“I don’t believe in [writer’s block]. All writing is difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block, and doctors don’t get doctor’s block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it?”
– Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials
I always like reading the websites of other children’s authors. Some sites are great others are just awful (sorry, not giving a link – don’t want to upset the kids author cartel, they break fingers.) Often the best part of the site is the FAQ section, which is usually written for kids researching the author for a school assignment.
Thanks to Foe Romeo’s recent post, I was led back to Philip Pullman’s website. I’d been there in my pre-blogging days and was happy to return to find it still going strong. For those who don’t know, Philip Pullman is one of the best writers for children working today. If the world were a more just place, kids would be dressing up as his characters and lining up outside bookstores to buy his books. But Pullman isn’t suffering – his books have received international acclaim, won awards and secured movie contracts. He has written a heap of great books, but is best known for his trilogy His Dark Materials, which has appeared on stage and soon on a movie screen near you. Like everything Pullman creates, his FAQ is extremely well written and full of gems for readers (both young and old) to discover.
For aspiring or working writers, Pullman’s answers provide inspiration for believing in your ideas and also some handy tips on getting into good writing practice. I especially like this one:
“I write with a ballpoint pen on A4 sized narrow-lined paper. The paper has got to have a grey or blue margin and two holes. I only write on one side, and when I’ve got to the bottom of the last page, I finish the sentence (or write one more) at the top of the next, so that the paper I look at each morning isn’t blank. It’s already beaten.”
It’s amazing the little tricks that writers play on themselves to get their work done. Personally, I can’t write in my ideas journal unless I have my current pen (which is always one bought from a good arts supply shop.) I will literally keep the idea in my head until that particular pen is found (usually near the phone or under the couch.) I know it’s stupid, and I know it’s bordering on the pretentious, but it’s part of the ritual. And for writers ritual (and routine) are very important.
Writing is all about getting stuff out of your brain and onto the page (or screen). And the mind is a very tricky partner. Sometimes it doesn’t want to play, other times you can’t stop it and simply hang on and try keep up with the ideas pouring out. There’s nothing better than getting your mind and writing body in sync and producing a pile of great stuff, so writers will employ any means necessary to achieve this syncronisity.
The more I read about how other writers work, the more I appreciate this strange occupation/hobby/calling known as “writing”. I’d love to hear about any other good author sites (kids or adult authors), or any other writer’s tricks/techniques/advice that you know about.
