FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What’s your best writing advice for children?
1. Make sure you’re putting aside time to write. Writing is a skill and the more you do it, the better you get at it. Compare it to learning a language, a musical instrument or a sport. Practice matters! You don't necessarily need to be working on a complete story every time you write. Have fun. Try writing different opening sentences, character descriptions, scene descriptions. Experiment. Take risks. You're the only one who has to see these scribblings, and it will help you to determine your unique style. Refer to The Story Writer’s Handbook for ideas on how to experiment and play with words.
2. Read broadly and learn from what you read. Take note of those things you read that delight you. Consider why they delight you - what is it that makes this sentence sing, this character so real, this passage so emotional, this outcome so satisfying?
3. Get to know your characters well before writing. Spend time making lists about them - what they look like, what they do with their time, their personality, what's precious to them. The list could go on forever, but really, it only needs to include those things that help you love and understand them (or despise and understand them, if they’re a villain!). Then once you know your characters, take the journey with them. Imagine yourself there with them in every situation. Engage your five senses. Get emotionally involved. I really do laugh and cry a lot when writing my stories. My characters become real and I experience everything with them.
How do you plan a story?
See my book, The Story Writer’s Handbook.
Where do you get ideas for stories?
Story ideas are everywhere! Anything that sparks my interest might lead to a new character, setting, theme or entire story.
A good writer will always have their radar up. Watch. Listen. Take notes. Draw pictures. Read. Visit art galleries, gardens, museums, fancy buildings. Chat with people. Be alert!
And do the opposite. Withdraw into the magical world of your imagination. Give yourself time to daydream.
Playing with words, writing just for fun, will generate story ideas, too. Even though that’s not why we’re playing. Our imaginations are powerful. They will run away from us at unexpected times. See The Story Writer’s Handbook for more information.
What inspired you to become an author?
There are many things that contributed to my desire to be an author:
· A love of creative pursuits – patchwork, gardening, painting, drawing, crochet, journalling, home decoration, baking, embroidery, sculpture, writing. Turns out story writing is my favourite creative pursuit and the one from which I have managed to earn a living.
· A fabulous English teacher in high school. Her passion for literature was contagious!
· A love of stories.
· A firm belief in the power of words, stories and books to change lives.
· The knowledge that books and reading can be a powerful influence on a child’s emotional, social and intellectual development.
· A desire to create the kinds of stories I wish I’d been shown as a child.
· A love of writing.
What do you like about being an author?
My writing is an escape. When I’m writing a story, the real world disappears and I take the adventure with my characters. I get to live many dfferent lives, just as I do when I read books.
I am totally in control of the world of my story. I can make whatever I want to happen happen. That makes me feel very powerful!
I love playing with words and images, and working on a sentence or a paragraph until it says exactly what I want it to.
And I love sharing my stories with others, meeting my readers and helping others to get excited about story writitng.
What’s your advice for overcoming or avoiding writer’s block?
My best piece of advice is to just write. Set a writing routine and stick to it. Sit down and write somewhere quiet without distractions. Before you start, make sure you have everything at your fingertips – computer, dictionary, thesaurus, pens, paper, chocolate…
Sometimes writing can feel like pushing a boulder uphill, but if you just keep going, you might get into the flow. The flow can’t begin if you don’t even start writing in the first place. And if you end up writing something that’s not so good, that’s fine. You can work with those words and make them better. At least you have something, not just a blank page.
I spend a lot of time planning a story before writing - getting to know my characters, the setting, the themes I want to sit at the centre of my story, the plot. That means that I am far less likely to get stumped along the way.
Still, there are times when I just don’t know what to write next or how to solve a problem, and then, I walk away. Not forever! I take a break from the story. It’s amazing how often the answer to a writing problem pops up just minutes after I have left my desk. A change of scene and a few moments rest for my brain can work wonders.
Do you have a special writing place or routine?
Yes I do. I am not a morning person, so I start my days quiety with coffee, some reading and, sometimes, a bit of playful writing. When I start thinking more about the novel I am currently working on than the book I’m reading or the words I’m playing with, I go into my study, sit at my desk and start writing - usually by 10am. I write until I’m hungry. I stop for lunch, then go back to my desk and write until I can no longer do any more, then I go for a walk. And sometimes, if the walk revives me, I write again, into the evening.
What’s your favourite genre to write?
I like writing a range of stories, from serious historical fiction, like We Are Wolves and All the Beautiful Things, through to light, funny stories, like Frances Bloom and Red Dirt Diaries. I love the puzzle-type process of writing a mystery-crime story, like The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Rome. I love the cross over between reality and fantasy in my Travelling Bookshop books. I love writing about families and how they overcome hurdles and sorrows, like in The Girl Who Brought Mischief and Silver Linings. But no matter what I am writing, I love to include humour. Even in the darkest of stories, humour can provide relief and a moment of joy and hope amidst the tears.
What’s your favourite book?
I have many that I love deeply, but my top three would probably be:
My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell.
The Pursuit of Love, by Nancy Mitford.
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott.
Which is your favourite book out of all those you’ve written?
That’s like being asked who is my favourite child. I can’t choose.
Who is your favourite child?
That’s like being asked which is my favourite book out of all those I’ve written. I can’t choose.
What tips would you give to adults writing for children?
1. Spend time exploring ideas before writing - daydreaming, drawing, exploding ideas, making notes and lists and drawing pictures. See my book, The Story Writer’s Handbook for ways in which I do this.
2. Organise your best ideas into a plan. You’re allowed to deviate from the plan once you get writing! A plan simply gives you an idea of where you’re heading – and the confidence to keep going.
3. Get in touch with your inner child – the little person you used to be, the one that believed anything was possible, that cakes and lollies were the most important food in the world, that bubble blowing was a productive use of time, that jumping from the roof onto a trampoline was totally safe. Write for them and the little ones in your life who are still living in the zone of whimsy and spontaneity.
4. Have fun. Be playful. Be silly. Be wildly imaginative. (See #3.) You can always rein it in during an edit if you’ve gone too far.
5. Take time to picture a scene before you write it. Writing is painting pictures with words. It’s easier to write about the picture if you’ve gazed at it long enough for every detail to become familiar.
6. Read your finished story aloud several times during the editing process. Make sure your meaning is clear. And be aware that rhythm and flow matter as much as meaning. Make every sentence as perfect as possible. One glitch in rhythm, clarity or consistency jars the reader and takes them out of the fantasy of the story. You want to keep them there, inside the story, living and believing every moment of it.
7. Practise creativity. Don’t only write when you’re creating a story for a specific audience or for publication. Practice, play, experiment, just write for the sake of spilling words onto the page. See The Story Writer’s Handbook for some suggestions on how to play with words and stories.
I’ve written a book. What next?
A simple search online will reveal a range of resources and opportunities – books, blogs, writing groups, writers’ conferences, pitching opportunities (online and face to face), publishing houses, literary agents, self-publishing. There are many pathways to publication. Enjoy the journey!