Oliver Jeffers at Work
I’ve always liked Oliver Jeffers – both the man and his wonderful picture books. I first met him almost ten years ago, just after his first book, How to Catch a Star was published. It was at a Children’s Books Ireland conference in Dublin and from the start I loved his passion and his enthusiasm for his work.
The weekend before last I had the good luck to catch him not once but twice at Offset, a wonderful conference held in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin which celebrates design and illustration. He spoke to a crowd of thousands about his painting and his picture books. Afterwards he gave a very honest and inspiring public interview to one of the Offset organisers.
During this he spoke about ‘people who do things and people who talk about doing things’. Oliver works on a huge amount of different projects – often simultaneously – exhibitions of his paintings, exhibitions of his drawings, picture books, illustrating other people’s novels, book covers. He only takes on projects that he truly loves and he works HARD. His work has to mean something – to him. If it means something to him, then he figures that maybe it will mean something to other people too.
There is no secret to his success – yes, he’s talented and driven but most of all he simply ‘does things’.
He believes in his work. He believes that his work is important, yet approaches it with a sense of fun and play. Are YOU a doer or a talker? Do you believe in your work? Do you approach it with a sense of fun and play? It’s worth thinking about. We all have a lot to learn from Oliver Jeffers.
Yours in writing,
Sarah
The Bright Lights of Hong Kong
Earlier this year I made a decision – I’d say YES to as many things as possible. YES to going to new plays and gigs; YES to reading at book events and festivals; YES to visiting as many schools as I could; YES to travelling to new places and having new experiences. So when the Hong Kong Young Readers’ Festival asked if I’d attend their festival for a week, I took a deep breath and said YES.
It took a lot of organising. My parents very kindly offered to take my youngest two children during the trip (the eldest is 18 and said he’d stay at home and mind the rabbit and the house) and I booked the flights rather nervously. I love visiting other countries but I’m not a great flyer and it’s a twelve hour flight from London to Hong Kong. Luckily my partner said that he’d travel over with me.
On Thursday morning I arrived home from what can only be described as a whirlwind tour of Hong Kong – 9 events in 5 days.
The first events I did were nursery rhyme sessions with young children and their mum and dads. Here I am doing an action rhyme in the Hong Kong Central Library with some parents and toddlers.
Then I did lots of writing workshops and school visits, travelling all over Hong Kong to talk to students of all ages.
They were all lovely students and really interested in Ireland and Irish culture. I had great fun chatting to some of the girls after the events and finding out about their schools and what they liked to read. They told me that most people in Hong Kong have a Chinese name and also an English name which they pick themselves.
We also squeezed in time for some sightseeing. Hong Kong is full of skyscrapers and at night they are all lit up. It’s quite a sight!
I had an amazing time. If you ever get the chance to visit Hong Kong, do go! And don’t be too surprised if a Chinese girl pops up in one of my books some day soon.
Hong Kong is the kind of place that says YES to life every single day – it’s fast, busy and crowded but the people are very kind and friendly and the whole trip was a brilliant experience, one that I’ll never forget. I’m so glad I said YES!
Yours in books,
Sarah XXX
I’m at the Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival in March. I’m giving a talk to parents on raising a child who loves to read. This is the recommended book list for that talk.
Mad About Books – Raising a Child Who Loves to Read
Hong Kong Interna
tional Young Readers Festival 2013
Recommended Titles
1/ Babies and Toddlers – Birth to Age 2+
Sing them lullabies, read them nursery rhymes
A good nursery rhyme book – with art work you love – eg Sally Go Round the Stars (Sarah Webb – Irish)
Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli (Board book)
Where’s Spot? By Eric Hill (Board book)
2/ Toddlers of Age 2 +
Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (Irish)
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury
A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton – (Irish)
Other books to try:
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen
Farmer Duck – Martin Waddell
Alfie’s Feet – Shirley Hughes
Dear Zoo – Rod Campbell
3/ Younger Children – age 3 or 4 +
Fairy Tales – invest in a good collection
Oliver Jeffers – Lost and Found, The Heart in …
I’m at the Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival in March. I’m giving a talk to parents on raising a child who loves to read. This is the recommended book list for that talk.
Mad About Books – Raising a Child Who Loves to Read
Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival 2013
Recommended Titles
1/ Babies and Toddlers – Birth to Age 2+
Sing them lullabies, read them nursery rhymes
A good nursery rhyme book – with art work you love – eg Sally Go Round the Stars (Sarah Webb – Irish)
Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli (Board book)
Where’s Spot? By Eric Hill (Board book)
2/ Toddlers of Age 2 +
Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (Irish)
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury
A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton – (Irish)
Other books to try:
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen
Farmer Duck – Martin Waddell
Alfie’s Feet – Shirley Hughes
Dear Zoo – Rod Campbell
3/ Younger Children – age 3 or 4 +
Fairy Tales – invest in a good collection
Oliver Jeffers – Lost and Found, The Heart in the Bottle (Irish)
Chris Judge – The Brave Beast (Irish)
Mo Willems – Knuffle Bunny, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Niamh Sharkey – Irish Children’s Laureate and picture book maker
Other titles to try:
Clarice Bean, That’s Me – Lauren Child
Olivia by Ian Falconer
There are Cats in this Book by Vivian Schwarz
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb (a new picture book maker)
Wolves by Emily Gravett
Dogger by Shirley Hughes
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Jill Kerr
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klaussen
Marshall Armstrong is New To Our School by David Mackintosh (Irish)
Busy Busy World by Richard Scarry
The Brave Beast by Chris Judge (Irish)
The Gruffalo and other picture books by Julia Donaldson
4/ Early Readers – Age 5/6+
Series books for very first readers:
Elephant and Piggie Series by Mo Willems
The Cat in the Hat and other books by Dr Seuss
Books for young readers to read for themselves:
Roddy Doyle’s The Giggler Treatment (Irish)
The Worst Boy in the World by Eoin Colfer (Irish)
Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald
The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy
5/ Books to Read Aloud to Age 5+
The Secret Garden, Ballet Shoes and any of your personal favourite classics as a child.
Charlotte’s Web by E B White
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearse
The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo
Roald Dahl – Fantastic Mr Fox and Matilda – pick the Dahl titles that you love the most
If they like Dahl they might also like David Walliams – who has written books like Mr Stink
6/ Confident Readers of 9+
J K Rowling
Eoin Colfer (Irish)
Anthony Horowitz
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
Derek Landy – Skulduggery Pleasant (Irish)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
The Tom Gates series by L Pichon – great for Wimpy kid fans
Family/friendship books:
Cathy Cassidy
Jacqueline Wilson
Ask Amy Green series by Sarah Webb – age 10+
Judy Blume – Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
Judi Curtin (Irish)
Award winners:
Wilderness by Roddy Doyle (Irish)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead – age 10+
Other titles to try:
Holes by Louis Sacher
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Northern Lights – Philip Pullman
7/ Older Readers of 11+
Wonder by R J Palacio
Patrick Ness – A Monster Calls
The Knife of Never Letting Go
John Green – The Fault in Our Stars
The Arrival – Shaun Tan
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (Irish)
Other titles to try:
Skellig – David Almond
Maus by Art Spigelman (graphic novel)
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Hunger Games series
Sabriel by Gareth Nix
8/ Books for Reluctant Readers
Audio books
Where’s Wally?
Quiz, joke and puzzle books
Non fiction – sports biographies
Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
The Wimpy Kid books
Sports magazines
Playstation magazines
9/ Books for Tired Parents
That’s Not My series – published by Usborne
Hug by Jez Alborough
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
10/ Books for Parents Who Want to Know More
The Ultimate Teen Guide
The Ultimate First Book Guide
Both published by A and C Black
Babies Need Books by Dorothy Butler
Mad About Books: The Dubray Guide to Children’s Books by Sarah Webb
www.dubraybooks.ie
More about Irish writers and picture book makers: www.childrensbooksireland.ie
Remember:
1/ Choose books that YOU love to read aloud to your children
2/ Be seen reading
3/ Talk about books with your children
4/ Make books part of your family’s history and everyday life
Last weekend I spoke at the Waterford Writers’ Festival. The subject of the panel discussion was How to Write a Bestseller. The chair of the session, the very able Vanessa O’Loughlin from www.writing.ie asked us to consider the key elements of fiction writing and what makes a bestselling novel: character, dialogue, plot, making your book stand out. Also on the panel were fellow popular fiction writers Monica McInerney, Sinead Moriarty and Niamh Greene.
It got me thinking about the nature of the ‘bestseller’. A ‘bestseller’ is simply a book that sells a lot of copies, a book that has thousands of happy readers, all actively recommending it to their friends and family, and on Facebook and Twitter (which I think is the way most bestsellers are created – by word of mouth).
So I thought I’d jot down some of the things that came up during the panel discussion in case they are useful. And at the very end I’ll let you in on the secret – how to write a bestseller – as yes, there is a secret!
First of all: Character
We all agreed that creating big, interesting, real, lovable yet flawed characters is the key to writing good popular fiction. Monica McInerney said she creates her characters before plot; for Sinead Moriarty it’s the other way around. But when it comes to characters, you have to think BIG. (I covered this very topic during the 8 Week Write a Book course on this blog).
Monica writes warm, funny family dramas; Sinead’s books tend to have an issue at the centre – breast cancer, anorexia, breakdown of a family unit – and she takes her research very seriously indeed.
Research
Sinead said something very interesting – she said that you can write about anything as long as you do your research, which she finds very freeing. You keep reading until you know your subject backwards, she said. One of her books, Pieces of My Heart (about an anorexic teenager and her family’s struggle to help her get well again) took a lot of research and after the first draft she had to go back and unpick the chapters that were too research heavy and rewrite them. She was very honest and open about this, which I think was helpful for people to hear. Rewriting is a topic that came up a lot. More about that in a second.
But next: Dialogue
Niamh Greene talked about dialogue and how important it is to get it right. She reads out her dialogue and works on it until it’s perfect. I talked about how each character has to have their own way of speaking in a book, their own voice. If you are unsure about how to approach dialogue, read some of the masters – Roddy Doyle, Marian Keyes, Anne Tyler.
Plot
I explained how important it is to select a subject/setting that you really, really want to write about. It has to be something that fascinates you and that you’re dying to tell your readers about - eg zoo keeping (my latest novel, The Shoestring Club has a zoo keeper in it), the life of a young ballerina (Ask Amy Green: Dancing Daze – now that research – in Budapest – was such fun!).
I always say there are two types of people, the planners and the seat of the pant-ers. Planners know where their passport is weeks before travelling, seat of the pant-ers don’t. If you’re a planner, you may need to plan your book. I’m a planner and I make detailed plot notes for every scene of every book. Now, often these change once I start writing, but I need the plot notes to start a book in the first place – it’s like my safely net in case I get stuck along the way. A book takes a long time to write, and you need all the help you can get!
Monica is not a planner, her books evolve as she writes; Sinead is a planner. We are all different writers, just as we are all different people.
Theme
I talked about theme, about how your book has to say something. At the heart of The Shoestring Club is a family secret and the book is about how a buried secret can have devastating consequences.
Julia, the main character, blames herself for her mother’s death – this is at the heart of every mistake she makes in life. And until she comes to terms with this, she will never live a full life.
What’s your book about? Can you tell me in a few lines? If not, you need to work on your book’s theme. And this doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes the theme won’t be clear to you until after your first or second draft.
Rewriting
The difference between a published novel and an unpublished novel – the rewrites. Simple as that. Your first draft is just a starting point. Keep working on it until it’s a perfect as you can make it. Again, see my Write a Book Course for more on this.
Motivation
You have to want to write more than anything in the world. If you don’t have this overwhelming drive and passion, there’s no point in writing. Marilyn Munroe once said:
‘I wasn’t the prettiest, I wasn’t the most talented, I simply wanted it more than anyone else.’
Do you want to get published more than anyone else?
Because that’s the secret. Motivation, tenacity, drive. And the willingness to be honest, to cut a vein and bleed all over the page; to write about things that scare you, upset you, terrify you. You have to dig deep. It has to hurt. If it doesn’t, there’s no point writing. Unless you have to write, unless you have a burning need to tell people about something that means everything to you, don’t bother.
I’ll leave you with these final words from Pablo Neruda:
‘For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.’
Yours in writing,
Sarah XXX
I’ve been visiting schools, libraries and festivals since 1996 when my first book was published. Over the years I’ve talked to thousands of children about books and writing. I’ve also given many writing workshops to children of all ages and this is what I’ve discovered:
1/ Children are not afraid of making mistakes – if their story isn’t going well they’ll just shrug and start another story, no big deal. They never worry about looking stupid on paper or getting it ‘wrong’.
2/ Children love creating big, funny, unusual characters – because their books are full of larger than life characters – think of Matilda, Mr Gum, Artemis Fowl, Tracy Beaker and Skulduggery Pleasant. They know when it comes to characters, BIG is good.
3/ Children understand that stories have to be exciting, fast, funny and full of emotion (and explosions in the case of boys – maybe slightly too many explosions!).
4/ Children don’t get too hung up about grammar or spelling, they just keep writing. They know they can correct that stuff later.
5/ Children write ‘cos they love to write, not because they want to get published/show off to the neighbours/make a million like that Harry Potter lady.
6/ Children believe that everyone has the right to write.
7/ Children don’t twist themselves up in knots about genre. If zombies appear half way through their romance, then cool, it’s a zombie romance!
8/ Children write for themselves, plain and simple, and because it’s fun.
(However they ARE very fond of ending their stories with ‘and I woke up and it was all a dream’!)
And finally they never, ever finish a book they are not enjoying. They would never say ‘I spent good money on that book so I’m going to finish it’ or ‘It’s for my book club, I have to get to the end’ – they think that’s crazy behaviour!
We have a lot to learn from these smart kids! (But I woudn’t recommend the ‘I woke up and it was all a dream’ ending!)
Yours in writing,
Sarah XXX
There was an interesting conference today in Dublin all about writing classes/workshops which I’ve been following on Twitter. A question came up – why do writers teach creative writing? Is it for the money? Book sales? To find material.
And it got me thinking. Why do I teach?
In fact I was teaching only last night – Writing for Children at the Irish Writer’s Centre. We talked about what makes a good children’s book – unforgettable characters, beautiful writing, a cracking plot, emotion, drama . . . ? We talked about memory and using our past to shape fictional characters. And above all, it was fun. I learned a lot and I hope the other writers did too!
And that’s the main reason I teach: because it’s fun. Writing is a lonely old business, and now and again it’s very healthy to step out from behind the desk and meet ‘real people’. I also teach because I believe in passing things on. I’ve been very lucky in my writing life, many, many people have been very kind and helpful to me. And if I can help someone else, even in a small way, I believe it’s my duty to do so.
I’ve been involved in the book world as a writer and a bookseller for nearly twenty years now, and I like passing on what I know about the business to people who are interested. Plus I adore talking about books, and as most writers are also huge readers, the book chat in workshops is always fascinating.
To answer the question posed on Twitter (and above): I genuinely don’t do it for the money. Depending on the organisation, I don’t always charge for workshops or talks. I don’t do it for book sales – I’m not sure 15 sales (the max number I like to take in a class) would make the slightest bit of difference overall. To find material? If this means being wowed by the amazing people in the class and their life stories, then yes, often they do inspire me. I love meeting new people and, like most writers, I’m always curious about what makes or made them who they are. But their writing doesn’t give me material as such, no. Writers have to find their own obsessions to write about, and my passion for Hungarian ballet probably isn’t your passion for example!
For me the answer really is: I teach because 1/ I have something to share with other writers, and 2/ it’s fun. Teaching children can be the most fun of all, but that’s a blog for another day. Young writers can teach us oldies so much about writing.
Yours in writing,
Sarah XXX
PS The best writing talk I’ve ever heard was given by Patrick Ness who told the audience to ‘write with joy’. If he’s in Dublin again soon, check him out! He’s a remarkable speaker.
The Mountains to Sea Book Festival has just finished – phew – and I’m back to my desk. I programmed the children’s events this year and had such fun watching the authors in action and helping at their mammoth signings.
Three authors in particular really impressed me. Cathy Cassidy, Darren Shan and Derek Landy. They have such huge respect for their readers and do everything they can to send every reader home with a big smile on her or his face.
My own nephew isn’t a big reader but after Darren’s inspiring event went home and started writing a zombie story. My sister was astonished. Darren read two extracts from his work – one so spooky it made everyone jump in their seats and scream. Then he talked about his life as a writer and took questions from the floor. And then – then! – he signed for 3 hours solid, greeting each young reader with warmth and interest, chatting away to their parents and grandparents. It was a joy to watch.
Cathy Cassidy was equally charming to her long line of fans. She posed for photos, gave out sweets and chocolate, chatted to the girls and asked them questions about Dublin and what …
The Mountains to Sea Book Festival has just finished – phew – and I’m back to my desk. I programmed the children’s events this year and had such fun watching the authors in action and helping at their mammoth signings.
Three authors in particular really impressed me. Cathy Cassidy, Darren Shan and Derek Landy. They have such huge respect for their readers and do everything they can to send every reader home with a big smile on her or his face.
My own nephew isn’t a big reader but after Darren’s inspiring event went home and started writing a zombie story. My sister was astonished. Darren read two extracts from his work – one so spooky it made everyone jump in their seats and scream. Then he talked about his life as a writer and took questions from the floor. And then – then! – he signed for 3 hours solid, greeting each young reader with warmth and interest, chatting away to their parents and grandparents. It was a joy to watch.
Cathy Cassidy was equally charming to her long line of fans. She posed for photos, gave out sweets and chocolate, chatted to the girls and asked them questions about Dublin and what they liked to read. She basically made them all feel really special.
The last event of the festival was a hilarious delve into Derek Landy’s weird and wonderful mind. His fans are something – I spotted lots of Skulduggery T-shirts, several hand-made Skulduggery bags and even a pair of Skulduggery runners. Again, he signed with patience and a big grin, making all his young readers laugh with him.
If a reader arrived with a pile of books, they all signed each and every book. If a child arrived with a grubby piece of paper, that was signed too. Nothing was too much trouble.
It was utterly inspiring and reminded me exactly why I love the children’s book world so much – the writers are just so darned decent and lovely. To a man or woman – the picture book gang, the Irish writers, the UK writers, the Americans (Meg Rosoff and Patrick Ness) – all exceptional people. I’m sure they have their grumpy days like we all do, but they give everything they have to their readers and for that I salute them.
I’m so grateful to them all for making our festival so successful and giving so many readers an experience they will never forget.
We can all learn a lot about how to treat our readers from Cathy, Darren and Derek!
Yours in writing,
Sarah XXX
- Out Next Week!
I have two books out this month – Ask Amy Green: Love and Other Drama-ramas and Sally Go Round the Stars: Rhymes from an Irish Childhood – and as always I’m dreadfully nervous. Will readers like them? Will they pick them up in a bookshop? Will they buy them? Are the covers right? Did I find all the typos?
This morning I woke up at 6am, my head already full of my To Do list: finish putting content on my new website (more on that in a second), write Amy 5, think about the short story I have to write for a Walker Books anthology called ‘And Then He Kissed Me’, write articles for the launch of both books, write this blog, and let’s not mention the tax return hanging over my head or the rewrite of Shoestring 2! I also programme the children’s section of a book festival, Mountains to Sea in Dun Laoghaire which starts in, gulp, a week.
My new website is almost ready to go live – on 6th September. Lisa, the designer has done an amazing job. It’s fresh looking and easy to navigate, it has a Facebook feed and all kinds
…
- Out Next Week!
I have two books out this month – Ask Amy Green: Love and Other Drama-ramas and Sally Go Round the Stars: Rhymes from an Irish Childhood – and as always I’m dreadfully nervous. Will readers like them? Will they pick them up in a bookshop? Will they buy them? Are the covers right? Did I find all the typos?
This morning I woke up at 6am, my head already full of my To Do list: finish putting content on my new website (more on that in a second), write Amy 5, think about the short story I have to write for a Walker Books anthology called ‘And Then He Kissed Me’, write articles for the launch of both books, write this blog, and let’s not mention the tax return hanging over my head or the rewrite of Shoestring 2! I also programme the children’s section of a book festival, Mountains to Sea in Dun Laoghaire which starts in, gulp, a week.
My new website is almost ready to go live – on 6th September. Lisa, the designer has done an amazing job. It’s fresh looking and easy to navigate, it has a Facebook feed and all kinds of clever things like a media box (for video clips and photos). I’ve updated all the content and added lots of new content, like exclusive background details to all my books – how the titles were picked, where the idea came from etc. I’ve very proud of it and I can’t wait to share it with you all in September. I will of course be continuing my writing blog, and do please keep reading!
Writers at every stage of their careers are riddled with doubts and insecurities, especially around publication time. I’ve written eleven adult novels now (nine published, two out in the next two years), I’ve written four Amy Green novels, and lots of other children’s books, but I’m still horribly nervous about the reaction to each and every new book.
Seeing your new book on the shelf for the first time is terrifying, yet exhilarating. Not seeing it on the shelves when it’s supposed to be there is of course, far worse! I’m in the very lucky position of having publishers behind me who believe in my work and do all they can to edit, market and promote my books to the very best of their ability. And I try to do my part, writing articles for papers, magazines, blogs and websites, being interviewed by journalists on all kinds of things – yesterday it was on proposing to Ben, my partner, for the Irish Examiner – visiting the bookshops to say hi to the booksellers and to sign stock, doing school events, library events, festivals. Around publication time I generally set aside a full month to work on the publicity side of things. There is no point spending a whole year writing and rewriting a book and then just sitting back and letting it find its own way in the market, I like to get out there and do as much as I can to help it on its way.
I know some unpublished writers look forward to the bookshop visits, the interviews, talking to school children or reading their work to adults, but many don’t. After over fifteen years writing and publishing books, I guess I’m just used to it; but publication month never gets any easier – it’s exciting, joyful, stressful and exhausting. But you have to embrace all the publicity and the marketing for what it is – part of every writer’s job. And I’m very, very grateful that people actually want to read my articles, want to interview me, want me to visit their students.
October is Children’s Book Festival month and I’ll be travelling around the country talking to young readers about writing and my books. But in November it’s back to my desk to finish Amy 5. And I’m already looking forward to it. Sometimes I think publication month is there to send us writers scurrying back to our desks with added dedication and vim, ready to type again until our fingers throb.
But in the meantime I’m going to take a deep breath, jump into September head first and embrace all the madness of publication month. And now I can cross ‘write blog’ off my To Do list!
Yours in writing,
Sarah XXX
