Creative Advertising alumna on her varied career as creative director and children’s author

Having seen her debut novel shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2023, MA Creative Advertising alumna Hannah Moffatt is now looking forward to seeing her third book for children, Help! Aliens Stole My Grandad, hit shelves on 28 May.  

Since her time studying at Falmouth, Hannah hasn’t only been writing for children; she’s combined it with working as a creative director at creative agency Definition where she is part of a team of brand, marketing, comms and AI specialists who work to create ‘unforgettable impact inside and outside organisations’.

We caught up with Hannah to find out more about her journey into becoming an author, how people she met on her MA supported her in the early stages of her career and how it felt to see her debut shortlisted for one of the UK’s most prestigious awards in children’s publishing.  

Can you tell us about what your role as a creative director at Definition involves? 

I sit in our language team, where we do everything from developing a brand's tone of voice to writing reports, scripting videos and training businesses to be better writers at work. Even in the age of AI, people still need help with that (in fact many need more help than they did before because the risk of creating slop if you don't know how to prompt AI properly is so high).

Definition itself is a slightly unusual business. We're essentially lots of different boutique agencies that have teamed up, meaning we have specialists who work on video, design, ad campaigns and PR – it’s a nice little creative community.

What inspired you to want to start writing for children, and how did your publishing journey begin?

I'd been writing sensible things for grown-ups for years and was looking for an outlet to write something fun. My two nephews were also young at the time, so I decided to write stories for them. Because I was a writer already, I foolishly thought the process would be easy! I soon realised that writing whitepapers and writing stories to engage seven-year-olds are quite different skills. Luckily, I found a great course and crit group close to home, where I was able to work on my books in the evenings.