Ahead of her appearance at the Audi Dublin International Film Festival next weekend, we spoke to the incredibly successful and influential children’s book writer, Jacqueline Wilson who has touched millions with her comforting books.
In her own words, she has given us some brilliant advice about what it takes to get published.
1. “If you are already a writer and you have young children, it’s a great way to keep your toe in the writing game even if you don’t end up getting published. You are in the right frame of mind, you are in the best position if you have kids yourself, you know exactly what their interests are, and you can choose a story for their ages to gauge interest. I was only 21 when I had my daughter; I was stuck at home, so I carried on writing freelance, I wrote for a mother and baby magazine, in a humourous way so that I would enjoy what I wrote.
2. Try your stories out on other children, not just your own – trialling them with your own children goes without saying, but I read mine to kids in the nursery school to get a real sense for what they liked, as your own children will clearly always love your stories.
3. Get the tone right. I remember trying to get the right tone, I was trying to copy a particular tone at the beginning, but it had already been done. Don’t try and do something that is out there already. Try and do something that means a lot to you. Also, bear in mind, publishers want books to have commercial success, so the tone needs to have a broad appeal.
4. Publishers are always on the lookout for the next best thing, so it’s always worth sending proofs, why not.
5. Dare to be different. I had been writing for 20 years, and I was doing well but hadn’t really made much of an impact, but I just wanted to write a book that was more realistic, from the child’s viewpoint. I used to read Enid Blyton myself and thought, if I ever write children’s books I want them to be realistic. I knew from the start I wanted to write books that were reflective of real life; I think you can be truthful to children and write about sensitive subjects in a way that they can understand. That was the breakthrough, the realism in The Story of Tracy Beaker caught on, and then I began working with illustrator Nick Sharratt – and 25 years later and over a hundred books have been published. When the Television adaptation started (and lasted five years), The Story of Tracy Beaker really caught on, she has been a very popular character.
6. Always have hope at the end of your story. One of the films I am introducing at this year’s Audi Dublin International Film Festival, is an adapation of “The Illustrated Mum” a book of mine about a mother who is bipolar – lovely one minute, frightening the next – it is quite upsetting in a way, but it has a nice ending. There was no softening it up or making it more sentimental. I think you can have upsetting material in a children’s book, as long as you have some hope at the end, and don’t make it too bleak.
7. Add humour. All my books have humour in them – if a child is going through the circumstances that happen in my books, I hope they will relate.
8. My tips for sending a script: it is hard to find a publisher, these days there is less variety, there is a tradition to send to one publisher first and wait until you hear anything before you send to another. My tip would be, in a covering letter, don’t go on about the fact that all your friends say it’s a wonderful story, I wouldn’t go into too much detail, just say the age group they are aiming at and think of something pertinent to say that would be a selling point of the book. Another good tip is to look at school curriculums and see if the type of book you want to write is something teachers can find useful to discuss a certain topic. Leave the cover letter quite brief. Then never send your book to the top person in the publishing house, I would look to see an editorial person who will be named around halfway down in the pecking order, these will be the people who will be keen to find their own authors and champion them. I would send it to a name, or their specific email because it somehow shows you have a bit of initiative.
Good luck!”
Along with a special selection of films from visiting children’s author Dame Jacqueline Wilson, highlights include Golden Globe-nominated animated film My Life as a Courgette, a preview of Michaël Dudok de Wit’s The Red Turtle, edgy Australian drama Girl Asleep and Korean animation Kai. Treats for youngsters include hit Canadian animation Snowtime!, the brilliant stop-motion animation Louis & Luca – The Big Cheese Race; the mischievous Captain’s Island and Jonathan Geva’s Abulele.
Dame Jacqueline Wilson has selected three films to share with young Irish filmgoers.
The Illustrated Mum (Sat 11th Feb, 12.00) + Q&A with Dame Jacqueline Wilson
The Secret Garden (Sun 12th Feb, 12.00) + Intro from Jacqueline Wilson
Mandy (Mon 13th Feb, 10.45) + Intro from Jacqueline Wilson
Tickets for Audi Dublin International Film Festival’s Fantastic Flix (4th– 25th February 2017) are now on sale at www.diff.ie or call 01 687 7974 for general tickets.
