Wimbledon BookFest 2014: Caroline Lawrence - Roman and Western Mysteries book event

            It's always amazing to me how different author events at primary schools can be. Yesterday, at Poplar Primary School and later at St Mark's, the children, teachers and BookFest team were treated to the tricks of the writing trade by author, Caroline Lawrence.

            Soon to have Night Raid, her 30th book published on May 15th, the San Francisco native lead us on a crash course in forming the perfect story, not to mention a lesson in how the writer's brain works. Author of two series now, exploring Roman and Western history, and nominated for the prestigious Edgar award in New York on 1st May, she was the perfect person to give the children writing tips.

            As a student of Classics at university and a lifelong follower of stories in all forms, Lawrence quickly knuckled down with the nitty-gritty of writing practices. For me, at the ripe old age of 23, it is a worrying moment as I utter these words, but in my day Creative Writing, my favourite subject, was simple. Write a story, a page or longer with a beginning, a middle and an end. Of course this is still important. Nowadays though, with the high demand for original, well-constructed stories from budding writers, the subject is undergoing a huge expansion.

            Lawrence approached the children with 7 tips which I will now share with you. Tips that prospective entrants to the Wimbledon BookFest Young Writer's Competition would do well to pay attention to when thinking about The Message, this year's theme:

            1. Do a Mash Up:

            Lawrence's first tip was to do as the title says. Find two or more ideas, and stick them together. The influence responsible for the Roman Mystery series lies with The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault, a story of a young man living through momentous events in ancient times. Lawrence soon found herself hooked on all things mythical and ancient and followed the book's pointing finger to the UK, where she's been ever since.

            Similarly inspired by a love of stories and characters such as Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes, all it took was a nudge from her sister to mash the two ideas together. 30 books later here we are, with Caroline Lawrence giving the children of South West London the nudge to do the same and find ideas that stick together to create their own original stories.

            2. Give Your Hero a Weakness:

            The second tip took more influence from myth and legend, this time in the shape of Achilles and his problems with podiatry. Famously weak in the heel, Lawrence described how a character needs a fatal flaw. Using examples every child in the hall appreciated such as Superman with his infamous disagreement with kryptonite, it became clear that the characters of any story need to be fallible; there has to be a possibility of failure or there's no suspense. Without suspense I think we'd all agree that books would be pretty dull to read.

            Caroline underlined the point by describing her own characters: Flavia – who seizes the day but needs to look before she leaps, Jonathan - a perpetual pessimist with Asthma but thinks things through, keeping overzealous Flavia on the ground, Nubia - an Egyptian slave in Roman times, tormented by a dark history, yet intensely intuitive, and Lupus - a beggar boy who had his tongue cut out at aged six, but highly skilled and stealthy. Clearly the perfect, diverse band for solving crimes of an archaeological nature.

            3. Choose a Cool Setting:

            For Lawrence, this became obvious. Her clear interest in Classics and Ancient History led her to pick Pompeii and the eruption of Vesuvius as her first location for the adventures of her characters. Having travelled across the world herself to locations as interesting as Libya and Egypt, the research of surviving in such a setting helped her ground her characters in realism. She encouraged the children to do the same with settings they found interesting and that they knew well.

            4. Plot the Plot:

            The crux of the event, plotting was one of Lawrence's self-confessed weaknesses. However, after partaking in a screenwriting course, she was able to formulate her own 7 point plot plan to guide her characters from beginning to end. Named the '7 Plot Beats' they go as follows. As an example highlighted by the author herself, I've set them alongside the plot of Star Wars, favourite of children and parents alike, to demonstrate their potency.

            1. Problem – The evil Empire rules the galaxy.

            2. Desire - Luke Skywalker wants to get away from Tatooine to fight the Empire.

            3. Opponent - Darth Vader and the Empire form the perfect example of villainy.

            4. Plan (character's journey) - Luke travels with Obi-Wan Kenobi to learn the ways of the force and rescue Princess Leia with the help of Han and Chewbacca.

            5. Battle - With the Rebellion in tow, Luke leads the attack against the Death Star.

            6. Knowledge - Destroying the Death Star, Luke and his friends find out their position in the galaxy is stronger than they think.

            7. New Level - Spurred on by his control of The Force, Luke and co. receive their medals of bravery and cement themselves as heroes of the Rebellion.

            The 7 Plot Beats can be applied to any story, and Lawrence stated that exercising plotting is one of the best ways to form excellent stories.

            5. Characters:

            Once your plot is in place, you can think a lot more about your characters. Using examples from film as diverse as Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, The Lord of the Rings and Up, Lawrence described how characters in all stories fall into a set of clear archetypes. Again, using one of Lawrence's examples, this time Pixar's Up, the character archetypes are as follows:

            Hero - Carl Fredericksen, closely following the 7 Plot Beats with a distinct desire and journey to find Paradise Falls, the old man forms an unlikely hero.

            Sidekick - Russell, loyal to the end and possessing his own desire to complete his sash of badges and impress his absent father, Russell forms the perfect sidekick for the hero.

            The funny one - Dug, the talking dog provides light relief in times of suspense, again following his own subplot to be accepted by his canine peers.

            The wild one - Kevin, the wild bird the group find in Paradise Falls, joins the adventure forms the desire of the antagonist, Charles Muntz, and only wants to protect her children.

            The mentor - Charles Muntz - Unlike classic mentors like Yoda, Dumbledore and Gandalf, Charles Muntz unknowingly influences Mr Fredericksen on his adventure, and ultimately becomes the villain of the piece with an innovative twist on character that Pixar are so talented with. Carl’s wife, Ellie also takes the place of mentor.

            Lawrence encouraged the children to do the same with their own characters, to play with the archetypes and create their own individual story.

            6. Detail and Thought Process:

            Across the day, Lawrence described how detail and description were vitally important to storytelling. At Poplar Primary School, we all learned the ins and outs of Roman toiletry, the influence for The Sewer Demon, one of Lawrence's short story collections. In writing historical fiction, the level of detail is important and brings the text to life.

            Later in the day, Caroline approached the subject from a different direction. Playing a piece of music, she asked the children to close their eyes and think about the images that sprung to mind based on it. Every child was different, enforcing the author's point. You can take influence from all areas of life, from artefacts you see every day, to influences like music, which the creative right side of your brain absorbs.

            7. And finally...

            Taking influence from the bard himself, Mr Shakespeare, Caroline Lawrence highlighted the most important point to take note of when writing stories, one which every child (and adult if they fancy following in Lawrence's footsteps) should take into account:

            Have fun.  

Wimbledon BookFest 2014: Steven Butler - The Diary of Dennis the Menace book event

                  The Diary of Dennis the Menace promises to push the 75 year old Beano name to new, naughtier, menacing heights. Penned by author/actor Steven Butler, writer of The Wrong Pong series, the showman joined the Wimbledon BookFest yesterday in Wimbledon Chase and St Mark’s Primary School to let children from years 2 and 3 in on some of Dennis’s latest dastardly deeds. Other schools in the area where also invited to the event to participate in the fun.

                  The writer bounced onto stage with an enthusiasm that refused to relent. The children fed off his energy and it made for two equally entertaining events. Butler began by telling stories from his childhood, detailing tricks shared between himself and his sister. The misdeeds were received with refreshing laughter and attention from the audience.

It is interesting to see an author at work in events. Having now witnessed two authors strut their stuff on the Wimbledon stage, it is interesting to note that while Butler’s performance was presented in a completely different way to John McNally’s, both held the rapt attention of their young spectators.

                  The children lapped up everything Butler had to offer, from readings (preceded by a much needed wriggle of bottoms and encouraged stretch), and a entertaining literary inspired burping competition. Not things the watching teachers would approve of, you might think. However, Steven Butler possesses the power to remove teacher’s authority with a click of his fingers. Naturally, the students loved such touches, and it is this camaraderie that Butler uses to explain how he can control the youngsters in such a chaotic environment.

                  Both events led to our reflection on the children’s author in the modern age. Speaking with publicists, agents and the authors themselves, there seems to be a huge call for the writer to become a showman and performer. Even a seasoned performer, such as Butler (currently appearing in Lost Boy in the West End), admitted to being nervous the first time he staged such an event.

                  Writing, a naturally introverted profession, now seems to call for the wordsmiths to step out of their comfort zone. While daunting, this can be a good thing. In an age gone by (10 or so years ago), an author was a person you wrote to using good old-fashioned pen and paper. Two return letters from Anthony Horowitz are still two of this intern’s prized possessions. Authors like Butler and McNally show a talent that is now widespread in the author community. In the age of the social network, where 140 characters separate us from our writing idols, the author is becoming accessible to the reader.

                  This makes author events, and the sense of community the Wimbledon BookFest inspires, all the more important. I’d suggest coming to meet any author when they decide to put on a show. You won’t be disappointed.

                  The sequel to The Diary of Dennis the Menace, Beanotown Battle is out in May.

                  Here's me with the man of the hour...

Wimbledon BookFest 2014: John McNally - Infinity Drake The Sons of Scarlatti launch

            

            Helping to plan the 2014 Wimbledon BookFest. Assisting at author events in schools around Merton and Mitcham. Book publicity. Meetings with authors, agents, publishers and PR. An internship with the Wimbledon BookFest sounds like paradise for any book enthusiast. And over the coming three months, I will keep a blog of my experiences whilst working in the world of literary Wimbledon.

            Take today for example:  

Working with debut author John McNally and helping to publicise his novel Infinity Drake: The Sons of Scarlatti to students at Wimbledon College and Wimbledon Chase School. Having worked as a screenwriter for Aardman Animations and the BBC, McNally – the natural showman – began both his appearances describing to the children how writing is just a dialogue between two people. Just like a script, people talk in books the way they do in real life.

Infinity Drake captures a child voice fantastically as the eponymous hero is shrunk to 9mm tall by his mad scientist Uncle Al and thrust into a thrilling adventure to avert disaster on a miniature and massive scale.

            The show ran like workshops, and it was great to see young children engaging with an author on such a wide scale. Every question was met with a sea of hands. The enthusiasm was encouraging to see, as McNally walked us through his themes and inspiration: gadgets, adventure, gaming, humour and a shrunken main character – who was inspired by McNally watching his son play with a toy jet on a country walk and thinking: ‘wouldn’t it be cool to be the pilot of that jet?’

A personal highlight was McNally’s shocking revelation for the children. After a lifetime of experience, he had discovered that girls were indeed better than boys. Despite a measurable level of dissent from the boys of Wimbledon College, and a healthy level of competitive air-punching and celebration from the female contingent of Wimbledon Chase Primary School, the author held rapt attention as he described his strong female character, Delta, more than a match for Infinity. As if that wasn’t enough, there were descriptions of John’s creepy crawly muses: botflies, bullet ants and the inspiration of the terrifying Scarlatti Wasp – the monstrous villain of the novel.

            John McNally writes to entertain his readers. With his sequel soon on the horizon, and a third in the series in the works, it seems Harper Collins has found a new addition to the children’s fiction scene that will be here to stay. And who knows, maybe John inspired the winners of the Wimbledon BookFest Young Writers Competition today…

            And with that, I’ll hand over to the man himself:

by David Steedman. Wimbledon BookFest intern and MA student of Children's Literature at the University of Roehampton.