Writing is hard, right? Teenage Kicks at Random House

By Teri Terry

"A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." - Thomas Mann

This is so true. Every word must be the right word, the only one that in combination with all the other right words, sentences and paragraphs creates a chain that leads all the way from page one to ‘the end’ in an inevitable, flawless jigsaw, where the ending isn’t suspected but gives that satisfied of course when it is reached. At least…. that is the plan.

And some days, it flows, and all is right in my world. Others, not so much. And those are the days I’ve been having lately.

Last Tuesday I was lucky enough to attend the Reading Agency’s Teenage Kicks at Random House in London. Led by Bucks this year through High Wycombe Headspace and Children’s Reading Partners, authors Malorie Blackman, Bali Rai and Jenny Downham were there to inspire and answer questions. They were wonderful, warm and approachable, and generous with their responses.

Bali, Malorie & Jenny

One question they were asked is: what is the hardest thing about writing? And since I’ve been finding it hard going myself lately, my ears instantly perked up.

Answering the tough questions

For Malorie Blackman, the hardest thing is reworking. The most fun is the first draft, just getting the story out. But after that? She admits to a perfectionist streak. She prints it out, goes through it again and again, makes changes and prints it again. This happens six or seven times before she lets her editor see it. She finds the dedication to get through this is hard, as by then she just wants to get on to the next thing.

Jenny Downham never plans. She writes much like a stream of consciousness for weeks and weeks. Months can go by before she knows where she is going: so for her, the hardest thing is going down the wrong path.

Bali Rai said his hardest thing is much like Malorie’s. He also has trouble keeping other ideas out of his head. Always while writing, he is thinking of other things, and getting excited about stuff he hasn’t written more so than what he is working on. Keeping those things separate is difficult. Though he also said he doesn’t find any of it particularly hard hard, because writing was his hobby before he started getting paid for it. He feels privileged to do it, and enjoys it most of the time: apart from being plagued by too many ideas. Can you have too many ideas?

Through the evening you could see they all had the joy: that feeling you can only get from creating characters and the world they inhabit from nothing but imagination and desire. And they reminded me why I put myself through it.

Sharing the joy!

Writing isn’t easy. But it is so worth it.

And what did I think of the Reading Agency’s Teenage Kicks at Random House?

As thirteen year old Katherine summed up when asked what she thought of the evening: it was awesome.

Katherine meets her hero

The Class of 2010: Undiscovered Voices One Year On

By Nick Cross
Guest Blogger

Undiscovered Voices is SCBWI British Isles' genius scheme to get twelve of its members' work under the noses of the biggest and best in children's publishing. With the 2012 competition kicking off in just a couple of weeks, Nick Cross – one of last year's winners – reports on the difference a year makes:

Winners on the night of the Undiscovered Voices reception: Left to right foreground: Yona Wiseman, Lisa Joy Smith, David Cousins, Anne Anderson, Paula Rawsthorne; back row: Nick Cross, Melvin Burgess (who delivered the keynote), Jane McLoughlin, Lauren Sabel, Abbie Todd, Claire O'Brien, Emily George 

Twelve months after the launch of the Undiscovered Voices 2010 anthology, we winners are, quite frankly, old news. But that didn't stop us meeting up last weekend to practice those stories to tell our grandkids.

It was the first time that we'd all been together since the launch party, and the circumstances couldn't have been more different – a long lunch by the Thames and a chance to catch up.

From left and round the table: Anne Anderson, Nick Cross, Emily George,   Claire O'Brien, Graham, Lisa  Joy Smith,   Abbie Todd, Jane McLoughlin

The only problem with the anthology launch party was that the authors were physically not allowed to talk to each other - as soon as we attempted it, someone from Working Partners would usher us off to network with another agent or editor.

So, some awkwardness might have been expected when we all got together, especially after so long apart. But thanks to social networking and a shared sense of struggle, it felt like a meeting of old friends.

It was just a shame that geography conspired to keep Lauren Sabel and Yona Wiseman from joining us.

Of the twelve winners, six have so far signed with an agent and four have a book contracted for publication. That's a pretty good hit rate in a tough market and a figure I expect to be higher by the time the 2012 anthology is published.

From left to right: Anne Anderson, Emily George, Paula Rawsthorne, Dave Cousins, Claire O'Brien, Graham (Lisa's partner), Lisa Smith, Abbie Todd, Jane McLoughln

Paula Rawsthorne will be the first to come to market this year with The Truth About Celia Frost. Paula showed us her hot-off-the-press cover design for the teen novel and I heard from a bookseller the next day that Usborne have already sent out bound proofs of the book. What was I saying about us being old news? IT WAS A LIE!

Dave Cousins showed off some snazzy logo designs for gritty teen writing collective The Edge, which Paula is also a member of. Dave's YA novel Fifteen Days without a Head is due to be published by OUP early in 2012.

Claire O'Brien has two books coming out from Orchard within months of each other next year.

Jane McLoughlin has had a tough route to publication, but I'm very pleased to say that At Yellow Lake has found a home at Frances Lincoln. Jane is going to be a natural at school visits - her personality is so big we had to find it another chair!

Paula's even got this cool book trailer for her forthcoming book!

I received some gentle ribbing for the over-excited blogging I did in the early days after our win, depicting the race between us to get published. I think we've all learnt a huge amount in the last year – one thing I've definitely learnt is that writing and getting published is a marathon, not a sprint.

It was such a pleasure to chat with the writers who I hadn't had much contact with at the launch, like Anne Anderson, Jude Ensnaff and Emily George.

We compared scars and told war stories, such as the agent who looked dead bored when I pitched to her and who later told one of us that her book "wasn't as funny as I expected."

Abbie Todd talked about her agent's steely determination to get her a book deal, which bodes well for her future prospects. Despite the caprices of the publishing industry, there was a lot of optimism in the room – there have been inevitable disappointments, but we've all collected a lot of goodwill and good contacts.

Sara Grant and Sara O'Connor

We're incredibly thankful for the hard work put in by Sara Grant and Sara O'Connor, who will again edit this year's anthology.

This is despite Sara O'Connor leaving Working Partners to become a big shot at Hodder Children's books and Sara Grant celebrating the imminent publication of her own debut novel Dark Parties.

Undiscovered Voices transformed the lives of twelve debut authors in 2008 and again in 2010. Next time, it may well be you.

After appearing in Undiscovered Voices, Nick Cross signed with agent Jenny Savill of Andrew Nurnberg Associates. He blogs about writing every Friday at whoatemybrain.com. Nick is currently writing a brand new 9-12 adventure novel that he promises will "knock your mind and blow your socks off."

Nick Cross won his place in Undiscovered Voices with his novel Back from the Dead.  Nick also writes a blog called Who Ate My Brain. 

Scattered Authors Society Conference: Diary of a Wimpy Vampire Author

By Tim Collins
Guest Blogger

I'm very proud to say that just the other day, our guest blogger Tim Collins won the 2011 Manchester City Fiction Award for his book Diary of a Wimpy Vampire: The Undead have Feelings Too. He has recently completed a sequel called Prince of Dorkness, which is out in May. Like many authors, he's got a day job - he works in advertising, which probably explains his talent for totally amazing titles. 

Tim Collins greeting fans at the Manchester City Fiction Award celebrations.

Tim's award winning debut novel!
Way to go, Tim!

Last weekend I attended my first event for the Scattered Authors’ Society, which was organised by Miriam Halahmy and Sue Barrow.

For those who don’t know them, the Scattered Authors’ Society is a group of published children’s authors who meet to talk about writing and the industry. Discussion tends to focus on the challenges of maintaining a career, such as self-promotion, school visits and market trends.

It won’t be news to anyone that sustaining a writing career is tough, but I’m always amazed at just how hard established authors work when you press them for details.

What we could achieve if
we were Linda Chapman

I asked Linda Chapman what her record daily word count was and she said 13,000. I don’t think I could even copy and paste that much in a day.

Hard work and painstaking research were certainly in evidence in Mary Hoffman’s session on Saturday about her forthcoming historical YA novel David, which imagines the story of Michelangelo’s model.

What I loved about Mary’s talk was how open she was about every step of developing the novel from initial idea to corrected proof.

Mary showed us the scrapbook she kept while researching the book, which included maps, timelines and lists of popular names from the time. It was fascinating to flick through a research scrapbook, something I’ve always been told to keep but have never got round to. I’ve sometimes created desktop folders to dump relevant images and links into, but I wonder if an actual, physical scrapbook would suggest hidden connections and lead to a richer fictional world.

Mary Hoffman chooses a talismanic object for every book she works on.

As well as all keeping scrapbooks, Mary chooses a ‘talismanic object’ for each book she works on, in this case a small cube of marble. This sounds like an interesting writing exercise, i.e. What would you choose as the talismanic object for the book you’re currently working on? Why did you choose it? What does it tell you about how you want the book to turn out?

Tim Collins posing with a librarian.

Lucy Cuthew of Meadowside

Also on Saturday, Lucy Cuthew, the commissioning editor of Meadowside Children’s Books spoke to us about current trends. Most authors feel slightly guilty about discussing what’s ‘hot’, but as a writer of comedy I’m happy to leap faster than Jonathan Edwards if I spot a bandwagon so I always enjoy these sessions.

Right now we reckon the trends are dystopias, paranormal creatures other than vampires and, perhaps surprisingly, special needs protagonists.

Basically if you’re working on a story about a werewolf with ADHD swimming around a submerged city, you should be safe.

If you’re working on a story about a werewolf with ADHD, swimming around a submerged city, you should be safe

Overriding all these content trends, however, are format trends. Lucy showed us the iPad app for The Heart and the Bottle, which uses touch screen technology to bring Oliver Jeffers’ picture book to life.



It’s all very impressive, but I can’t help thinking that form and content are still fighting each other a tad. But surely it’s only a matter of time before an author who knows and loves app development creates an interactive story that can only work on a touch screen, and hoovers up awards like a Dyson.

But will they have created a book or a variation on one of those point-and-click adventures I wasted the nineties playing, like Monkey Island and Broken Sword?

Tim Collins at the entrance to his flat.

Helena Pielichaty

On Sunday morning, Helena Pielichaty hosted a lively discussion about political correctness in children’s writing. As a male, I find that children’s writing conferences are one of the few times I can experience being part of a minority, but I thought it better not to bring my particular repressed group into this debate.

It was illuminating to find out how editors have responded to fictional diversity. The feeling was that authors want to vary the ethnicity, physical ability and sexuality of their characters, but the industry only wants them to if the books are specifically about these issues.

We hope that things are changing, although you might still miss out on that Arabic edition if your main character has two dads.

Look out for Tim's new book

Although brief, the conference packed in a massive amount of information that I’m still processing and inspired plenty of story ideas that I really ought to go and do something about.