With a new diagnosis, I changed my life and started my MFA. I looked at the praise on the second draft of what is now Blue Hour and said, “this is so boring, I hate it.”
I second-guessed everything trying to follow the writing rules. But the rules were choking the life from my story, so I pulled it apart and put it back together my way—by being a human who longs to understand why humans do the things they do.
The result? My debut novel, Blue Hour, made Vulture’s Best Books of 2023, won the 2024 Clara Johnson Award for women in fiction, was featured by Coco Gauff, Emma Roberts, Dua Lipa; and was a Barack Obama summer reading list selection.
I’m Tiffany Clarke Harrison, Author and Author Mentor. Experienced writers come to me to stop second-guessing their choices and start writing rich, raw novels with authority, hunger, and an ache.
They come when they’re ready to stop holding on so tight and let go.
But most writing advice is created for beginners, and when applied to literary fiction, it erodes the very thing that makes it desirable: humanity.
The Current was my answer. Not a formula. Not a framework. The Current is a way of understanding how your character’s inner world slides through the crevices of everyday life to affect their outer world.
It is the basis from which confident, creative decisions are made to write rich, raw literary fiction.
My clients are New York Times journalists, writers for publications like Harper’s Bazaar, had short stories published in Narrative, grant and award winners, and editors. They know how to tell a story, and deserve expert support when they need it.
Since mentorship, some have signed with agents, received six-figure book deals, or self-published (becoming known across the world and ranking #1 on bestseller lists).
Apply for mentorship or to rewrite your book together.