By Nada El-Margoushy
England-born Egyptian rising Crime Novelist Noha Daoud has achieved unprecedented success just a few years after starting her career, securing not one but two best-seller awards for two consecutive years, 2021 and 2022.
We were lucky enough at the Top 50 Women Forum to interview the famed writer and get the scoop on her success story from the very beginning, and she generously shared with us some tips and tricks that helped her throughout her career.
How did you make the bold decision to leave your steady career? And how did you make that transition from an engineer to a writer?
Of course, it was a risky decision, and the transition wasn’t easy. Nevertheless, I was extremely unfulfilled in my steady job and had this recurring feeling that I had already peaked in my regular 9 to 5 like I had reached my end and wasn’t learning or adding anything to my professional and personal growth.
On the other hand, I started to get consumed by the idea of unleashing my creativity through writing. I would spend hours writing with no actual sense of the time passing; I was very entertained to the point that it didn’t feel like a job.
Also, the lucky fact that my husband was the breadwinner in our family made it easy for me to follow my dream, as the responsibility to earn my living and support a family did not fall on me.
For all those reasons, I finally took the leap and started writing my first full-length novel in 2017 while still working as an Engineer. But I didn’t quit my job until I witnessed the success of my first book. After that, I decided to dive into the unknown. In the end, it was God who inspired me and helped me through that bold transition.
What made you choose to write crime in particular?
In my humble opinion as a writer, I think that a writer does his best writing inspired by what he enjoys reading in general. I was always a crime fiction addict, whether in books or on the screen; it has always been my true passion and main source of entertainment. That is why, when I finally decided to start writing, I chose the crime genre, which I believed brought me joy and inspiration.
Another contributing reason was that no Egyptian author has claimed to be an exclusive crime fiction writer before; that really encouraged me as it felt like I was exploring a new territory, at least in my country.
The only obstacle was that this genre was somewhat unexclusive to the public in Egypt, so it wasn’t easy to market or get published; it took a lot of convincing, patience, and resilience on my part.
Are you interested in exploring different writing genres, or do you prefer to just stick with crime as you already excel at it?
I was asked this question many times and my definitive answer remains unchanged, which is that I will never deviate from writing crime literature, mainly because it has become my personal brand that I’d like to maintain and partly because it leaves room for complementary secondary genres and backstories with endless opportunities to include romance, drama, social life, and even horror within the same book.
For example, one of my latest novels, “Crime at Building 47, embraces a paranormal component that compliments the main plot.
Growing up, what inspired you most? Were you influenced by specific writers or true crime shows?
Agatha Christie was and remains my main Idol; I have enjoyed reading her books ever since I could remember, besides other Egyptian writers, including Nabil Farouk and Ahmed Khaled Tawfik.
I didn’t grow up watching a lot of true crime or documentaries, but I was always curious about people and loved watching them and listening to their stories, which later in life was ammo when I was starting my career as a writer. I believe crime really captures the true soul of humans and puts their whole identities under the microscope.
Although my experience started differently than most writers, I wasn’t always a writer; I discovered my talent and passion for writing by accident. I was on summer vacation with my family and enjoying an Agatha Christie book as I usually do on vacations.
Coincidentally, strange events were occurring at the hotel we were staying at, which ignited a flame in my head and let my imagination run wild. I began writing my first crime novel as soon as I got home.
Did your diploma help you learn how to market your book and get published?
Actually no, the diploma did not include any courses teaching you how to market your book or get publishers. Unfortunately, I had to learn that on my own and it was such a bumpy ride. However, applying for that diploma was the best decision I have ever made; it practically kick-started my career.
I enrolled in the creative writing diploma after publishing my first book, at a time when I felt lost and didn’t know what I was doing or what is my next step. After my first book, I went through a phase where I experienced the worst writer’s block, where I wasn’t able to finish any new story, to the point that I thought I was a one-hit wonder and that this was not my true calling or the right path in life.
Taking that diploma helped me interact with experts who taught me everything about professional writing, from building appealing plots to writing strong main characters and organized outlines and creating exceptional settings and details for my stories.
Back then, this was exactly what I needed to get hands-on experience in writing, and I followed that by attending many writing workshops to further boost and enrich my craft.
What inspires your stories? And how do you deal with writer’s block?
Throughout my journey, I have never dedicated my time to searching for ideas for my next book. Every novel I wrote had its own spark; I would get a sudden flood of ideas caused by a specific encounter or some random thing I heard, and BOOM, a new storyline was born. I also regularly write down new ideas or any events that might inspire a new story later.
Most of the time, when I go through this block, it is usually because I did not plan my book well. Whenever I start a new book, I begin with a planning process that can take up to 3 to 4 months. So, whenever I go through this block, I just hit pause and go back to the initial planning and outline of the novel and give my best shot at fixing it until I’m ready to resume the writing process smoothly.
As for the occasional writer’s block caused by boredom or lack of will to write, I resort to a change of scenery or find a writing buddy to get my juices flowing until I get back in rhythm.
Have you ever considered the possibility of turning one of your crime novels into a movie or a mini-series?
I have considered it more than once indeed, as it was one of my dreams; I even had a sit down with several production agencies and discussed the possibility of turning some of my books into movies, but they convinced me that my novels require a lot of editing before being ready for the screen.
I realized that I would either lose a lot of time trying to fix my already finished work and of course, I didn’t want to do this as my main priority remains for writing, or find a good scenarist excited to do the scenario editing. So, in the end, I chose writing, but I plan to write a novel with that purpose in mind in the future.
If they didn’t require so much editing, I would have loved to see “Reda” and my electronically published novel “Galeela’s Law” turn into movies.
What are the obstacles you stumbled upon through your journey, and what is the downside of being a writer?
I faced many obstacles along the way, especially since I only just started writing professionally in 2017 with no prior experience, which meant I had no tools, contacts, mentors, or even proper training. After my first novel, though, I enrolled in that online diploma and went to several writing workshops, which proved extremely helpful in developing my writing skills.
Also, I didn’t know I had to do any planning for the book; I would just start writing, and that resulted in such a chaotic process, to say the least.
But the hardest setback I came across was the inability to market my books or find publishers. It was incredibly challenging; I must have sent my first manuscript to over 20 publishing houses before I decided to self-publish.
I self-published my first two books before luckily winning a contest, and then my third and fourth novels were finally picked up by 2 well-known publishing houses. Publishers don’t easily trust first-time writers out of fear of unprofessionalism and lack of commitment.
As for the downside, I discovered after being published that a huge part of my success in marketing and selling my books relies on regularly appearing at events, doing book signings and interviews, and being active on social media, which certainly wasn’t my strong suit, and was very time-consuming and exhausting for me. I had to learn how to cope with that side as, in this day and age, that was the only way to reach more readers, get recognized, and sell more books.
And finally, do you have any expert insights you could give to talented writers who want to make it in this challenging career path, especially young girls?
My advice for upcoming writers is to indulge in reading and writing as much as they can, to improve their craft. There is this saying that I strongly believe, and it goes something like this, “Dreamers only dream of writing…Writers write.”. It means that, in order to succeed as a writer, you have to be persistent and keep on writing.
Another tip I’m always keen to follow is to write down every idea I get so I always have storage of plot ideas ready to be put down in writing, or as I call it, writer’s ammo. A writer should not wait for inspiration; you have to be constantly prepared as success opportunities don’t come on silver platers; you have to make the effort to earn success.
Also, do not wait for encouragement and support from other people; be your own cheerleader and have the discipline to follow your dreams regardless of the consequences. Moreover, don’t get confused by peoples’ opinions; only your voice matters…Listen to what your instincts tell you, and stop caring about what everybody else thinks. Remember, this is YOUR journey and yours only.
With those satisfying answers and useful advice came the end of our fruitful interview with the talented author. On behalf of the Top 50 Women Forum, we wish her non-stop success in the future.
It is worth noting that Daoud holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cairo University. She worked for years in her field before following her true passion and starting her writing career in 2017. The crime fiction novelist wrote 8 books and recently published a new edition of one of her novels, “Reda”, after the previous edition completely sold out. Her captivating novels successfully made a nationwide name for Noha and branded her as the first exclusive crime fiction novelist in Egypt.
