By Azeeza Rawat
Edited by Humairaa Mayet and Imaan Moosa
Jo-Anne Richards shares her inspiring journey to becoming a bestselling novelist and international writing coach with To EmpowHER.
Three years ago, a surprising thought popped into my head. I should write a novel, an 80 000-word book. I love reading and I love stories, and even though I’d never been much of a writer, how hard could it be?
But Tolstoy, was I wrong.
After a few months of working on my novel, with a messy first draft and feeling totally overwhelmed, I went searching for anything that could help me with my writing. I needed help. I knew nothing about plot points or character arcs. What exactly was ‘voice’ and why does ‘point of view’ matter?
I can’t remember how or where I found out about All About Writing. All I do know is that thank Dickens I did. From watching a backlog of their webinars to rushing to my desk with a cup of coffee to join their live sessions, I was immersed in the art of creating worlds and writing characters into existence.
As an aspiring author in South Africa, I looked up to the facilitators and writers who had made it. Jo-Anne Richards, co-founder of All About Writing and South African bestselling and internationally acclaimed author, stuck out in my eyes. Passionate about the craft of writing, Jo-Anne is an inspiring South African woman in literature.
And I am so glad that she’s agreed to share her story with To EmpowHER.
Jo-Anne Richards
Photo: Provided
A native of the Eastern Cape, Jo-Anne graduated from Rhodes university with an Honours degree in Journalism and enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, before leaving to raise her first child.
Gathering invaluable experience from her years as a journalist, Jo-Anne shares that journalism taught me a huge amount about writing. It taught me the importance of detail and active observation. It taught me to get things right. And it stirred my curiosity: you can’t be a journalist or a creative writer if you aren’t curious about people.
Years later, Jo-Anne taught journalism at Wits university, where she also gained a PhD in creative writing. Yet, Jo-Anne shares with To EmpowHer that she has faced many difficulties along the way to her academic success, and says, “my early struggles with dyslexia left me with lifelong insecurity and imposter syndrome.”
Still despite this, or rather, because of it, Jo-Anne had the strength to persevere, and perseverance is what translates the daydream of becoming an internationally published and bestselling author into reality.
My later books – I have published five novels altogether – were published by Pan MacMillan, who have recently rereleased my first book, The Innocence of Roast Chicken as a Picador Africa Classic, I’m proud to say.
A Jo-Anne Richards’ book launch
Photo: Provided
And with achievements like these, she has aspiring authors on the edge of their seats, wanting to know, “how did you do it?”
Well, Jo-Anne shares that she was interested in stories from a young age, having been introduced to literary classics by her parents. “When I was four my mother decided to read me Oscar Wilde’s Nightingale and the Rose… I couldn’t let go of the vision of that little bird bleeding its life’s blood over a rose for the sake of doomed love. I couldn’t stop weeping over the tragedy of life.”
This impacted Jo-Anne emotionally and changed her life path forever. “From that moment on I was doomed to be a writer…I do have a clear memory, though, of being struck by the power of story and the beauty of words.”
All I ever wanted to do, from then on, was write.
Yet, like many writers, Jo-Anne describes her writing process as “hard and lonely,” in addition to her other responsibilities of raising two children and working a day job. Though Jo-Anne was still battling with her self-doubt and fears about not being able to write, she says “Sometimes, when the writing goes well, you experience a creative joy and a euphoria which is like no other feeling in the world.”
And soon all the hard work that Jo-Anne had poured into her debut novel paid off. With what Jo-Anne describes as “luck”, a literary agent in London signed her on as a client and sold Jo-Anne’s manuscript to a London publisher.
Jo-Anne’s debut novel, ‘The Innocence of Roast Chicken’ was published in 1996. She experienced widespread success and praise for this literary work. The book shot to number one in South Africa in the week it was released and remained there for fifteen weeks. It appeared as the ‘Dark Horse’ on a London bestseller list, alongside Graham Swift’s Last Orders and Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.
“My face was on television, my voice on the radio. I launched at South Africa House in London’s Trafalgar Square, in Germany, in Johannesburg, in Cape Town and in my hometown of Port Elizabeth.”
“Shortly after the book was released, a cabinet minister in the new democratic government approached me at a function. ‘Your book,’ he said, ‘is what this country is all about.’”
Jo-Anne Richards’ book signing at a launch.
Photo: Provided
Yet even amid all these achievements, Jo-Anne has had to deal with a lot of politicised backlash and gendered misconceptions from local critics. “All of these critics were men and the focus slid effortlessly from the political to a far more gendered view of me and my book. Much had, at its heart, an unquestioning and, possibly, unconscious misogyny.”
“I was after all, simply a ‘women’s writer’, not to be taken seriously. Why engage with my work as though I were… Even those who were positive took a patronising line. She has knocked off a book, according to one profile, between tennis and bridge parties and juggles all these many balls between perfectly manicured fingers.”
“This … why? Because I was a woman? Because I was married? I was both, but certainly not idle.”
Jo-Anne shoots back against sexist critics who labelled her according to unjust stereotypes of women. I did not play tennis, nor have I ever played bridge. And anyone who knows me will testify that my fingernails are generally bitten to the quick…I worked as a freelance magazine and newspaper journalist, cared for two small children, and chaired a national organisation focused on driving primary genetic health care to rural areas. Oh yes, and I wrote books.
But there have been positive and progressive improvements in the world of writing for current female authors, and Jo-Anne believes that “things are and have been changing since my first book came out.”
After gaining years of experience while writing her own novels, Jo-Anne was inspired to offer writers the information and support she wished she had when she had begun her career as a novelist. All About Writing, which Jo-Anne describes as “an accidental business”, had initially been created as more of a creative endeavor “which promoted writing … and love.”
All About Writing was co-founded with Richard Beynon, South African award-winning screenwriter, and focused mainly on small-knit creative writing classes. First and foremost, we teach skills,” says Jo-Anne. “And, yes, you do need to learn skills to be a writer: just as musicians and artists need to learn aspects of craft.
Richard Beynon and Jo-Anne Richards in Venice
Photo: Provided
Richard’s wife, Trish Urquhart, later joined the partnership. Trish, a documentary producer, handles digital marketing and finances and has been vital in strengthening the business aspects of All About Writing.
But along with running any business, the team experienced challenges. Jo-Anne confides that “for years, we made very little money and had none to invest in the business.”
“I was working full-time at Wits, and I was writing a book and then a Ph.D. And we were teaching classes outside of working hours. Finally, something had to give, and I took early retirement. It was that or lose my relationship. It was tough and scary – the prospect of no salary coming in every month – especially when Richard and Trish followed my leap into the unknown.”
“But we made it work.”
For many years, All About Writing was running local classes, courses and international writing retreats, catering to South African and international writers. Then, in 2020, the pandemic hit, and Covid changed everything. “We had to think quickly. We lost a large portion of our potential income, not being able to run our face-to-face classes and retreats, particularly our annual Venice retreat. We were lucky we had already been using Zoom, and online classes, to an extent. But we switched everything...”
“We redoubled our efforts during lockdown, to give back to our community for supporting us, and I believe this has won us a great deal of goodwill. We want to support writers, whether they can afford our courses or not.”
Jo-Anne and All About Writing take pride in creating a sense of community between writers. And at its core, the founders’ vision for All About Writing is to empower writers and to help them achieve their literary goals, just like they did. Members of our community have published over fifty books – fiction and non-fiction – since we started. Some of those have won, been nominated, or short-listed for awards. But we’re just as proud of those who simply write for themselves and for family.
And yes, while each writer’s goals for their writing may differ, Jo-Anne shares some much-needed tough love for all writers out there. “Be dogged. Writing isn’t for sissies. Neither is being published. Writing involves rewriting and rewriting again. Don’t knock off a draft and think it’s complete. Make it the best it can possibly be. You have to grow a tough skin (not something I’ve been good at) in order to take criticism and rejection – both in trying to get a book published and if your book appears in the public domain.”
Jo-Anne Richards in Venice
Photo: Provided
In the end, write for the sake of writing. Write for yourself. And take yourself seriously (I try to tell myself, daily). If you’re rejected or are told you need to undertake a major rewrite, don’t curl into a ball, and die inside. I always say, fine, indulge in two weeks of weeping, then pick yourself up and try again.
As a fellow writer and aspiring novelist, there are many lessons I take away from Jo-Anne’s story. We all experience self-doubt and obstacles, but it is our responsibility to rise above them. Don’t give up on that story you burn to tell, don’t listen to the little critic that lives in your head.
So, keep writing. Just like Jo-Anne’s, yours may inspire someone else to follow their heart.
Contact Jo-Anne Richards through All About Writing:
Website: https://allaboutwritingcourses.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allabtwriting/
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