Shiny Piece Of Coal

Anyway, when I say 'pop' what I actually mean is drag our behinds through sheets and sheets of rain. What a downpour. I took this photo in Trinity Square and it gives you some sense of the general wetness.

Mal was present to answer any and all questions on his writing, which threw up some interesting insights into teen fiction. I was trying to scribble things down but my notes are a mess of pink ink, so in no particular order:

It's a mug's game to try to think yourself into the mind of a teenager. Fashions change too quickly to keep up with and there's the danger of condescension. For heaven's sake, don't try to use any teen slang. Just write. To which end...

Mal had some really interesting things to say about the writing style best used for teenagers. He thinks there has to be a certain level of transparency - that readers can see what it is that you're trying to say or get across - but that you also need to make the language interesting. You're not writing a traditional children's book, nor an adult novel that can be as self-indulgent as it likes. You're somewhere in between.

There's room for more risk-taking in writing teen fiction than adult fiction. Adult fiction readers are set in their ways; teenagers are avid and eclectic readers. This frees writers up to shift between styles between books.

I loved Mal's assertion that every writer needs constraints. As he said, 'You can't do a crossword without a grid.' I'll remember this next time I'm trying to make a plot work. 

I would have loved to ask Mal about how he handles writing about sport in fiction and how he plans his writing, but he really did have a lot of questions thrown at him from his enthusiastic audience and an hour flew by. I enjoyed hearing the details of Mal's career: a hard-working writer who literally went out and knocked on publishers' doors. 

Mal didn't say a word about being shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, which he won the very next evening! I hope he enjoyed his evening of being celebrated by other children's writers, who vote for the prize, and that he had better weather.

A final note about my lovely boyfriend. The two of us were imagining how my agent will react to my second draft. We conjured a horrified conversation she might have with colleagues and Ian came up with this gem: 'I thought Karen was a rough diamond, but she's just a shiny piece of coal!' Boyfriends are so useful for these moments of entertainment.