Deciding to apply for one of the larger creative writing courses under the influence was perhaps, in hindsight, ill-advised. The ask was for the first 3,000 words of your novel. The outcome would be an honest appraisal from someone who reads hundreds of first 3,000 words a year.

The opening to my novel has been unchanged since my lightning bolt moment watching Danny Boyle and Nick Dear talk to Christopher Frayling about the genesis of their project Frankenstein. As a side note, if I ever find myself in the position of meeting Danny Boyle or Nick Dear, I will end up embarrassing myself with my over-exuberant and cringe-worthy ‘thank yous’. But therein lay the rub. What if it didn’t cut it? What if I’d been wasting my time? What if my lovingly crafted opening just wasn’t good enough?

Logic kicked in and argued; if your opening hasn’t changed and you can’t see a way to change it, then what have you got to lose? Thank goodness it did. I started at the Curtis Brown Creative Writing School yesterday.