‘Schitt’s Creek’ writer Monica Heisey on the Irish authors she’s loving and why Nicola Coughlan is her dream lead

Starting her writing career on TV (with shows like Schitt’s Creek and the screen adaptation of Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love already under her belt), it wasn’t long before Monica Heisey decided to try her hand at writing a book and her first novel, Really Good, Actually, was published earlier this year. 

Coming to Dublin this weekend for the International Literature Festival, Monica sat down with Sarah Finnan ahead of time to discuss everything from her quirky writing habits to millennial disillusionment and why Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging is her favourite rom-com. 

You started out your writing career in TV with the likes of Schitt’s Creek… how was it transitioning from screenwriting to writing your first novel? 
It was intimidating at first because television was very collaborative from a very early phase, right from idea drafting. So to sit down and kind of realise that, until I had a full draft that I could show to my agent and eventually bring to editors, it was just going to be me alone on my computer kind of freaking out was very intimidating and a little stressful. But, once I kind of got into it, I was really excited to be free from all the practical limitations that come with making TV. Things like budget and what the weather is like on the day and whether or not certain, I don’t know, stunts are possible or whatever – not that there’s an enormous amount of stunts in the book! But just the fact that I got to be in charge of all these things that in a shoot can all kind of go wrong and are very changeable, was very empowering, and I got really into it.

Do you have any quirky habits when writing? 
I write from bed, which I know I shouldn’t. I’m trying to not do that so if anyone has any tips on where to find ergonomic chairs that don’t look disgusting, let me know! If the chair is good for your back, it looks like it’s a transformer for some reason.

Am I right in saying that Really Good Actually is loosely based on your own life and experiences?
It’s definitely based on my emotional experience. The events in the book are fictional but I went through a divorce at a young age myself and obviously, it was very difficult, but there was also something about how devastating it was from the beginning that was kind of funny. That might sound a little odd but it was just ridiculous. You know, I was like… On. The. Floor.  Even though I had been heartbroken before and knew that it would pass, so there was a kind of fundamental irony in being that heartbroken that I found kind of funny.

Would you say humour is a kind of coping mechanism then?
Yeah, I think so. It can be. Humour is a funny thing. It’s so many different things. It can be a coping mechanism and a distancing mechanism but it can also be a tool to bring people together, and I kind of tried to explore the different things that it can be in the book.

Your book touches on that kind of “millennial disillusionment with life”… do you think that’s the overarching feeling amongst people of that age bracket at the moment?
Um, I think it’s one of them. I think, I think we’re the first generation in a long time that is, on the whole, going to be materially worse off than our parents were which is a pretty grim state of affairs and I understand why people feel disappointed about that. It’s easy to think that because we don’t have some of these things like a house or, you know, a pension or whatever, that it’s some kind of personal failing on our part because we were sort of told we could achieve anything. And then these things were taken, were kind of stripped back from all of us at the same time.

I heard that your book has been optioned for screen and you’d love Nicola Coughlan to play the role of Maggie… is that true? 
Yeah. Well, she’s definitely the first person who came to mind. I feel like it’s always so tricky when you’re dream casting these things because people are so busy and you don’t want to be presumptuous at all… but if she happened to be available and interested, I would absolutely love to talk to her about it.

We would also love that so we’ll start manifesting! I know that Marian Keyes is a big fan of your novel, are there any particular Irish writers you’re loving at the moment?
Irish writers I’m a fan of… Yes, I mean, you guys are exploding with great writers. Yeah, I’m a big fan of Caroline O’Donoghue and Megan Nolan and Naoise Dolan… but I feel like that almost goes without saying. I’m looking forward to meeting her at the International Literature Festival this weekend.

What did you learn when writing this book? 
I think I realised, in kind of dramatising it for this fictional character, that I had given myself quite a hard time during my divorce, about feeling sad. I think I wanted to feel better sooner… which is essentially what the book is about – the rush to skip over the hard part and just feel better.  I think I was too hard on myself for being sad.

That can be such a human thing though, where you don’t want to sit in those, unhappy sad emotions…
Of course, they’re very unpleasant. Like I understand it, but yeah, I think you know, something sad happened, so don’t feel unusual for being sad about the sad thing.

When you’re writing, what comes first for you; the plot or the characters?
I think with this novel, because it’s so character-driven, it was the character. I think, maybe it’s always character actually. I’m a big outline person, but you can’t really have an outline until you know who this person is, so you know how they would behave in the situations you’re putting them in.

Should books be judged by their covers? How did you pick yours? 
I mean, the cover thing is so interesting, because there’s all this marketing stuff that I don’t understand. I was really lucky, I really liked my cover. It was like, I think the first kind of idea that they showed me – this big orange cover that we’ve got. So, yeah, I feel very lucky to like it so much.

I read that Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison was your favourite rom-com growing up. That book and movie were cultural turning points for me! Why do you love it so much?
I feel like all the young adult books that I was reading growing up were kind of dystopian, or they were about like, kids sneaking out to do drugs and they weren’t anything that was at all like my teenage experience. And Georgia Nicolson and her friends were like exactly, to my mind, like my friends. Just kind of like almost feral girls on the bus, and crucially, they were making each other laugh. They were so funny and my female friends have always been the funniest people in my life and it was so nice to see that reflected in the book.

Did you always want to be a writer/author?  
I always wrote, I don’t know if I realised it was something you could do for a job until I was a little older. But I was definitely always one of those kids who was like, writing weird plays and making their siblings perform.

I was also one of those kids! How does it feel to see your book in shops now? Is it kind of surreal? 
It’s so surreal. I feel so lucky. Every time I pass a shop and see it in there, I just… like it’s the kind of thing that you think might become normal over time, but I don’t know if it ever will.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever gotten?
Um, the first draft doesn’t have to be finished. It doesn’t even have to be good!

You’ll be speaking to Sophie White at an event at the International Literature Festival in Dublin this weekend, what can attendees expect from that?
I think what we talk about is kind of up to her! I’ll just try to stay open to wherever the conversation goes. And I assume we’ll be talking about, I tend to talk about heartbreak and comedy writing and late-night delivery.

What’s your go-to?
I used to be a burger girl, but I think you can’t do much better than a good Turkish wrap. 

That’s brain food! Will this be your first time in Dublin, in Ireland?
No, my mom’s side of the family is one of those North American families that’s you know, very obsessed with its Irish roots, So I’ve been to Ireland a few times. I’m really excited to visit again, Dublin is so beautiful.

There are still limited tickets available for Monica Heisey’s International Literature Festival event in Dublin this Saturday. You can find out more information and book yours here. 

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