Smash hit

Does it seem deceptively easy? It doesn't when you try writing them! I actually write for myself, both as I was when I was a child and as I am at the time of writing. The story itself seems to dictate the "entry level" for the book, though I hope that with all my books adults can read them as well. So, for example, I think Sabriel has an entry level of around 12 years-old , but can be read and enjoyed by anyone older as well. Mister Monday, has an entry level of 9 or 10 years-old, but likewise can be read by older children and adults without seeming childish or simplistic. Or so I hope.

Do you think the standard of literacy among children today is suffering as the consequence of TV and the internet? How can we get more kids to read?
Peter Fox, Hastings, East Sussex

It's difficult for me to gauge the standard of literacy among children as my own son is only two and I have relatively little contact with children, as I really only meet them when I am promoting a new book for a short time, in the artificial environment of an author event. The fan letters and e-mails I receive are often surprisingly sophisticated and competent given the ages of the children who send them (they usually say how old they are). But then these children would be enthusiastic readers so are probably not a typical sample.

I think the only way to get kids to read more is to get adults to read more. I am a reader because my parents were, my children will probably be readers because they will grow up in a house full of books. I do think more could be made to promote reading as an essential tool for success in life (which it is, no matter what field you intend to pursue), but I would probably target adults and let it flow on to their children.

What are you working on at the moment?
Daryl Fletcher, Kirkby-In-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire

I'm just finishing Drowned Wednesday, the third book in my series The Keys to the Kingdom. It's very late, unfortunately, for all kinds of reasons. But like most writers, I also have numerous other projects that I make notes about, write fragments of, and think about at the same time as I have a major work underway.

Do you have any particular influences from the fantasy oeuvre - literary or otherwise?
Clarissa Martin-Jenkins, London

I have been influenced by everything I've ever read, to a greater or lesser degree, for good or ill. That includes a lot of non-fiction as well as fiction from every genre and many of the classics of English literature. That said, the biggest influences on my writing are almost certainly the books I read from the ages of 10 to 20 years-old or thereabouts, much of it fantasy and science fiction. This influence is not always obvious, for I have actively tried not to be a slavish imitator of the authors whose work I love.

For example, I am a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings, and I think that my own work is heavily influenced by Tolkien's, but in spirit, not in letter (no orcs, elves or hobbits). Other authors who have had a big influence include Ursula Le Guin, T. H. White, Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander, Diana Wynne Jones, Robert Heinlein, Rosemary Sutcliff, Robert Graves, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Sayers, P.G. Wodehouse, Isaac Asimov, Alexandre Dumase... I could easily go on for hundreds of authors. I got something from all of the authors listed above, and this doesn't even begin to include the biographers and historians.

Have you ever had writer's block and if so how did you cope?
Jenny Dogget, Glasgow

I've never really had the classic, full-on writer's block, which I think is probably something akin to a severe case of clinical depression. I've certainly found myself in difficulties with books and temporarily unable to go on. In these situations, I just force myself to write something. Anything. I'll write part of a short story that I might never use. I'll jump ahead and write part of the current novel that really appeals to me and then go back and link up to that difficult bit. Of course, sometimes I also give up for the day and go for a walk, or see a film, or listen to music or do something with my family.

I do think that you have to force yourself to write, all writers that I know do to a lesser or greater extent. I usually don't want to write, I want to procrastinate. But this isn't writer's block, it's just human nature and can be got through with some determination and, if necessary, some uplifting of the creative spirit by listening to some great music, seeing a great film or play, or even reading a great book (though I think it helps to turn to other media).

Is inspiration necessary to write a novel?
Sally Ivanovic, Portland, Oregon USA

That's a tricky question. Many people have the inspiration to write a novel, in that they think of a good story and the characters to go in it. But they don't write it, so there is no novel.

On the other hand, many people have no inspiration but they sit down and start writing and they either get some inspiration along the way and possibly write a good novel, or they end up with a couple of hundred pages of manuscript that is not a novel. But at least they've done something and probably learned a bit about writing, so the chances are better that next time there will be some inspiration to liven up their improved writing skills.

My advice is not to worry about inspiration. Just start writing. I think that the act of writing improves the chances of getting ideas or even generates them. Think of a character, any character (maybe yourself) and put them in a situation.

Then try and think about what might happen next. Something will happen, you'll write it down and all of a sudden you have had some inspiration. Enough to get that character to the next page, where the chances are you'll find some more ideas and page by page, a novel will be made. It may not be a good novel, or a publishable one, but few first novels are. You need to write the practice novel (or novels) in order to find out, to learn the craft and to exercise your imagination.

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