On being a novelist and a lawyer

ARTICLE

On being a novelist and a lawyer

I by a major agency and publishing house for world-wide publication of my first novel, Set Me Free and my second novel To Lahore with Love, which has just been released this year. The novels have led not only to features in The Telegraph, The Guardian, Hello Magazine, but also a visit to my home by Hollywood royalty, Morgan Freeman, to interview me for the National Geographic’s series The Story of Us.

At the time and still to this date, I am a full-time practising equal rights and employment lawyer at Partners Employment Lawyer, part of Excello Law. The most common question I get asked is how I manage to combine the two careers. It isn’t an easy balance. It’s as if you wear different heads to work effectively in each area, but the bottom line, as with success in most things in life, is that it takes hard graft and endless hours. It is harder work than I could have imagined before setting out on this path. The odd thing is that hard work in law is often visible in the work produced, but in writing a novel, it is invisible. The more effortless the read, the more evident it is to me just how much hard work went into polishing a novel. That’s where good editors are a Godsend. My excellent editor at Headline books, provides brilliant editorial guidance.

A lot of lawyers get frustrated with the daily routine of clients and chargeable hours and see the notion of becoming a novelist as an escape. The fantasy of a charming life in a dusty attic imagining characters and worlds does seem appealing. This was not my story. I always wanted to write, and I am passionate about the art of story, but I have also always loved my life as an equal rights and employment lawyer. It is such an interesting area of law combining an element of right and wrong as well as being well and truly part of the business world. And many of my company clients feel more like friends. I also enjoy being an expert, the TV interviews and training staff. So, for me the solution was moving my own City law firm, which I had run for over a decade, to a flexible new model practice which took away much of the administrative burden and gave me greater flexibility. I chose Excello Law because it stood out head and shoulders against the competition.

One of the things I love about writing novels is that it provides such a sense of escape. The world of law is controlled and precise whereas the creative writing lets you take flight with those wordsmith skills you have learned in law. I also love the juxtaposition of different themes and ideas as in my latest novel To Lahore with Love, which tells of the adventures of a mixed-race girl in travelling to Lahore to rediscover her roots. Each chapter is started with an actual recipe from my childhood.

I will shortly be sharing some tips on getting started with your novel and how to get the job done. Thinking about the book you honestly most enjoyed is a great start. If you’re interested in writing a novel, follow me on social media for further details.

Hina Belitz is a novelist and Equal Rights Lawyer described by the Telegraph as being practised in the art of writing deeply moving prose. ■

Hina Belitz

Equal Rights & Employment Lawyer

Partners Employment Lawyer

TO LAHORE, WITH LOVE by @hinabelitz has the most brilliant prologue. It’s so clever and funny and sad and smart, all beautifully compressed in a few short pages. It’s rare I find myself so quickly gripped, but it GOT me. And the rest of the book is just as beautiful. It’s the story of Addy Mayford, an incredibly talented chef, whose life is turned upside down by an awful secret. Desperate to escape, she goes to Lahore with her Pakistani Nana, where she finds a family she’s never known – and even more life-changing secrets… (I’m sorry, I’m being SO vague about all these secrets but it’s really hard not to spoil the story!). The book is dotted with Addy’s recipes – she’s convinced that food has the power to change how you feel, and she tells us how to make Love Me Forever Lamb, Come Together Spice Mix and (my favourite) Unpleasantness- Cancelling Lentils. – Beth O’Leary, Bestselling Author.