Writer Lucy Hughes-Hallett had a forty-year career as a journalist and historical nonfiction author behind her when her 2013 biography of the Italian poet and demagogue Gabriele d’Annunzio was awarded the Samuel Johnson prize for nonfiction and the Costa prize for biography.

But in a recent article in The Guardian, Writer’s Relief noticed that, at age 65, Hughes-Hallett is now turning her attention to novels.

“There is this theory, isn’t there, that you can write a book by going for long walks, but that doesn’t seem to work,” she says. “I spend a lot of time staring desperately out of the window thinking, ‘How can I fit these things together? What do these facts and ideas mean? What’s the point of them?’ That in-between process is really the hardest and surprisingly few writers ever talk about it.”

Learn more about Lucy Hughes-Hallett and her transition from nonfiction to fiction.

Question: Have you ever considered changing genres? Which genre would you like to try?

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