The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience How Acclaimed Debut Novelist Rosie Storey Writes
Feb 6, 2026
Rosie Storey, debut novelist and writing coach whose novel Dandelion Is Dead was long-listed for the Bath Novel Award and optioned for TV. She talks about leaving a corporate career to write full-time. She describes rewrites, finding editorial help, pacing craft, balancing humor with grief, and themes of authenticity and midlife choices. She also discusses the book’s TV option and plans for a second novel.
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Quit, Fail, Start Again
- Rosie Storey quit her corporate job to write and spent three years struggling with one novel before returning to work and starting anew.
- She then wrote a new book, used editorial feedback, and finally signed with an agent in 2024 after a decade of effort.
Cut For Pace And Marketability
- Use professional editorial feedback to tighten pacing and cut word count to publisher-friendly lengths.
- Rosie reduced her manuscript from ~130,000 words to under 100,000 to improve pace and marketability.
Accidental Catfishing Setup
- The novel opens with Poppy replying to a man's message on her dead sister Dandelion's dating app and going on a birthday date.
- Chemistry ensues and the man believes Poppy is Dandelion, driving the book's central conflict.
