Interview: "Listening to Lyn Yeowart"

The Graduate Union of The University of Melbourne featured an interview with me in their Jan-Feb 2021 newsletter. It’s a sneak look into aspects of my childhood and the influences in my life.

Listening to Lyn Yeowart

Lyn Yeowart is a consulting writer and editor with more than 25 years of experience in writing and editing everything from captions for artworks to speeches for executives. Lyn has a Bachelor of Education, a Post-graduate Diploma in Creative Writing and a Master of Creative Writing. 

Her debut novel, The Silent Listener, is loosely based on events from her childhood in rural Victoria. She is now happily ensconced in Melbourne, where there is very little mud, but lots of books. 

Lyn spoke with us recently via an email interview.

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What was your educational background? What did you study at university and why did you choose to study that?

Growing up in working-class rural Victoria in the 1970s, I went to a state high school, where, as a 14-year-old female, I was all but forced to study shorthand and typing, so I could get a ‘good steady job’ as a secretary. My shorthand and typing teacher was a young energetic female who recognised that I was never going to be a secretary, so she encouraged me to study Legal Studies, which she also taught, and which I loved. 

Towards the end of Year 12, I was accepted into Arts/Law at the Australian National University (ANU) on a scheme that selected students based on a history of academic success, which landed me on the front page of our local newspaper. I was eager to accept the position at ANU, but my parents had neither a lot of money nor an understanding of the opportunities that such a degree would offer. 

When I received my Higher School Certificate (HSC) results, I was also offered a studentship to study teaching. This generous government allowance that would give me financial independence was the grandest present I’d ever received … wrapped up with an obligation to teach in the Victorian education system for three years. My parents told me that the only way I could go to uni was to forget about ANU and accept the studentship. 

So a teaching degree it was – at Rusden State College of Victoria (which, like the ANU scheme, and indeed studentships, is now defunct). Perhaps not surprisingly, I elected to become a Shorthand, Typing and Legal Studies teacher, emulating that young energetic teacher who had offered me alternatives. I also studied Linguistics and Literature so that I could teach English, because I had always loved words and reading. And because I harboured a secret, never-uttered desire to be a writer.

What did you learn during your tertiary education – not just academically, but what ideas did you form and what perceptions? Did any of your views change significantly when you went to university?

At 17 and two months of age, I was living in Monash Uni’s Howitt Hall and within days, my WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) jaw was well and truly dropped. I was totally stunned by the incredibly diverse, talented, and interesting people I encountered: Italians and Greeks and Asians and Swedes … and Catholics and Jews and heathens (all of whom, despite my father’s insistence of the opposite, were far too kind to end up in hell) … and gays and dope-smokers and ‘women-libbers’ and music fiends … and academics (male and female) and … people who were loud and confident and generous and … and … and ...

As elements of my debut novel depict, my life at home had not equipped me with any level of self-assurance or audacity – I was quiet, shy, and easily intimidated. Although I developed friendships (some of which I still have today), I was constantly bewildered by others’ confidence (“how could someone be 17 and so outspoken and adventurous … and happy?”). But rather than being emboldened by them, I was overawed and often retreated to my tiny room where I was comfortable with my books and my essays and lonely cups of tea. My studies challenged and expanded my intellect, but my interactions with all of these people had a far greater impact on me because they washed away many prejudices and replaced them with an understanding that there were many ways that a human could be.

What is your earliest memory of having an interest in your field?

I grew up in a house that essentially had just two books: What Bird Is That? and the Bible (several versions of, in fact!). We never visited libraries or bookshops (to the best of my knowledge, there wasn’t a bookshop in either of the nearby towns), so my early reading was limited to the three to four shelves of books at my tiny primary school. Nevertheless, I read voraciously, cycling and re-cycling through those shelves, oblivious to the fact that the world was populated by hundreds, thousands, millions of books. So when I began high school, I was ecstatic to find that the three walls of Room 1 were lined with book-filled shelves. I was equally fascinated by the item of furniture beside the librarian’s desk. Full of rows of tiny drawers, the catalogue contained an index card for each and every book. This was my first encounter with meta-writing, which remains a strong area of interest. One day, when I was 12, my brother lent me a book he had read for Form 5 English, saying as he handed it over, “You must read this’” It was the first ‘grown-up’ book I had ever read, and I was astonished that such books existed. When I finished reading the final page, a tiny idea crept into my mind: what if I could write a book like that? How magnificent it would be if I could pen something so grand (and dark) as Albert Camus’ The Plague. I never told anyone, but the idea never left me.

What has been your pathway since graduating? What was your first job after graduation and how did that job prepare you for your later positions? Any lessons learnt?

I finished my Bachelor of Education and was duly sent to Horsham High School, where I taught Shorthand and Typing (of course) and a few other subjects. It was there that I began to come out of the shell that my university days had cracked, but not broken. Horsham High School had many people who helped me explore possibilities of my future self, even though I doubt they realised that was happening – indeed, I hardly knew that it was happening! One colleague told me that she enjoyed reading my end-of-term reports of the students in her form; that reports from other teachers were adequate, but mine were a delight to read, plus she knew they would be free of any grammatical errors. Another colleague asked me to write a student handbook about a new structure for the middle school “because I know you’re a good writer”. I struggled a little with these expressions of confidence in me and my writing, but these and other seemingly insignificant throw-away lines from colleagues helped build a self-confidence I had lacked – while also feeding the idea that maybe one day I could be a writer. 

What are the goals of your company/organisation and what are you ultimately trying to achieve?

As well as my creative writing endeavours, I run a small business that provides writing and editing services to businesses, governments and individuals. We write and edit everything from captions for art to complex reports for governments, speeches for executives, and academic theses. I also help other creative writers by assessing and editing manuscripts, and developing documents such as bios, pitches and tasters.

In all of this work, I’m ultimately aiming to help people and organisations communicate more clearly so that they can achieve their aims. I firmly believe communication is one of the most important skills we can develop, and when I help others communicate more effectively, it’s incredibly satisfying.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life and what lessons did that person teach you?

The teacher who taught me Shorthand & Typing and Legal Studies was without a doubt one of the biggest influences in my life. Jan believed in me, openly acknowledged the skills I had, and convinced me that I could go to university and discover and revel in new opportunities that I couldn’t even imagine.

As an interesting mirror of that experience, one of the other great influences in my life is a student I met in my first year of teaching at Horsham High School. I was her Form 3 form teacher, and Deanne was a stand-out student. We became friends when she was in Year 11 when we worked on the school magazine together and performed in a play together, and have remained friends since then. I’m very proud that she is delivering a speech at the launch of my novel. Now a philanthropist and media entrepreneur, Deanne has shown that setting goals and believing in yourself (and others) can help you achieve great things. Most importantly, though, she has proven that you do not have to compromise your values and morals to achieve financial, personal or professional success, and that has been something I have endeavoured to hold on to. 

What have you been most proud of in your career?

I am most proud of the fact that I signed my first publishing contract when I was 60. Of course, I wish I had been a novelist at 30 or 40 (or even 50, she whispers), but I wasn’t, and that’s something that kind of haunts me as I watch others half my age achieve what I wanted to do at their age. But my life had a different trajectory, for all sorts of reasons. Certainly, I didn’t have the self-belief when I was 30, and maybe I didn’t have the skills either … who knows? 

I’m also particularly proud that I completed a Post-graduate Diploma and a Master’s degree as a mature student and a single mother. Deciding to go back to university and complete one subject a semester while running my own business and bringing up two teenagers was without a doubt one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made, but also one of the best.

What are some of the greatest challenges in your line of work and how did you overcome them?

Writing a novel is hard: much, much harder than I thought it would be. Even though I knew I could write reasonably well (having made a living out of it), I still had to overcome profound self-doubt, and am endlessly grateful to my writing teachers and buddies who enthusiastically praised my writing and encouraged me to continue. I also had to carve out massive amounts of time that was really not possible before my children were independent. And to do this, I gave up a lot … everything from Spanish lessons and weekends away with friends, to income and sleep.

What did you develop during this time – professionally and personally – in terms of your ideas, and did they change?

Having completed this novel, I have even more admiration for novelists. I understand the sacrifices and sheer hard work that any novelist has put into finishing a novel. Starting is easy, but finishing — well, that’s a completely different story. And I feel the same about other writers, such as poets, playwrights, screenwriters and songwriters. That it looks so easy to outsiders is in fact testament to their hard work.

Friends and mentors in the writing community have consistently demonstrated not only the importance and value of being respectful and supportive of everyone who is writing, but also choose to read do have a readership – and are still the culmination of considerable hard work and commitment.

What is the most important thing that can make you successful at your job?

I tend to frequently reiterate the need for hard work and dedication to your goals. But I also firmly believe in the importance of education. My post-graduate studies were wonderfully inspiring and rewarding, thanks to the creative and intellectual challenges they provided, and the people teaching me and the people learning with me. But much of my education has been informal as well. By frequently talking to other authors, poets, and artists, and by reading, listening to and viewing their work, I’ve developed a far deeper appreciation of the diversity of possibilities in the creative process, and I hope that I’ve drawn on this in writing The Silent Listener, particularly during the long and intense editing process. And on that note, I want to stress how much I learnt from my publisher and editor at Penguin Random House. They are both talented and dedicated people who challenged and educated me about every single aspect of novel-writing. I don’t have an additional qualification as a result, but I have certainly expanded my knowledge.

What are you working on for the future?

I was fortunate to land a two-book contract with Penguin Random House, so I’m working on the next novel. I’m also building up my work to support other creative writers, and have several really talented writers who I’m working with. 

What advice would you give graduates?

Identify and celebrate your strengths. Know who you are. Understand the difference between your exotelic and autotelic goals, and decide which ones you are going to aim for – and how you plan to achieve them. Never underestimate the value of your past education, and always look forward to your future education (formal or otherwise), and its possibilities … and surprises.

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Lyn Yeowart’s debut novel, The Silent Listener, is a literary suspense thriller loosely based on events from her childhood in rural Victoria. Published by Penguin Random House Australia, it went into re-print and was also sold into three international territories before publication on 2nd February 2021. Reviewers have said it is “totally addictive”, “a cracking thriller with heart”, “steeped in atmosphere and with taut, intricate plotting”, “stunningly accomplished”, “unputdownable”, and “should be atop of everyone’s reading list”.

To purchase or read more about The Silent Listener see https://bit.ly/3iorNbg.