Philip Pullman's "rules of writing"

There are some interesting little morsels in this BBC mini-interview with Philip Pullman, who has been promoting his new book La Belle Sauvage for quite some time now... Rules of writing are nonsense, I asservate most vociferously in defiance of Elmore Leonard, because everyone has their own way, and each story has a different path to completion and becoming a book. But these aren't really rules: just a little insight into the foibles of an acclaimed writer.

Since I started writing, I've become a bit nosey when it comes to finding out what real writers do. I'm not really looking for tips - I've always been someone who likes to solve problems for himself, even if that means reinventing the wheel - but it's more out of interest. OK, and perhaps a bit of support that you might just be doing something right when you do the same things, or a head-shaking tut of disbelief when you read that somebody does things in a different way and is still, somehow, inexplicably, infinitely more sucessful than you are.

So, what does Mr Pullman actually say? And how much of it can I honestly claim to understand?

1) Let the characters show themselves. Mr Pullman claims that writing is a mysterious process, and that rings a bell. I've certainly had cases where characters have done things I hadn't planned, because in the moment of seeing the world through their eyes I realise they would do something differently.

2) There are always more stories. Hopefully. I think this is something I'll appreciate in time. In the thick of getting a story finished there are always other paths that could be taken, and slowly, you narrow things down to the one that will carry you to the end. That process, for me, at least, makes me blind to other possibilities. I can see how other avenues might reveal themselves once the dust has settled, but focussing on one story means blinkers on for any others. Dabbling with other characters and other books is fine, just not anything linked to what needs to be completed.

3) It's normal not to be confident - but don't listen to music. Confidence. A writer's boon and a writer's bane. Writing for me is a dual existence, a yin and yang thing. If I thought what I was writing was a pile of carp (the fish), I wouldn't bother; and there are many days when I do feel like that, and don't. Then there are other days when I believe, and I have to or I would never start (let alone finish). Getting things done is a tightrope walk between the two, taking just enough doubt on board to make sure that you test every word and every twist, but not so much that you end up on the sofa eating chocolate. Music vs. drills - same here. I have to hear the words in my head.

4) Tone is more important than structure. I have big problems with structure, and I don't just mean the obvious (like, ahem, how to juggle four interlinking storylines in a sequel...). What I mean is that structure for me is important - a single story can be told multiple ways - but it should never become a plot device or overshadow the story itself. Doing something cunning, like writing a story backwards, always smacks to me of dressing up a mediocre story to make it seem better than it is. If a story is good, it should work in a simple linear way. Which is not to say that clever structure means a bad story, but I certainly don't think it means a good one.

5) Choose a favourite pen. Pen? What's a pen?

6) Write for yourself. Yes, 100%. If you don't like it, nobody else will. If you do like it, some people will still hate it but life is like that...

On which note, that sequel. Must dash.