The Books.
In February 2025, Rachel completed her gripping tale and debut speculative fiction book, 'When He Wakes,' and is actively exploring publishing opportunities. Driven by her commitment to becoming a published author, Rachel has wasted no time delving into her next endeavour, moulding the captivating narrative of her new book, 'The Lost Creature.'
Rachel has recently expanded her creative horizons into visual storytelling as a screenwriter with the co-authored screenplay for a short horror film, 'Sidewinder Avenue,' alongside her sister Michelle Orpe, a multi-talented actor and producer.
"Writing fiction is my passport to uncharted territories, where the extraordinary mingles with the familiar. It's a journey into limitless possibilities, inviting readers to dream and question reality's boundaries. In speculative fiction, storytelling becomes an exploration of 'what if,' and each novel is a canvas for boundless imagination to soar."
— Rachel Clark, Writer
The ambitions.
Rachel Clark harbours a humble ambition as a writer: to write the books that she'd love to read herself, whilst striving to be the best author she can be . Her aspiration includes creating works that capture the hearts of readers worldwide. While she dreams of seeing her novels adapted into movies or earning a spot on the New York Times Best Seller list (don't we all!) Rachel's primary focus remains on refining her craft and enjoying the journey.
About RachelRachel's writing process.
As with most writers, it's not uncommon for Rachel's stories to go through multiple drafts before reaching a final version. In the world of writing, there's usually two common styles: planning or pantsing. Rachel is a definitely pantser and simply starts with an idea and sees what journey her characters take her on. When it comes to the editing, this is where a structured process takes over, which allows her to harness her creativity in a structured and effective way, leading to a more successful and fulfilling story.
Inspiration
Rachel's inspiration can come from anywhere—personal experiences, news stories, dreams, or an intriguing idea or conversation with someone. She will explore her initial idea in her mind, either on long walks or when she's on her rower (the best place to think!), to see if has merits, and potential for characters, settings and plot points.
Writing the first draft
The most important part of writing a first draft is finding the time and space to do it. Rachel's an early bird and relishes the quiet of the morning before her the family wakes up. You'll find her up at 5am (coffee in hand) in her writing studio, with her two sleepy spaniels by her feet. Rachel aims to write 1200 words each day to get the first draft done in 3 months.
Character Development
To create well-rounded and relatable characters, Rachel considers their backgrounds, motivations, personality types, strengths, flaws, and how they evolve throughout the story. Despite being a pantser, Rachel is an expert in logical and organised notes and has each character's physical attributes and demographics along with a reference image to keep her on track in the editing phase.
World Building
As Rachel's work is often set in near-future, fictional locations, she sets about developing the rules and details of that world to establish a vivid sense of place. The essence of creating a believable setting is to ensure the audience can suspend disbelief just enough to immerse themselves in the story. Her key is to use subtle, authentic descriptions that are similar enough to our own worlds so as not to jar the reader.
Editing
Once the first draft is complete, Rachel puts it away for a month to let the story percolate. As a pantser, Rachel never knows how the story will end, so the editing stage is a big task; luckily, one that she enjoys! Rachel uses a structured process she learned with Curtis Brown to revise her story, assessing its strengths and weaknesses, plot holes, consistency, and character development. The final editing stage involves printing out the whole draft and reading it aloud, with a red pen to mark any final changes.
Beta Readers
Once the editing is complete, Rachel uses trusted beta readers to get constructive feedback to gather valuable insights. This helps her identify blind spots and gaps in the storyline, ensure the character arcs are believable, and make sure that that nothing jolts the flow of the reading, or pulls them out of the narrative, when a person is immersed in the story. Rachel considers any feedback, implements the changes and then the final draft is ready for submission to agents, publishers, or self-publishing.
