done during NaNoWriMo. I’d done a version of it once, finishing a novella during lockdown in 2020. As proud as I felt of the novella at the time, that was 25,000 words, not 50,000 (as per the NaNo goal), and not all of them were written in November. (Although given the challenges of lockdown, I would give myself an A+ that year!) I even blogged about different ways of getting inspired for the monthly challenge, before attempting to tackle it myself.

But 50,000 words is a lot. I’d always side-eyed the challenge or thought it best suited to speedier writers than myself. I like to line edit as I go. Some writers speak of silencing the inner editor and writing a messy first draft. After doing multiple editing jobs, my “inner editor” is a professional with 10+ years of experience, so I usually find that her input makes my drafts better. Thus, I let her do her thing. But I came into this challenge believing that I wasn’t fast.

Here’s the great thing about self-awareness: it helps you navigate the world and find the right contexts. The downside is that the self you’ve invested in being aware of can change, and your understanding has to alter accordingly to keep up. Sometimes knowing your limits is a form of self-care, and sometimes it’s simply fear.

I had a relatively quiet schedule in November, allowing me to try the challenge. “I’ll finish my novel by the end of the month,” I thought, somewhat apprehensively. I suspected it would take less than the 50K to get to the end of my allotted plot. 

In fact, it did. It only took 32K. I finished it on the 15th of the month. 

My past self would probably read that line with goggle-eyes and ask, “How?!” The first thing I did was join the regional NaNo group. They had an online community where participants chatted and held events regularly. People seemed friendly, and it was exciting to be involved in something so intense with a whole bunch of other people, cheering each other on. There were two in-person events as well. I couldn’t make the first one, but the second, at the end of the month, was packed full of people typing furiously. The Municipal Liaisons brought stickers, an analog spreadsheet, a jar full of writing prompts, and a plastic dragon to place atop the laptop of whoever won the latest word war.

Most of our events centered around “word wars,” virtual sprints (using a tool called Sprinto on a Discord forum) where people join and compete to write the most words. I often enjoy writing in longer periods where I can focus and lose track of time, but the sprints proved useful and motivating. They provided accountability and a social aspect to the often solitary activity of writing.

Taking part in a few long writing days with the NaNo group resulted in a lot of writing. Once I finished my novel, I still had words – and half a month of time – to spare. Before NaNo, I’d planned a short story set in the same fantasy world as my novel but hadn’t had time to write it. I drafted that story – another 7,000 words. I still had more words left. I’d had a few ideas in mind for what to work on next, but I ended up starting something different and am now drafting a science fiction novel. 

My highlights of the NaNo experience were meeting a group of supportive and fascinating people on the Discord (and in person), finishing my novel draft (!), hitting 50K words on the 21st, and the intrinsic reward of devoting more time and energy to writing. It’s so easy to sideline personal projects. NaNoWriMo affords recognition to the act of committing to one. It felt really nice to “win” something, even if in practice, it means that I got… a virtual badge. It’s not every day that adults have a chance to get a prize, let alone one that validates doing something you want to do. 

For November Me, writing facilitated mental health. I write a little most days, and of course I write for my job, but November operated on another level. There was one day this month when I didn’t write, and it felt like a slump. I noticed that and wrote all the other days, even if the time was short and the word count was low. I also appreciated allowing myself long focus days when I didn’t push myself to get anything “more important” done. The bills and cleaning could wait until the next day.

Maybe I don’t always work as slowly as I’d believed. Maybe I really can be as productive as I imagined being… at least sometimes. My inner editor slowed down, but remained in place. I made more typos as I sped up, and then fixed them, for instance. And my hyper-focused month felt great!

I had a freelance project in late November, which pushed me to meet the word count goal more quickly once I realized it was feasible for me to meet it. I also attended opening night for my short play, which was part of a December showcase at the Tower Theatre. I kept writing small amounts of words and adding to the science fiction story as well as writing other things. I got feedback on the short story and was pleasantly surprised by how well others thought it worked despite the speed of its drafting. I also enjoyed meeting new people and hope to stay involved with the online community throughout the year.

So, I’d say NaNoWriMo was a success. I hope to do it again next year, and to maintain some of the writing habits I acquired in my daily life. I guess this old dog could learn new tricks after all! 


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My Play Is in a December Showcase

The Tower Theatre has become one of my favorite places in London. It’s that rare thing, an amateur theatre company with its own performance space. The plays are diverse and high quality, ranging from Shakespearean comedies to contemporary theatre about the Black British experience, from intimate monologue series to expansive productions like Coram Boy. I’ve been volunteering there for a year now as a front of house steward, and by now, it feels like home. This month I’m moving to Brighton, but I’ll be coming back now and again for events at the theatre. 

The Tower has also gotten me back into playwriting, which I haven’t done since high school, when I wrote and acted in a Christmas play about angels because I remembered an old play about elves and thought, “I can do better!” 

The theatre’s Writers’ Room, previously closed, opened up to new members recently, so I joined it. It’s a lively group of theatre nerds. Most of them are involved in multiple aspects of productions, such as directing, acting, or stage management.   

The Writers’ Room put out a call for scripts for a December-themed showcase of their members’ short plays, which will take place from 29 November – 3 December. I was excited to have my short play The Pictures of Dora Gray chosen as one of five featured scripts! 

The audition notice for the showcase summarized my play much more effectively than I could have, so I’ve included it here below. I enjoyed meeting the talented directorial team and look forward to meeting the actors who will bring my words to life!

Thank you to Colin Guthrie for the summary of The Pictures of Dora Gray:

“Dora Gray is a successful artist’s model, but has been less successful in getting her own art to be appreciated. Following a heart attack she makes a deal with Death – Death can take her beauty, as long as she is given mastery over painting. If it shortens her life, it is a price she is prepared to pay.

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray showed a man who was desperate to retain his beauty and cheat the ravages of life and time. The Pictures of Dora Gray shows a woman who is prepared to forgo her beauty if it allows her to become an exceptional artist. The play explores questions about the nature of art, beauty, fame and the way women are viewed in the male-dominated art world.”

So, if you’re in London in late November or early December, come check out the Writers’ Room showcase and find out what it’s like to make a deal with Death. I’m not going to spoil everyone else’s plays, but other highlights will include a guy in a polar bear suit, and revenge on a Prime Minister. It’s sure to be a good time!  


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An Author Interview and a Writing Retreat in France

Castillon La Bataille, in the South of France

I’m delighted to have an author interview on Autostraddle this month! Darcy read my YA novel, Chasing Harmony, and asked thoughtful questions about it. I got to talk about music, the messiness of growing up queer, where I got my ideas, and what songs might be on Anna’s playlist right now if she were a real person.

“When I was younger, successes and failures felt huge, and this is the case for Anna.”

-Author Melanie Bell on her YA Novel “Chasing Harmony” and the Messy Process of Growing Up Queer

You can check out the interview here!

I’m writing this from an old house in Castillon, in the South of France. I’ve been saying for ages that I’d go on a writing retreat someday, and I’ve finally made it out to one. I first learned about Chez Castillon at a conference five years ago. It’s an 18th century house that hosts creative retreats.

For a week, I’ve been learning from bestselling author Julie Cohen and working with a great group of fellow writers. We’ve had one-on-one sessions, a tutorial about plotting with post-it notes, and lots of time to work on whatever we’re working on. That, or lounge by the pool and iron out the kinks in our stories by getting input from brilliant peers.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, though I figured that time in France would be brilliant even if I got no writing done! And it is. Great food, great wine, a gorgeous setting, summer-like weather, lovely people, charming animals, and a market this morning. I’ve been running by the river, strolling around the shops, and swimming in the pool. The house is full of books, and it’s nice to have a context where I’m speaking and reading in French, even as I’m writing in English. The hosts, Mickey and Janie Millman, are generous, and Janie’s a wonderful author in her own right.

But I’ve also gotten things done. I’ve restructured the manuscript I’m working on and added some chapters. I’ve refined summaries and queries in an effort to get to the point. “Keep it simple, stupid!” says Julie. (I blushed a little, as I used to teach my university students this. Guilty as charged!) So, would I recommend trying out a writing retreat if you have the time and resources? I’d certainly recommend this one!

Many thanks to Julie, Mickey, Janie, and my cohort of writers! I’ve learned something from everyone here. And now I’m off to soak in more sun before my plane takes off tomorrow!


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Chasing Harmony Playlist, Trailer, and Publication

Chasing Harmony, my YA novel about a musical prodigy, is now out in paperback! Here I am with my box of author copies.

My publisher, Read Furiously, did a wonderful job putting the book together, including little music-related details in the design. They are also donating a portion of proceeds to literacy organizations.

It was a pleasant and delightful shock to open a book and read lines I’ve pored over on screen for years, available in a new context for readers to enjoy.

My book has a Spotify playlist! If you want to listen to many of the songs mentioned in Chasing Harmony, from the characters’ classical performance pieces to 90s tunes they hear on the radio, it’s all here (sadly, the imaginary songs from imaginary bands couldn’t be included).

There’s also a book trailer where I talk about the inspiration behind the title. You can check it out below.

Chasing Harmony is available wherever books are sold. Here are some up-to-date purchase links:

Read Furiously 
Bookshop.org
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Waterstones

In less happy news, Dream Signs’ publisher is no longer in business and the book is currently out of stock. I am waiting on the files and hope to republish it down the line.

As with Anna’s story in Chasing Harmony, writing and publishing is full of successes and failures, and one often goes along with the other. Anna discovers that it’s one thing to love an art form, but the real challenge comes from being human and living your life.

Here’s to life! And here’s to new books!


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My Novel Chasing Harmony Is Out July 19!

In 2009, I started writing a novel while traveling across Canada. I was thinking about art and failure and how life seldom meets our expectations. I finished the manuscript while studying Creative Writing at Concordia University in Montreal, went through several drafts, and over a decade later, I’m delighted that the book found a home.

My YA novel, Chasing Harmony, is available for pre-order now and releases on July 19! The publisher is Read Furiously, a small press which donates a substantial portion of proceeds to literacy charities. They have shown a wonderful level of care for my book. Take a look at the cover and layout and you’ll see what I mean.

I’m honored that Reads Rainbow has featured Chasing Harmony on their list of Contemporary LGBTQ+ releases this July. (The main character is bisexual.)

Here’s what the book is about.

What happens when the music stops?

Since she was a child, piano prodigy Anna Stern has always stood out. As she becomes a teenager, Anna struggles to find her identity without the soundtrack of sonatas and concertos. There’s also the worry that comes with the crushing expectations of her musical gift and her parents’ imploding marriage.

Anna finds refuge in her best friend Liss, who is full of magic and escape plans, and the mysterious new boy at school… which becomes more complicated when she develops feelings for both of them. Most importantly, Anna has concerts to perform that will determine the course of her future as the haunting spectre of burnout lurks close by. As everything builds to a crescendo, what follows is an authentic life in the making.

Melanie Bell has created a compelling coming-of-age story for those that can relate to the search for untapped potential. Told in alternating timelines, Chasing Harmony reminds us of the exhilarating feeling that comes with hearing your heart’s song.”

And here are some places it’s available for pre-order:

The Furious Reader – https://readfuriously.com/products/chasing-harmony
Bookshop – https://bookshop.org/a/3392/9781737175896
Barnes & Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chasing-harmony-melanie-bell/1141640134?ean=9781737175896
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3nKS1rK

You can find Chasing Harmony wherever books are sold. Soon the physical copies will be in bookstores too!

In other publishing news this month, I have a poem in the Spoon Knife 6: Rest Stop anthology, and a story (about a woman who inherits a family home in England – but it comes with a chilling catch) in Cossmass Infinities, Issue 9.

I can’t wait for readers to pick up Chasing Harmony, and I hope some of you will see yourselves reflected in Anna’s journey!


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The Story in Your Head vs. the Story on the Page

Before you sit down at your computer or with your notebook to start writing, a story swirls around in your head. It’s the story you want to write, the story you need to write. And the story in your head is fabulous. 

The story in your head is as twisty and passionate as the latest bestseller. It makes readers laugh and cry. It’s all about love and power and the world and contains every feeling that’s ever swept through your body. (When you start to put the story on the page, it’s probably about a kitten.) 

The story in your head outlasts Western civilization. It’s the classic of all classics. People on far-off future planets get assigned your text in class and groan. You have attained the immortality of homework.

The story in your head has gaps. And it isn’t necessarily your job to fill these gaps, when the story lives only in your head. You can simply hop elsewhere, to another part of it, and entertain yourself. Your story can be all lavish descriptions of sylvan forests and ball gowns, and that will be fine. No reader’s going to complain about a story that isn’t written down.

But without writing any of it down, there will be no story, not really. No one else can read it. No one will connect with it. And if there’s any truth to your hunch that the story in your head is worth telling, then your own rattling mind is a lonely place to keep that story, isn’t it?

If you want the story in your head to come to life, you’ve got to write it down. (Or share or tell it in some other form; there are many valid choices.) However, it will change in the telling. It might veer off in a different direction than intended. Maybe it’ll even be a better direction, but it will take work to get there.

In your head, a story can write itself in moments. In practice, if the story is long and complex, it takes hours, days, maybe even years. It may take several revisions. Parts will fall off of the story in your head as it assumes material form, and new pieces will attach themselves to it. 

The story in your head was exciting, maybe even perfect. The story on the page is imperfect. But you aren’t going to have a story if you don’t write it down. And good stories deserve to be told.