I’m joined by Mike Shackle, author of the epic LAST WAR fantasy trilogy, and he also writes thrillers under the name Michael Dylan: we talk about the perils of writing epic fantasy when publishers are imposing word limits, the pros and cons of self publishing and traditional publishing, writing cop thriller fiction, setting a mission statement for each book, and Michael creating his own artwork! And we’re also joined by Buddy. Who has a squeaky toy that has an urgent message for the world…
This month’s special guest Zoë Richards reveals the biggest mistake in her writing career…
TRANSCRIPT
MARK: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in your writing career?
ZOË: Doubting myself. So, many years ago, and I’m talking. I think, around about 22 years ago, Writing Magazine had an offer from an agent that you could send in up to 3000 words. So I sent off to her 3000 words, and she came back. And now I reflect backwards and it’s like, oh, she gave me such incredibly good advice, but I didn’t get the “Well done, Zoë, you are a Gold Star student.” So because because I was brought up with the coercive control of “you are not good enough unless you are the star student.” When I came home second in the year, I’m sure you can guess where this is going. Second in the year out of 145 kids and I said I came home I came second in geography, and my dad’s answer was, “What are you going to do next year to be first?” And there wasn’t a smile in that response. So I was always expected to be the best in class. So this agent didn’t make me best in class. So I believed I wasn’t a writer and I didn’t write for a few years. So I would say, anybody who gets rejection, remember, first off, if they give you a nuggets, store the nugget. You might not be able to accept what they’ve told you today, but at some point you’ll be ready to accept what they’ve told you. And she told me, was write what you know. I can tell that you’re writing something now that you don’t know anything about it. So either write something you already know about or go and research what you’re trying to write about. And I took it as being, I’m no good at writing. She wasn’t telling me I was no good at writing. She was telling me it was obvious I didn’t know what I was writing about. And they’re are two distinctly different things. So anyone listening who’s thinking, oh, I’m useless because I’ve had a rejection: what are they telling you? And then secondly, it’s only their opinion. And if you are 100% sure you’re right and you’ve written good stuff, keep going. But I think we’ve always got room to improve.
MARK: Now, listeners, if you’re thinking this is incredibly good advice where I can get more of this? You have a podcast, don’t you? So let’s give that a quick plug. Zoë, tell us about Write, Dammit.
ZOË: Well, yeah, it’s called Write, Dammit because I needed to remind myself to write, dammit. And I actually did the podcast because the government created something called Integrated Care Boards, and the one I worked for was told it was over establishment and needed to reduce its numbers. So a load of us were made redundant. Nobody’s ever made redundant in the NHS, so it was a bit of a shock to us all. And I was doing a job I loved with colleagues I adored. And so I thought, well, I can’t sit around and do nothing whilst I’m looking for a job and bear in mind; my kind of job, I was the only one in the country, so not the kind of job that you can get lots of work doing. So it was very, very difficult for me to find an identical job. I was having to reinvent myself. So what I did instead was start a podcast, and I learned what I could and discovered that if I could do seven, no, if I could do eight podcast episodes I was doing better than most because the majority of people stop at seven episodes or three months of running a podcast. So I said, right, I’m doing it for four months, and I’m going to do eight episodes. So we’re now on episode 127 and it’s 18 months old.
MARK: Yeah, this is episode three and I’ve still got the will to live, so I think we’re doing alright.
ZOË: Yeah, you’ve done one before though. I think you’ll keep this one going for sure.
This month’s special guest Zoë Richards reveals what she needs to know before she can start a writing project…
TRANSCRIPT
MARK: What’s the thing that makes you think you’re ready to start writing on a project?
ZOË: The thing that makes me say, just go for it: I’ve got to know what the ending’s going to be. Once I know where this is going. And I think, again, that goes back to reports that I used to write. So what do I want out of this report? I want the execs to give me 3 million pounds for autism services. I have to say, spoiler alert, I never got 3 million pounds for autism services for children. It never, never happened. Great report, Zoë, the best we’ve ever seen. No, we haven’t got any money for you. Yeah, that didn’t work. However, the process worked of knowing that’s my ultimate aim, that I need them to know that that’s what we need, what’s going to get me there. And so it’s the same thing when I’m ready to write. Once I know where I’m going,
Mark: What small thing has made a big difference to your creative process?
Zoë: Just sitting down and writing? The only thing that ever stops me because I find I get more creative the more I write.
Mark: Yeah, yeah.
Zoë: It’s a bizarre thing, isn’t it? So if I sit there and don’t write, the writing doesn’t get done. And the creativity doesn’t happen either.
Mark: You can’t just sit down, not do anything, get up and walk away. It’s just embarrassing for all concerned, even if you’re completely on your own. So yeah, turn up sharp, tap some keys, see what comes out.
Zoë: I couldn’t think of anything to start today, and I actually wrote Need Something about Hunter and his gang days, and perhaps something about when his dad used to beat him up. And that’s all I’ve written into one of the chapters, but it immediately made me go, oh, in that chapter there, I need to do… And I just went off then and couldn’t stop writing.
This month’s special guest, Zoe Richards is unusual in that she loves writing a synopsis. Here, she gives us a few top tips…
TRANSCRIPT
Mark: You recently tweeted, “Am I weird in that I quite like writing a synopsis?” Yes you are. Can we discuss what it is you like about writing synopses and any top tips for writing them?
Zoë: Again, I think it might be my career that helps are the reports I would write. I always had to write an executive summary to the report, so that meant that I had to take something that was anything from a three to six page report. So we are talking short compared to a novel, but often my reports would start at twenty pages, and then I’d whittle it down to what’s the real crucial information these exactly need to read. And then I’ve got to produce something like about a one-hundred word, a summary synopsis of what the report’s about, but one that is going to make them want to read the rest of the report. Because they receive so many reports, they’re not going to want to read it. So I do have an advantage, don’t I? Do you use, Scrivener?
Mark: I do indeed, yes. Big fan.
Zoë: So, you know, on the way I’ve set mine up, you know, on the top right corner it has a little box that says synopsis when you’re writing each chapter.
Mark: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Zoë:So I just write a sentence or two in there about what’s the purpose of this chapter. And then once you’ve got all of your chapter one or two sentences, I mean, the idea of it being there is for the corkboard, but actually forget the corkboard. It’s a place for you to then gather… So I’ve just written a chapter today, and the chapter is to to raise the emotional stakes in the story. So I’ve written a couple of lines in, into that little corner box that’s headed ‘synopsis’ and then when I come to write the synopsis, I just pull all of these sentences out. If I can’t necessarily add anything to the synopsis through adding in what that chapter is about, then it doesn’t need to go in the synopsis. So is it moving it forward? But also if it’s not moving the story forward enough, do I need the chapter? So it helps me to do that kind of thing as well.
Zoë is the author of Garden of Her Heart, and host of the podcast, Write Damn It! An experienced coach with more than 35 years working on mindset, Zoë shares a ton of practical advice for writers including how to deal with self-doubt and rejection.
WE DISCUSS…
How stand up comedy helped Zoë’s writing
How to rethink your attitude to resilience
Great tips for writing a synopsis
Writers’ flow and getting started each day
Building characters using their childhood trauma
How to get people to show up at book events, and much more…
Mark Stay Writes 