A question from Katy Noyes on the TV Book Club Facebook Group: Where does the writing process begin? ‘The big idea’? Chapter one? A character?
My experience so far has been that I’m driven by an idea. It’s important for the idea to sustain your energy and enthusiasm from the first moment it occurs to you, right through to the end of the writing process. It should give you a flutter every time you think about it.
A question from Samantha on channel4.com/tvbookclub: Where and how do you engage in the writing of your work?
I prefer to work at home, usually wearing pyjamas and drinking cups of tea, with a cat for company. Sometimes, I will go to a cafe instead. I always work on a laptop.
A question from Mez on channel4.com/tvbookclub: Who or what has influenced your style of writing?
What a good question! And almost impossible to answer truthfully, because it changes every day. Other authors who I admire and adore, such as Hilary Mantel, Salley Vickers, Sarah Waters and Virginia Woolf, certainly influence me if only in the sense of being a standard I aspire to. Reading philosophy at university had a big impact on my writing style, in terms of clarity and reigning in my impulses. Theatre is supremely important, in terms of good storytelling. And, actually, good dialogue in film and TV drama is useful too.
A question from Jo Baines on the TV Book Club Facebook Group: Do you feel it’s inevitable that an author’s life experiences will influence their writing or is it possible to write a book that is pure imagination and creative process?
Tricky. Personally, I feel that some scholars and biographers look too hard for similarities between works of fiction and an author’s life experience; sometimes a book is just a book, and stands alone. But your own life experience is the most easily available source of information you have, which is why many writers draw from this, especially when they’re starting out. I don’t think it’s ‘inevitable’ that life experience makes it into a novel, because imagination is an extremely powerful force in its own right.
A question from Ali on channel4.com/tvbookclub: My GCSE English teacher told me (a few years ago now), that when authors write a book they know exactly what the plot is, and wouldn’t start without knowing what the end will be. I’ve always found this difficult to believe; is it true!?
Some authors are famous for successful writing without planning, but they are extraordinary! For me, planning is essential. I can’t start writing until I have a structure, a start point and an ending. As I progress through the book, I also plan the individual sections or chapters I’m working on. This isn’t a detailed process, just an online in pencil on white paper as notes, lines and bubbles. I then write on my computer, making sure I hit all the milestones in my story. There’s lots of room for new and unexpected things to come out of the writing too, for example, a minor character might prove to have a stronger voice than you originally thought and becomes a main character, so you are adapting as you go along. But the risk of not planning ahead, and not knowing your ending, is that you spend lots of time on chapters which ultimately have to be junked.
How old were you when you had your first book published, and what were you doing before you were a writer?
I’ve only had one book published so far: Girl Reading came out when I was 31. Before that I worked in the public and voluntary sectors, including at a women’s refuge and for a member of parliament.
A question from the TV Book Club Facebook Group: In a crowded market many authors don’t get published; what’s the secret of your success?
Practice. Like many other writers, I didn’t get a book deal until I wrote my second novel, and one of the reasons was because I learnt from my mistakes the first time round.
A question inspired by Yaisa’s suggestion on channel4.com/tvbookclub: How much research do you have to do, which are the most difficult types of scenes to research, and have you ever had to go to extreme or unusual lengths to research a scene?
The most difficult thing about research, I find, is that as much as you’d like to, you can’t do all your research first – and then write your book. Research is ongoing. As you write your novel, you come across things you don’t know, so you need to stop writing and research more. In terms of the lengths I’ve gone to, Girl Reading has chapters set in Siena and Amsterdam, and I’ve visited both places – as well as seeing several artworks featured in real life. No amount of research you do in books or online can replace going to a real location, or experiencing a real object; it gets your senses and imagination working in a way nothing else can.
What’s the most outlandish idea you’ve ever had for a storyline, and has it made it into one of your books?
I think the Sibil in Girl Reading is pretty outlandish!
And another question from the TV Book Club Facebook Group: What do you think of e-readers and would you ever consider providing additional content for readers who use them (e.g. pictures, video clips, web links)?
I’d certainly consider it, but I think it depends on the nature of book and whether the reader wants the content too. I haven’t bought an e-reader . . . yet. The people I know who use them love them because of features like making the font size bigger, and the fact they’re so compact. However, I worry about the longevity of the technology, whereas we already know that tree-books last for hundreds of years. I gave a talk to a reading group recently, and all the ladies there asked me to sign their copies of Girl Reading – except the one who had it on e-reader. I offered to sign it with permanent marker, but she wasn’t keen.
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An orphan poses nervously for a Renaissance maestro in medieval Siena, and an artist’s servant girl in seventeenth-century Amsterdam snatches a moment away from her work to lose herself in tales of knights and battles. A woman reading in a Shoreditch bar catches the eye of a young man who takes her picture, and a Victorian medium holds a book that she barely acknowledges while she waits for the exposure.
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