Author diaries

Have you heard, it's in the stars ...

Well, it must be in the stars. I entered another competition this autumn, The Bishop Auckland Novel competition, held every year, with a different theme. This year it was for a ‘Crossover’ novel, ie a novel that could be read by young or old readers and enjoyed on different levels by both.
I entered the ‘novel’ I had written when I was Writer in Residence for Centre for the Children’s Book, now rebranded Seven Stories. I was based in Byker and had to gather people’s stories and somehow put them into a book. I devised this idea of a story told in narrative poems, some in the voice of the characters, some in a narrator’s voice. I called it Wall, as it was set in the Byker Wall Estate, and I wasn’t at all sure it would be accepted as a novel, because it was somewhat unconventional.

But I think in the end that is what the judges liked, and so I was a joint First Prize winner, and I received my cheque last Sunday at a lovely prizewinner’s lunch at Bishop Auckland Town Hall. All the winners also had their submissions read by a London Agent, Clare Alexander, and she gave us very useful advice about approaching Publishers and agents.
It’s such a boost to the confidence to win a prize. It convinces you that it is all worth it and gives you the energy to carry on. But it also proves that you should write what you want, and have faith in that and not try and guess what some publisher will want or fashion trend might be.
Clare Alexander said that the ‘Crossover’ novel is a bit of a made up idea, there isn’t really such a genre that can be easily categorised, and she pointed out that such books, and writers, that appeal across the board, have been around for a long time - it’s called good writing: Catcher in the Rye - Salinger, To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee, Robert Louis Stevenson to name a few.

Clare Alexander also had some firm words for me about my manuscript - very useful. It’s what a writer really needs - not ‘yes it’s fine’ but ‘do this’, ‘more of that’, like water onto parched ground, it all made sense and new story developments and words immediately blossomed in my imagination. The only problem is, now I wake up at four in the morning with my characters voices babbling away, and I have to turn the light on, write them down, and then I can’t get back to sleep. I’m tired but wired.
And finally the Library poem is now on the City Library website if anyone cares to have a look. I read it at a big Dinner, where I was sitting on the table with Jacqueline Wilson, and other luminaries, like the Sheriff of Newcastle. She gave a great after dinner speech about how important libraries had been for her when she was a child. Unfortunately, I was too far away to really talk much to her, but I had a very interesting conversation with Lord Macintosh of Haringey, the minister for media, the arts (and everything it seems). We were tossing names about like Melvyn Bragg and David Blunkett, and it was fascinating. He said what you need in good government, or any organisation, are some people who are ‘Simplifiers’ and some who are ‘Complicators’.
He said he was a Simplifier - he sees a simple solution, cuts the chat and says get on with it. You need the complicators, who are careful about detail, because they will make sure it all works properly, he said. I couldn’t have asked for a better dinner companion.

Posted by Ellen on 11 November 2004 at 05:19 PM GMT [Link]