“The Fierce Merry Dance” of Writing: An Interview with Writer/Editor Magda Knight
Magda Knight
Magda Knight is the Co-Founding Editor of Mookychick.co.uk, an alternative lifestyle webzine and community. She writes YA and speculative fiction, her work has featured in a number of anthologies and publications including Mythology High and 2000AD, and she has been longlisted for the Mslexia YA Novel competition twice. When she grows up she would like to be a sword or a bear.
Do you have a favorite place to write?
I like to write in peace and quiet, surrounded by nature, at a desk that isn’t mine. That’s why I write best in hired holiday cottages. I save up for a few months, then just go!
What do you love most about writing?
The fierce, merry dance of it. The highs and lows between “this is amazing” and “no, seriously, what were you thinking?” I love both the joyful terror of writing something new and the precision surgery of editing. I love deleting 10,000 weak, wilted words and not thinking it too many. I love wondering if a much-loved character should live or die. I love coming up with Plan C.
What is the hardest and easiest part of the writing process for you?
The hardest part for me is the bit before the writing. The “Hmm, I haven’t quite started yet, I’ll start really soon”. Yeah, sure, lady. We’ve all heard that one before. The easiest part is the writing itself. Nothing in writing is as hard as breaking the promise that you were going to create today.
What five words best sum up your personality?
Delicious tooth and claw muffin.
Other than writing, what else do you love to do?
I am the Co-Founding Editor of http://www.mookychick.co.uk, an alternative lifestyle webzine and community for young women which has been going strong since 2005. Our members met online and they are now going to university together. It’s such a wonderful, joyful and supportive place! A true Kingdom.
Describe your perfect day.
My perfect days involve… Opportunity. Surprise. Something new that I’ve never seen, heard or thought before. All of us thrive on something new with meaning. Either lazy, hazy days filled with sunshine… or electric days lit up by the spark of Something New. Those are my perfect days.
Do you have a writing schedule?
I am a soldier who sleeps when required, not when the body demands it. Writing doesn’t tell me what to do. I tell writing what to do.
What I love best is writing a novel in a week. Thanks to my patented method, I’ve successfully written first drafts in a week three times now and I wonder if it works for other people too. Sadly, I don’t think it’s a superpower. It’s something we can all achieve!
8. What are your past, current, and/or next projects?
After finishing my Seal Girl / Geek Girl / Glee Girl ‘Mythology High’ trilogy for the 
lovely Buzz Books, I have just put the finishing touches to House of Sighs, a YA psychological locked-room mystery set in an orphanage. My next novel is a cross between David Bowie’s Labyrinth and Cloverfield. Or it might be a creepy little number called Bandwagoneer.
Where can we reach you? (Twitter, Facebook, website, blog, etc.)
@magdaknight @mookychick (Twitter)
Thanks, Magda, for this quick writing pas de deux!
Filed under: Authors, Books, Interviews, Photos, Writing Tagged: author interviews, Buzz Books, Geek Girl, Glee Girl, Magda Knight, Mookychick, Mythology High trilogy, Seal Girl
