Writing Process Blog Tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been tagged by author, musician and all round creative type, Joe Craig, to take part in the ‘WRITING PROCESS BLOG TOUR’, which has been set up to showcase different author writing methods across the globe. Here’s Joe being authorial with one of his Jimmy Coates books:

 

 

 

 

 

You can find out more about Joe by visiting his website HERE, or by following him on Twitter (@joecraiguk) and you can  read his answers to the four ‘Writing Process’ questions HERE.

But enough about the charming Mr Craig, and more about ME!

 

What am I working on?

I am working on Book Two of my kids’ detective series. It follows on from ‘The Case of the Exploding Loo’, which as the back cover blurb will tell you, is ’a brainy zany mystery about poo, shoes and the colour turquoise’.

I can’t say much about Book Two as my editor hasn’t even seen it yet, but I realise that’s a rubbish answer to this question, so I’ll give you a clue by sharing a photo taken on my recent research expedition (I’m the one who can breathe in the Earth’s atmosphere).

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be honest, it might be an exaggeration to claim I’m ‘working’ on the second book. I’m far too excited about next month’s launch of ‘The Case of the Exploding Loo’ to do anything useful. So I’m spending my time making posters and party invites and order forms and anything that doesn’t involve much concentration because I have New-Book-Coming-Soon-Attention-Deficit-Disorder . . .

“Squirrel!” 

 

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

This strikes me as a trick question, designed to lure me into show-offy declarations about how my books are more brainy, more zany, more somethingelseabsolutelyfabulous than all the other books in the world. I have a sneaking suspicion that might not be completely true, so I WILL NOT BE LURED.

What I will say is, perhaps, what makes my books a bit different is the mishmash of different narrative formats inside. Some sections look ’normal’ as you can see by the opening of ‘The Case of the Exploding Loo‘:

 

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But I also like pictures and shapes and charts and news articles and text messages and so my books  have a bit of this …

 

 

 

and a bit of this . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a bit of this . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . which I hope will appeal to kids (including overgrown ones like me) who like clutter and nonsense and lots of stuff going on on the page.

My books also have a secret weapon – the illustrator The Boy Fitzhammond. I call him The Boy Wonder for short (well short-ish – I’ve knocked off a syllable) because that is what he is. I have a sneaking suspicion some people will be buying ‘The Case of the Exploding Loo’ just to look at the brilliant pictures – and I wouldn’t blame them.

 

Why do I write what I do?

I write what I do because I have two desires in life

To explore the answers to all the questions in my head
To laugh and to make my kids laugh

Hmmm. Maybe that’s three. Let me start again . . .

I write what I do because I have three desires in life

To explore the answers to all the questions in my head
To laugh
To make my kids laugh

Oh and also . . . because the voice that comes naturally to me is a silly one.

So that’s four.

I’ll start again.

I guess the short answer is I do what I do because I love doing it.

 

How does my writing process work?

As I say, I love to write – it makes me laugh, it makes me think, it makes me happy – but then suddenly I’m not doing it anymore because . . . ”Squirrel!” . . . something else grabs my attention.

So my writing process mainly involves me trying to stop myself getting distracted.

First, I have to force myself to stay in the house despite my friends’ attempts to lure me into a wonderful world of chatting, coffee-drinking and cake-eating. I have two lines of defences:

My Animal ( Muppet) pyjamas. However, these scare takeaway delivery men and embarrass my daughter when her friends came round, so I have a slightly (but only slightly) more socially acceptable alternative . . .
My writing-dungarees

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Process Stage 1: Wear something that stops me leaving the house.

 

Second, I have to prevent my mind wandering off my book and getting hooked into something else . . . like which Game of Thrones character I’ll be if I answer a set of questions on the internet in a certain way. So I surround myself with things that pull my brain back into my story. In the picture you can see a mind map I made for The Case of The Exploding Loo, a fake newspaper article about Dad’s disappearance, and a pair of smoking shoes, which were the initial inspiration for my story.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Process Stage 2: Surround myself with thi ngs that immerse me in the story

 

Thirdly, I need to make my writing process sociable to save myself from becoming a miserable, juniper-berry-munching hermit.

I love brainstorming different elements of the book with friends:

Matthew (policeman) and Robert (ex prison service) are great sounding boards about what might or might not be realistic – so I do my research via the medium of chat.
My favourite superbrains – Heidi, Omar, Giles and Chris – are brilliant for bouncing around ideas about nerdy science details, and I have set up a special Facebook group of wise people to help me out with random techy questions
I am a (very inactive) member of a group of standup comedians so I like to ’funny up’ my books by talking to them or to my TV-land-friend Jack or my comedy kids’ author crit-partner, Tatum Flynn.

I also like pulling people into my research trips because they are FUN. So I dragged my sister and my cousin Chris along on my latest research trip for Book 2 and we had a blast pointing at things and plotting a museum heist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Process Stage 3: Drag my friends into the process, because they’re a fab bunch of people and I want to be socially antisocial

 

A final key part of the process of any piece of writing is knowing when to stop. Although sometimes I stop rather abruptly because . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will now hand over to two of my favourite authors, who will be blogging on this subject next week.

 

Nikki Sheehan, the author of the brilliant ‘Who Framed Klaris Cliff?’

Nikki is the youngest daughter of a rocket scientist. She went to a convent school in Cambridge where she was taught by real nuns in long black habits. She studied linguistics and then psychology and worked as a subtitler for the Simpsons, followed by many years as a journalist. She lives in Hove near the beach with her husband, three children, two dogs, one cat and definitely no more hamsters. You can find out more about Nikki HERE or by following her on Twitter: @NicoletteShhh 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicolas Forzy, the author of a fascinating new novel,  ’Alphanumeric’, which will be released in May.

AlphaNumeric is Nicolas Forzy’s debut novel, after over a decade writing scripts for corporate films as well as for the silver screen. His passion for storytelling has grown over the last twenty years working in fields as varied and diverse as investment banking, the military and the movie industry. Now based in the United Arab Emirates with his wife and son, Forzy dedicates every spare moment to the improvement of his craft. You can find out more about Nicolas HERE or follow him on Twitter: @nforzy

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