ON WRITING...(*for school students):
Q. Where do you get your ideas?
A. I pay attention to details. To family and friends and to local and world events. There's a story everywhere you look. Authors are keen observers of the human condition and we like to play amateur psychologist. We're fascinated by what makes people tick and how life happens. We examine this through story and characters.
Q. Do you churn out stories or do they take time?
A. I do a pirouette and a story falls out my butt. (So says a fellow author bestie/friend of mine.) No! Stories take time. Sometimes scenes and events come to me quickly, and other times they take a while to appear. Like most people, authors have a life (who knew?!) with jobs and commitments like family and study. Writing takes time. Sometimes an author can sit at his/her desk and write 300 'good' words for the day (if they're lucky.) For others, it spews out like word-vomit, maybe 5000 words. Most of those words require significant editing/polishing. A YA (Young Adult) novel is usually around 70,000 words and up, so you can immediately see the writing process is a slow burn.
Q. You must have a wild imagination?
A. Imagination will take you some of the way, but inspiration plays a much bigger role. It's usually an event, an interaction, or something I've witnessed that sparks an idea and then I take that idea and run with it, exploring all the 'what-ifs.' It's also important to read and research as much as possible. You can make things up, absolutely, but things need to be credible otherwise they sound silly.
Q. Where do you work?
A. The physical act of writing happens at my desk, but the real work happens when I'm driving my car, in the shower, or when I'm doing something mundane like ironing. I'm always plotting and problem solving. I think about my characters and what they would do and what happens next. Very occasionally I might scribble an idea on a notepad so I don't forget it, but I tend not to do that. Many writers scribble things down at every opportunity (and they swear by it), but that's not me. I like to keep ideas swirling in my head.
Q. I guess you read a lot then, huh?
A. Of course! I read as much as I can. Unfortunately, like everyone else, I'm pressed for time. I consume books in crazy binges: ten books in a short space of time and then nothing for a while. I rarely read adult books; I stick with reading Children's and YA so I know what's happening in my genre. And even then I'm not across every book on the market. I wish I was!
Q. Do you like visiting schools and speaking to students about writing?
A. I love it. It's one of my favourite things. Can't get enough. Book me. Book me now!
Q. How would you describe your writing process?
A. When I visit schools, I explain that writing is like acting on paper. You step into character, become that character, think like they do, feel what they feel. You have to be a chameleon, just like screen and stage actors. The difference is you 'speak' the lines through your fingers, describing actions and painting a mental image through words. You don't have to get dressed up or wear make-up to do it. That's the best bit. I like my Ugg boots.
Q. What made you decide to write for kids?
A. If I remember correctly, being a kid sucked a lot of the time. We romanticise childhood and like to think it was all cupcakes and slippery-slides (and for a lucky few it is) but the reality is many kids have lots of pressures and problems, just like adults. They need someone who understands, someone who can support them. That someone isn't necessarily a parent, teacher, or friend, but rather an anonymous friend found within a story; a voice who speaks for them. When I was a tween I was obsessed with American children's author, Judy Blume. She wrote about the stuff that made my mum blush and my teacher's ears turn red. When you're a kid, you're mostly worried about having friends and fitting in and you don't want to look like a dork. Judy Blume's stories helped me to understand I was perfectly normal. She made me feel safe in the world and that's the special gift a good children's author can provide.
Q. Can you write about anything?
A. Not without researching it. I need to have some idea of what I'm waffling about otherwise the writing has the potential to sound unauthentic. In Paper Planes, I wrote about life in a war zone. I've never been in a war zone (and I count my blessings for that) so I had to imagine it. How did I do it? I read a lot, watched documentaries, interviewed people who'd survived war, and I drew on the times I've felt frightened, alone, afraid and powerless. In stories, the situations characters face are diverse but the feelings associated with threat, violence, love, success, etc, are universal. And that's why we relate to the story.
Q. In storytelling, do you think humour is necessary?
Humour is a great leveller. It relaxes people and generally makes them like you...meaning they want more!
Q. How do you make something funny?
A. Use irony. Give a situation a sense of the ridiculous. Make characters say smart-mouth things. Act out embarrassing situations where you'd totally die if that happened to you and then you make it happen to a fictional character. (That's the fun bit. We are twisted, we author folk.)
Q. What tools do you need to become a writer?
A room of one's own. (How very Virginia Woolf of me.) A good tax agent. A padded backside big enough to withstand: the jealous mud people sling, publisher rejections, unfavourable reviews, internalised criticism, and the shock of seeing your bank account decline to O. You also need a reliable coffee shop and a fantastic masseuse.
Q. If someone says your book was *%*!!# how do you deal with that?
A. You drink.
Heavily.
No! You, soldier on and say, 'Well, it was published and that's confirmation enough for me that there's something in it worth publishing!' And P.S. 'What was the last book YOU had published?'
Q. Do you like it when people tell you your book is fantastic?
A. Of course.
Q. Do you believe it is fantastic?
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. Because (most) writers are forever thinking they could have added a sentence here or chopped a sentence there. It's the nature of the beast. We are never happy and the story is never completely finished. Fortunately we can be coerced into happiness. Flowers, five star reviews and offers of substantial advances work a treat. As does flattery. Flattery gets you everywhere. :-)
Q. Are there other questions you haven't addressed?
A. YES. If you have a burning question, send it to me via my website 'Contact Me' box.
Q. Where do you get your ideas?
A. I pay attention to details. To family and friends and to local and world events. There's a story everywhere you look. Authors are keen observers of the human condition and we like to play amateur psychologist. We're fascinated by what makes people tick and how life happens. We examine this through story and characters.
Q. Do you churn out stories or do they take time?
A. I do a pirouette and a story falls out my butt. (So says a fellow author bestie/friend of mine.) No! Stories take time. Sometimes scenes and events come to me quickly, and other times they take a while to appear. Like most people, authors have a life (who knew?!) with jobs and commitments like family and study. Writing takes time. Sometimes an author can sit at his/her desk and write 300 'good' words for the day (if they're lucky.) For others, it spews out like word-vomit, maybe 5000 words. Most of those words require significant editing/polishing. A YA (Young Adult) novel is usually around 70,000 words and up, so you can immediately see the writing process is a slow burn.
Q. You must have a wild imagination?
A. Imagination will take you some of the way, but inspiration plays a much bigger role. It's usually an event, an interaction, or something I've witnessed that sparks an idea and then I take that idea and run with it, exploring all the 'what-ifs.' It's also important to read and research as much as possible. You can make things up, absolutely, but things need to be credible otherwise they sound silly.
Q. Where do you work?
A. The physical act of writing happens at my desk, but the real work happens when I'm driving my car, in the shower, or when I'm doing something mundane like ironing. I'm always plotting and problem solving. I think about my characters and what they would do and what happens next. Very occasionally I might scribble an idea on a notepad so I don't forget it, but I tend not to do that. Many writers scribble things down at every opportunity (and they swear by it), but that's not me. I like to keep ideas swirling in my head.
Q. I guess you read a lot then, huh?
A. Of course! I read as much as I can. Unfortunately, like everyone else, I'm pressed for time. I consume books in crazy binges: ten books in a short space of time and then nothing for a while. I rarely read adult books; I stick with reading Children's and YA so I know what's happening in my genre. And even then I'm not across every book on the market. I wish I was!
Q. Do you like visiting schools and speaking to students about writing?
A. I love it. It's one of my favourite things. Can't get enough. Book me. Book me now!
Q. How would you describe your writing process?
A. When I visit schools, I explain that writing is like acting on paper. You step into character, become that character, think like they do, feel what they feel. You have to be a chameleon, just like screen and stage actors. The difference is you 'speak' the lines through your fingers, describing actions and painting a mental image through words. You don't have to get dressed up or wear make-up to do it. That's the best bit. I like my Ugg boots.
Q. What made you decide to write for kids?
A. If I remember correctly, being a kid sucked a lot of the time. We romanticise childhood and like to think it was all cupcakes and slippery-slides (and for a lucky few it is) but the reality is many kids have lots of pressures and problems, just like adults. They need someone who understands, someone who can support them. That someone isn't necessarily a parent, teacher, or friend, but rather an anonymous friend found within a story; a voice who speaks for them. When I was a tween I was obsessed with American children's author, Judy Blume. She wrote about the stuff that made my mum blush and my teacher's ears turn red. When you're a kid, you're mostly worried about having friends and fitting in and you don't want to look like a dork. Judy Blume's stories helped me to understand I was perfectly normal. She made me feel safe in the world and that's the special gift a good children's author can provide.
Q. Can you write about anything?
A. Not without researching it. I need to have some idea of what I'm waffling about otherwise the writing has the potential to sound unauthentic. In Paper Planes, I wrote about life in a war zone. I've never been in a war zone (and I count my blessings for that) so I had to imagine it. How did I do it? I read a lot, watched documentaries, interviewed people who'd survived war, and I drew on the times I've felt frightened, alone, afraid and powerless. In stories, the situations characters face are diverse but the feelings associated with threat, violence, love, success, etc, are universal. And that's why we relate to the story.
Q. In storytelling, do you think humour is necessary?
Humour is a great leveller. It relaxes people and generally makes them like you...meaning they want more!
Q. How do you make something funny?
A. Use irony. Give a situation a sense of the ridiculous. Make characters say smart-mouth things. Act out embarrassing situations where you'd totally die if that happened to you and then you make it happen to a fictional character. (That's the fun bit. We are twisted, we author folk.)
Q. What tools do you need to become a writer?
A room of one's own. (How very Virginia Woolf of me.) A good tax agent. A padded backside big enough to withstand: the jealous mud people sling, publisher rejections, unfavourable reviews, internalised criticism, and the shock of seeing your bank account decline to O. You also need a reliable coffee shop and a fantastic masseuse.
Q. If someone says your book was *%*!!# how do you deal with that?
A. You drink.
Heavily.
No! You, soldier on and say, 'Well, it was published and that's confirmation enough for me that there's something in it worth publishing!' And P.S. 'What was the last book YOU had published?'
Q. Do you like it when people tell you your book is fantastic?
A. Of course.
Q. Do you believe it is fantastic?
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. Because (most) writers are forever thinking they could have added a sentence here or chopped a sentence there. It's the nature of the beast. We are never happy and the story is never completely finished. Fortunately we can be coerced into happiness. Flowers, five star reviews and offers of substantial advances work a treat. As does flattery. Flattery gets you everywhere. :-)
Q. Are there other questions you haven't addressed?
A. YES. If you have a burning question, send it to me via my website 'Contact Me' box.