Katie M John
Katie lives in Middlesex with an incredibly handsome giant, a two foot fairy (that likes muddy puddles and wrestling) and a magic rabbit that can pull conjurers out of hats.
Her favourite thing, apart from pistachio macaroons, is writing.
Her favourite thing, apart from pistachio macaroons, is writing.
Follow the Writer at her official Blog
on WRITINGBecause writing takes up so many hours of my day, I tend not to write in one place but wherever the family have camped themselves. This is why my notebooks are invaluable because they act like my mobile offices. In someways my notebooks are more important to me than the end novels because it is in my notebooks that I store all my research and initial ideas.
Like with many writers, I often find myslef thinking about interactions between the characters rather than actual plot and although I am a great one for planning, I am not brilliant at sticking to my plans once I've made them as I often find that my characters want a say in what is happening to them. Writing a series is different from writing a book in that the characters become very independent at a certain stage and so although characterisation gets easier (they are who they are) the plot can get more tricky. What is interesting is that none of my characters are perfect and just like real human beings each of them have certain traits about them that I find irritating at point. I resolve myself to this by thinking that they are probably more believable as humans for it. When I work I drink a lot of coffee. This is not a good thing and I am trying to alternate with hot chocolate. I used to think wine was good but as I've become a better writer I've realised that it just makes me sloppy and clouds my judgement. Aside from my notebooks, the other most important thing in my writer's space is my ipod. I love music, all kinds and I find it fascinating how music can totally move the soul. There are whole passages in this book that have been completely influenced by certain songs and rhythms. Because of this I am going to put a recommended playlist to run along side chapters which I thought might be an interesting exercise. I am wandering if it will elevate certain parts of the narrative in a similar way to which a score works alongside a film. | on READING Most people would think that its a given that writers read all the time but writing can be quite exhausting and sometimes it means that I find I havn't read anything for several weeks. When this happens I find I'm a binge reader reading a book a night until I've exhausted my to-read pile.
I love to read other Young Adult Fiction because I find the different approaches and styles fascinating and of course I hope to learn from the best. My reading, like my music taste is incredibly varied although I do tend to have a sway towards works of darker theme. I love dystopia novels, historical fiction and horror. I love literature that challenges the norm, shocks and makes the reader sit up and think. Having done an English Literature Degree and an MA in Twentieth Century Literature I have read a lot of books and there are far too many that have been completely amazing for me to remember to list down but here are ten of my all time favourites; Golding's Lord of The Flies, Stoker's Dracula, Orwell's Ninteen Eighty Four, Meyer's Twilight Saga, Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird, Shelley's Frankenstein, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaids Tale, Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. |
