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By Chris Taylor
 Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2000, best selling children’s author
and teacher, Alan Gibbons heads to Wigan in April 2006 as part of the
Words ’06 Literary festival. LINC reporter Chris Taylor caught up with
the writer of such gritty, issue-based novels such as ‘Hold On’, ‘Blood
Pressure’ and ‘The Lost Boy’s Appreciation Society’, to talk about his
work, and to get some top writing tips from the well loved author.
You've mentioned in the past how you experienced bullying for the first
time when you moved to Crewe during your childhood. How have these
experiences
had an overall effect on your career, and did they help to shape any of
your novels or the characters?
The short period of bullying I suffered as a kid hugely affected my
whole outlook. Obviously, it made me want to write about it overtly in
books such as ‘Hold On’. I wanted the victims to know someone had gone
through the same experience, and I wanted the perpetrators to develop
some empathy and insight into the effect that their behaviour might
have. There was also a knock on effect in my general outlook. Because
the women's movement were marching for equality and people like Martin
Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali were resisting racism, I
started to look at different ways in which people were bullied through
prejudice and bigotry.
When writing do you plan and prepare a basic plot and your characters or
do you prefer to just begin writing and let the ideas flow freely?
Ninety percent of the time I don't plan at all. I just start writing and
let it flow. The vast majority of the writing impulse is intuitive. You
feel the language the way you feel music, in your heart and your soul.
Obviously in a longer novel with more characters that just doesn't work,
so in the more epic of my books (Rise of the Blood Moon, etc), there is
a lot more overt planning. Even then it is minimal, two sentences to
summarise a mini-chapter.
Many of your novels contain powerful, emotional story lines such as 'The
Lost Boys' Appreciation Society', which contains the death of a close
family member. Do you ever try to get inside the minds of your
characters and imagine how you would feel in that situation?
Empathy is the central condition of the novel, in my opinion. I place my
characters in some kind of dilemma or crisis and then try to put myself
in their shoes. By nature, I am passionate about everything I do so it
fits this kind of approach to writing.
You once described yourself as 'one of those peculiar hybrid creatures,
a teacher-author.' But which love comes first in your life, do your
prefer entertaining and stimulating people's minds through your books,
or teaching and inspiring in the classroom?
Honestly, I couldn't do one without the other. I started writing because
I got a buzz out of encouraging youngsters to read and write. I taught
because I loved literature and wanted to pass on that enthusiasm to new
generations. I still run writing workshops five days a week all over the
UK and abroad. If I didn't teach, I couldn't write.
It is just as important for you to help those who may not be as creative
and talented at writing, as well as those who are naturally talented
writers?
I work with youngsters right across the spectrum of ability. Helping a
youngster of average ability to write better is just as exciting as
helping gifted writers to stretch themselves even further. Almost all of
us can get something out of expressing ourselves in story, poetry or
song. Creativity should be a democratic, not an elitist thing.
The vast majority of your books are teenage thrillers, although on
occasion you have written sport or even romance novels. Is there any
other genre you would like to explore?
Absolutely. I hate being confined by a particular genre. My next two
books, Rise of the Blood Moon and Setting of a Cruel Sun are fantasy.
The next book after them, The Devil's Entrails, is horror. I am also
playing around with a sci-fi idea. I like different challenges.
You regularly inundate yourself with work from students across the
country who ask you for comments and constructive criticism on their
work. Whose opinions do you respect the most when it comes to critiquing
your work?
There are three sets of opinions I respect. The most important by far
are the comments sent to me by my readers. The second are fellow writers
who review my work honestly. I’ve kept reviews and comments by people
like Gillian Cross, Keith Gray, Malorie Blackman and Nicky Singer. Then
there are the reviewers. Some I respect. Some I treat with contempt. The
ones I respect read the book and review it on its own merits. The bad
reviewers set up their own criteria and shoot you down if you don't meet
their arbitrarily imposed standards. Most of all I dislike the macho
reviewer who likes the sound of his or her own voice and wants to come
up with 'clever' put downs. Oh, I should say that I only listen to my
publishers, my wife and
my children when it comes to reading a work in progress!
Where do you find inspiration for your seemingly random choice of poems
such
as 'Ode to a mobile phone' and 'In a naughty kid's Pocket?'
The inspiration for my children's poems comes from the impulse to
entertain. At the end of my talks people kept asking me to read from my
novels but that didn't seem right. A chunk of a longer work never sounds
quite right. Reading some comic poems seemed much more satisfying. I
like bits and bobs and the poems satisfy that impulse.
Where do you see yourself and your work developing in the future? Do you
think you will still be writing for young, teenage audiences or do you
imagine yourself pursuing an older age range or perhaps even writing for
adults?
I'm not really interested in trying to write for an adult audience. I
think Children's Literature is quite satisfying enough for me. I just
want to experiment with a variety of genres and see if I can do as many
different
things before I peg it!
How would you feel about one of your novels making the transition from
book to screen in the form of a film? Which one would you most like to
see on the big screen?
I'd love to see my work on the big screen. I don't think it will happen.
I'm not commercial enough. I write about real life not James Bond. Even
when I write fantasy, it is set in ancient India. Only Bollywood could
do it. That said, I did sell the film rights to Shadow of the Minotaur
but it's been floating around for 3 years without progress.
How does it feel to know that some of your books have been translated
into languages such as Italian, French, Dutch and Japanese, and that
young people from a variety of different cultures can enjoy your work?
It is wonderful to be published abroad. I have also been lucky enough to
meet readers in Cyprus, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland,
France, Spain, Switzerland and Hong Kong. It's great to know you are
being read by people in other cultures.
How important is it for you to write about current issues affecting
young people such as drugs, relationships, family problems etc?
Some people seem to think that writing about issues is a bad thing but I
don't see why. In many ways Steinbeck, Shakespeare, Dickens, Hardy,
Lawrence, Harper Lee, Orwell and many other 'greats' were issue writers.
Summarise any Shakespeare play and you say what it is about. Romeo and
Juliet is about love, Macbeth is about ambition, Coriolanus is about
pride, Othello is about jealousy. There you go, issues. I think the
writer owes it to the reader to write about the big ideas of the day.
Anything else is a betrayal. Even fantasy deals with big ideas. Just
look at His Dark Materials.
Do you enjoy tackling topics close to your heart such as bullying,
racism and ignorance in your novels, in the hope that they may have an
affect on the young people reading them?
When I write my 'issue' novels I don't have the idea that I can change
the world, though that's not a bad thing to try! First and foremost, I
am a storyteller, but if I can make just a few people think differently,
then I'm happy. Some novels such as ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’, ‘One Day
in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’, or ‘1984’ really did change the way
people think. I'm not that good.
Many young people today face the constant stress of exams such as GCSEs,
which you tackle in 'The Lost Boys' Appreciation Society.' Did you cope
well with the stress of everyday teenage problems as well as the stress
of school and exams or did you find yourself buckling under the pressure
like your character John?
When I was a teenager there was far less stress and far fewer exams. I
went out playing football the night before my English A level. I think
we cram teens too much these days. Personally, I think we should abolish
30% of exams including all SATs immediately to let our young people
read, listen to music, make relationships and go on demonstrations
against injustice and war. It would educate them much more. That's what
I did as a kid and I think it made me a much more rounded human being.
We are in danger of destroying childhood through exams and commercial
pressures to conform.
You support the Committee 'Authors Against the SATs.' In your opinion do
you think it is more practical to test students on their own writing
such as coursework, rather than testing their memory skills in the form
of exams?
Actually, I launched ‘Authors Against the SATs’ after a chat with
[fellow writer] Mike Rosen. Like I said, the present generation is
massively over examined. In Finland, they don't formally test on a
national basis until 17. How sensible! They have higher educational
standards than us and it’s no wonder. At school they learn to think
instead of doing endless revision. Michael Faraday left school at 13 and
he gave us electricity! Let's assess writing through a portfolio of
creative writing. No author would write a story in exam conditions. Why
ask young people to do it?
What do you enjoy most about your career as a successful writer-cum-teacher,and
why would you recommend both these career aspect to others?
The thing I enjoy most about my career as a writer for and educator of
young people is the interaction with our funny, talented kids. They get
a lousy press from some journalists who should know better. We should
stop demonising our young people and give them some respect.
At school you were very shy and didn't push to have your work published,
even in the school magazine. In such as competitive industry how
important do you think is for young people to take every opportunity to
have their work published?
I think I approached writing all wrong when I was young. I was too
scared of 'getting it wrong' so couldn't pluck up courage to show my
poems and stories to anyone. When I was a student I burned them all
because it seemed pointless writing if I didn't have an audience. To
become a writer you need a reader. Young writers should get their
material published anywhere they can. You learn from honest criticism,
even when it isn't what you want to hear.
You yourself didn't become a published writer until your mid-thirties,
but have you got any advice for young people wishing to pursue a career
in writing?
My big piece of advice to anyone who wants to write comes in three
parts. First, read like mad. Read everything you can get your hands on.
You learn to write by reading good writers.
Second, write like mad. Lots of this will be rubbish but learning to
write is like learning to ride a bike. You learn to do it by doing it.
You do it wrong a lot of the time but eventually you get the hang of it.
And finally, learn to be a show off. Show your stuff to anyone who is
interested. Then listen to their opinions. They will help you become a
better writer.
Recommended Links:
www.alangibbons.com
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