Lil Chase

Author Interview:

When and how did you start writing? Who were your childhood storytelling heroes?

I started writing BOYS FOR BEGINNERS when I was 10 years old. It wasn’t a school project, or anything anyone asked me to do, but I spent hours and hours of my free time writing it. My best friend Kate would be dumbfounded when I told her that I didn’t want to come round to play, and instead I was going to stay home and write. I was a weird kid. My tenth birthday present was a typewriter. (I’m that old.)

There wasn’t one particular author who I obsessed over as a child (although I did like the Mallory Towers books). But can I include my mum’s friend Charlotte? Even though her stories were about what happened to her at Tesco that day, and her words were lost in her own snorts of laughter, I was totally mesmerised from beginning to end.

Can you remember the first book that made an impact on you?

My sister was used to read to me when I was little. I’m sure it was more for her benefit than mine as I was ordered to ‘sit quiet’ and ‘just listen’. Many of the themes in SUPERFUDGE went right over my head, but I loved stories of this brat of a toddler as told by his older brother. I never quite got over the awesomeness of the title. At that age I didn’t know you were allowed to have the title character not being the focus of the book and the idea intrigued me. 

Can you talk us through the writing of your first book? What were the key moments?

BOYS FOR BEGINNERS started life when I was 10 as a handwritten book called Gwynnie Goes Girlie. It was unfinished.

As an adult, I thought about writing for children and this idea instantly popped back into my head – a tomboy who “goes girlie” to impress a boy she likes. I dug around in my parents’ attic for hours and found it: that first draft, kept safe in a colourful Velcro file. The manuscript was raw, and a professional code breaker would have difficulty deciphering the spelling, but all the elements that are in it today were in that first draft.

Was it hard to get an agent? 

The short answer is, no.

The long answer is, yes. The Greenhouse is based in the office where I work. Julia and I laughed together a lot and one day she asked me if I would like to write a children’s book. At the time I was working on my magnum opus – a thoroughly depressing adult novel that I was taking ages to write because it made me sad. But I told her about Gwynnie, she said it was worth a go, and I sent her the finished manuscript a few months later.

She liked it but wasn’t sure, so I reworked it from her comments. I sent her the edited manuscript a few months later. She liked it but wasn’t sure, so I reworked it from her comments… It went on like that for a while.

I did everything she said and now it’s being published! Julia is a very wise woman.

Describe your writing day.  Where do you write?  How do you organize your time? 

Like most writers I work full time. And like most humans I also have a life, with friends and family and a boyfriend who I’d like to see occasionally. So I have a rule: if I am home at 9pm then I have to go to my computer and write, and I turn off the computer at 11pm. I use one day of the weekend for writing too. Time off is essential.

Where do you look for inspiration? 

I eavesdrop. I never wear headphones so that I can take in everything people say. The skill is trying to do it subtly so you don’t get shouted at.
A less dangerous source of inspiration comes from newspapers and magazines. The freesheets always have bizarre stories that I find useful. And a lot of material comes from the old diaries that I’ve been keeping off and on since I was little. Just reading it to myself makes me cringe, but it’s worth it to be reminded how it feels to be young. 

Can you tell us about your next book?

I’m working on an idea involving a different character, Mia. Like Gwynnie, she’s a fish out of water as she’s a geeky girl starting in a new school. It’s got a slightly different tone – some comedy, but with lots of heart, and a bit darker than BOYS FOR BEGINNERS.

Are there any tips you can give aspiring writers who are looking to get published?

Write something with commercial appeal and a brilliant title and you’re bound to get noticed. Ask yourself what you would do with your idea if you were the team of people trying to sell it. If the idea’s too complicated it might be overlooked.

But make sure it’s something you enjoy writing too. You are going to spend a lot of time writing, rewriting, and then writing about this one novel. It will make your life torturous if you hated the subject in the first place.

And don’t give up. My motto has always been: get published or die trying. That way, it might have taken fifty years or more but I knew I’d get there eventually. 

Can you describe three aspects of writing craft that have been most important as you’ve developed as an author?

1. Write first, edit later. Apparently it’s something to do with the left brain/right brain functions. Get some words down, any words. Fixing something that’s badly written is much less scary than a blank screen. Once you think it’s finished leave the manuscript for as long as possible - I’d suggest a month (a month!) – before you go back to it. You’ll be amazed what fresh eyes will pick up.

2. Do the maths. Second draft = first draft – 10%. This came up in Stephen King’s book ON WRITING and it’s a rule I live by. To force myself to lose 6,000 words of a 60,000 word manuscript seemed impossible. But when it was done the book was 1,000,000 times better.

3. Listen to criticism. Annoyingly, it’s always right. The critic has picked up on something that jarred for them in the reading. It’s got to go. Sorry.

Which favorite authors would you invite to a dinner party?

I bet Jane Austin was a laugh a minute. And she’d have good gossip too. Dr Seuss was a funny guy and his characters have a dark edge. Also, he owned a brewery! He can definitely come.  Stephen Fry would have anecdotes to make you laugh, make you cry, and make you more interested in the world. Never a dull moment. 

What fictional character do you wish you’d invented?

Marmalade Atkins. The nasty characters are always so fun to write.