{"id":4002,"date":"2026-02-11T10:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T10:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ukwriterscollege.com\/?p=4002"},"modified":"2026-03-27T03:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T03:47:27","slug":"writers-college-success-story-award-winning-novelist-martin-steyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/writers-college-success-story-award-winning-novelist-martin-steyn\/","title":{"rendered":"Writers’ College Success Story: Award-winning Novelist Martin Steyn"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Martin Steyn enrolled in the SA Writers’ College Write a Novel Course (Skryf ‘n roman kursus<\/a>), he had a detective novel taking shape. What emerged from that process was Donker<\/em> Spoor (Dark Traces), <\/em>a crime thriller that sold out its first South African print run, crossed into the American market to a starred Kirkus Reviews<\/em> notice, and has since been translated into Turkish and Albanian.<\/p>\n

He has now written six novels.<\/p>\n

In the decade since Dark Traces<\/em> introduced Jan Magson to South African readers, Steyn has built one of the more quietly formidable bodies of work in local crime fiction. Writing in both English and Afrikaans, he has won the ATKV Woordveertjie for Suspense Fiction, and earned the kind of international readership most debut novelists only imagine.<\/p>\n

We went back to speak with him about the journey from course to bookshelves, and what it takes to keep writing at that level.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been quite busy these past few years. What are your writing accomplishments thus far? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

My greatest accomplishment, and the one dearest to my heart, remains the moment when my first manuscript, Donker Spoor<\/em>, was accepted for publication by LAPA Uitgewers. This was the one I had written during the Write a Novel course, and it had taken many years and several manuscripts killed in action to receive that message. It was the fulfilment of a dream I\u2019ve nurtured since high school. Donker Spoor<\/em> was also the manuscript I had spent the most time and effort on and worked the hardest to improve, so it was an immensely satisfying moment when all of that finally paid off.<\/p>\n

I am fortunate that Donker Spoor<\/em> was well received by critics and readers. It won the Afrikaans Language and Culture Association\u2019s (ATKV) Woordveertjie award for Suspense Fiction in 2015, and was reprinted last year.<\/p>\n

Of course, once you become a published author, it makes continuing publishing much easier, but it\u2019s by no means a guarantee. I still do extensive rewriting after I submit my first draft to my publisher. Consequently, each book is an accomplishment and the result of hard work.<\/p>\n

Two books followed Donker Spoor<\/em>: firstly Skuldig<\/em> in 2015 (which went on to win the ATKV Woordveertjie in 2016) and Swartval<\/em> in 2016. The new one is currently in the editing process and is coming out in October.<\/p>\n

The opportunity arose for an English version of Donker Spoor<\/em>, so I translated it and it was published locally last year as Dark Traces<\/em>. It is also available in the United States via Catalyst Press.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll always have a special place in my heart for short stories, because that was how I started writing, and why I fell hopelessly in love with it. I\u2019ve been fortunate that several of my stories have been published in collections and magazines these past few years. I\u2019m particularly pleased with the ones that have been included in the annual collections that the University of Stellenbosch publishes in conjunction with the Woordfees<\/em> literary and art festival. The selection process is strictly anonymous, so it\u2019s all about the story.<\/p>\n

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In what way(s) did the course change how you approached the novel writing process?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My tutor was Wilna Adriaanse and she was fantastic. This is the magic of the SA Writers College writing courses. You have a tutor who deals with you personally and who reads your work as you write. This makes all the difference. Because now you can attend to problem areas and implement suggestions as the story develops, almost in real time, instead of doing so after spending months to complete an entire manuscript.<\/p>\n

In my case, after I sent my first scene, Wilna immediately remarked that she wasn\u2019t sure from whose perspective the story was being told. I had always employed an omniscient narrator (unless it was a first person story), but this made me think and it was the first step towards coming down to my main character\u2019s level. Instead of telling the story of a police investigation into a series of murders, it would eventually evolve into this detective\u2019s story, where the reader lives the investigation through him. This did not happen overnight; in fact, it took me three drafts to finally get it right. But this has completely changed the way I tell a story. Donker Spoor<\/em>\/Dark Traces<\/em> is Mags\u2019s story. Skuldig<\/em> is Menck\u2019s story. Swartval<\/em> is Claire\u2019s story. Each book is written entirely from that character\u2019s point of view. Of course, there are disadvantages to this approach, but it makes for a much more personal story. In the forthcoming novel there are two main characters (because the story required it), but each scene is experienced through a single perspective.<\/p>\n

There were a number of smaller things, one being not to overindulge my fascination with forensic details. For me, the shift in focus to the main character and making it his story proved crucial. One of my enduring criticisms whenever I submitted a manuscript was characterisation. Even after I completed the course, it still took a lot of work to get that element right. This is why it was so satisfying when one reviewer remarked, \u2018Steyn\u2019s characterisation is exceptional\u2019 (Johan Smith, in Rapport<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Ultimately, you have to do the work yourself, but you need someone to help mould you, taking off the rough edges, adding some depth, and I found that in Wilna. And that\u2019s another aspect of the Writers College course that I appreciated, that it\u2019s not just a short course. The sustained support of your tutor is important.<\/p>\n

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You studied psychology and criminology in university, and now you\u2019re a crime fiction author with what you\u2019ve referred to as a \u2018questionable fascination with serial killers\u2019\u2026 What is it that draws you to the darker side of the human psyche?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Since childhood I\u2019ve been drawn to darker things like horror movies. I don\u2019t know why. Although, when I shaved my head as research for my third novel, I discovered a dent at the back of my skull that I have no recollection of…<\/p>\n

What piqued my interest in serial killers in particular was the fact that these men, who looked just like the neighbour, the man in the queue at Checkers, hunted other humans for no apparent reason other than the pleasure of it. They had no prior relationship with their victims, nor did they kill as part of another crime (like a robbery) in order to eliminate a witness. I wanted to know why these men derived pleasure from torturing and killing strangers. So I began reading true crime and found profiling particularly fascinating. And this was a large part of the reason why I became interested in psychology.<\/p>\n

But as to why this fascinates me, I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t even kill flies.<\/p>\n

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\"Martin<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

What has been the most challenging aspect of novel writing? How have you overcome this challenge?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>From the start, my goal was to be published. I didn\u2019t just want to write, I wanted my stories to be published. And as mentioned above, the major criticism always involved characterisation. In the end it was about listening to criticism and advice, exploiting my psychology studies, spending time just thinking about a particular character, and continuing to work on it.<\/p>\n

Obviously, you need some degree of writing talent, but I believe there are two other crucial factors in getting published.<\/p>\n

Firstly, you need to change your attitude towards criticism and grab it with both hands. Motivated criticism from a trusted\/knowledgeable source, however deep it cuts, is a precious gift. If no one tells you what\u2019s wrong, how can you improve?<\/p>\n

Secondly, don\u2019t give up. You can\u2019t get published if you give up. The vast majority of successful writers have a trail of dead manuscripts behind them.<\/p>\n

Unlike my previous manuscripts, I kept working on Donker Spoor<\/em>. This resulted in much frustration, depression, and ultimately, the best moment of my life. Donker Spoor<\/em> was rejected three times before LAPA accepted it. Today it\u2019s a critically-acclaimed, prize-winning novel, none of which would have happened without those rejections and criticism. That\u2019s because each time I went back to work on the manuscript, armed with new insight, it got better and stronger.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Martin and his books on his <\/strong>website<\/strong><\/a>. For more news on Martin and his upcoming projects, follow him on <\/strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>YouTube<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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When Martin Steyn enrolled in the SA Writers’ College Write a Novel Course (Skryf ‘n roman kursus), he had a detective novel taking shape. What emerged from that process was Donker Spoor (Dark Traces), a crime thriller that sold out its first South African print run, crossed into the American market to a starred Kirkus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"wds_primary_category":567,"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-success"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4002"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109960,"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions\/109960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sawriterscollege.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}