Claire Cock-Starkey

How did you become a writer?

I have always written, ever since I was a little kid but my opportunity to make it a career came by chance. Ben Schott, author of the hugely successful Schott's Original Miscellany, was looking for a researcher. I had been working in radio, researching programmes for, amongst others, the BBC and so a friend of a friend suggested me. We hit it off straight away and I worked with Ben, learning from him and honing my skills, for seven years on Schott's Almanac. After the project came to an end I had a notebook full of ideas for books and decided the time had come to go freelance. It took a lot of work, a few rejections and a great deal of perseverance to get my ideas in front of the right people, but once I did things started to come together. I have since had 10 non-fiction books on arcane history, libraries, books and words published.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

As someone who is fascinated by history I spend a lot of time researching ideas in the rare books room of the British Library. Immersing myself in old books, especially from the Victorian era, has undoubtedly influenced my style. That said as a non-fiction writer clarity is key and although I love the content of old books the verbose style is to be avoided.

When and where do you write?

I am super fortunate that writing is my job and so I get to write every day. I spend hours researching in the British Library and the Cambridge University Library but I like to write best in my little study in my house. It is full of useful reference books and is nice and close to the kettle, allowing me to fuel my work with numerous cups of tea.

What are you working on now?

I am currently working on the edits for my upcoming book on museums which should be out in the spring 2019 and juggling this with starting research on a new and very exciting (but currently secret) project.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Not for any great period of time. If I feel stuck I usually just make myself start writing because sometimes just getting something, anything, on the page makes me feel better. The beauty of writing is that you can go back and edit and tweak until that initial try has been transformed from an incomprehensible jumble of thoughts into a neat, concise and enlightening sentence.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

I like George Orwell's advice to writers (which I featured in my book The Book Lovers' Miscellany), especially his exhortation: 'If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.' As a non-fiction writer, often writing to a tight word count, this advice has been invaluable.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Read, read, read! Read everything from books to leaflets to magazines to blogs. The more widely you read the greater your vocabulary will become, your ability to understand style and form will improve and you will collect ideas and inspiration. Writing non-fiction might not appear as creative as writing fiction, but curating words to form beautiful sentences to convey a great idea or communicate a complicated explanation in a easy-to-read fashion is, I believe, very creative.

Claire Cock-Starkey lives and works in Cambridge, England. Claire has published 10 books on history, libraries, books and words including Penguins, Pineapples and Pangolins, The Book Lovers' Miscellany and The Real McCoy and 149 Other Eponyms.

Sonya Sones

How did you become a writer?

I used to be an animator. And after that, I worked as a film editor. But when I became a mother, I quit. Editors worked very long hours, and I didn’t want to be away from my baby twelve hours a day. Instead, I started a hand-painted baby clothes company, which was quite successful. But after a while I wasn’t finding it creatively challenging. I looked around at my life and thought about what to do next. I loved reading to my kids more than anything else, and so I decided to try to write and illustrate books for kids. Turns out I was better at writing than illustrating, so I became a novelist. And by the time I was good enough to be published, my daughter was a teenager, and I was immersed in that world, and in memories of my own teenage years. So, I began writing novels in verse for teens.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

I learned everything I know about writing poetry from Myra Cohn Livingston. I studied with her at UCLA Extension. She set me on the path to writing my first novel in verse, Stop Pretending. Sadly, Myra passed away before it came out. But she left behind a terrific book that you can still find online: Poem-Making: Ways to Begin Writing Poetry. It’s almost as good as being a student in her class.

When and where do you write? 

I write in a lovely spot I call “my secret office”— a public place with an ocean view, comfortable chairs, shade, and a plug. I write in the mornings, and sometimes all through the day, depending on deadlines. But three or four hours a day, four or five days a week is my sweet spot. After that, I’m usually less productive.

What are you working on now? 

I am switching gears entirely, but I don’t want to talk about it yet.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

Nope. I bypass it by not worrying about how good what I write is going to be. I simply assume that what I write will really stink. And the first drafts of my poems always do. But I’ve learned that I have to write that awful version first, so that I have something that I can work on and eventually make better. I remind myself that even if what I write is terrible, I can revise it and keep on revising it, until what I’ve written is good. And it’s this attitude that helps me keep writer’s block at bay.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

“Show, don’t tell.” My poetry teacher, Myra Cohn Livingston, told me that. But for the longest time, I just couldn’t get it through my head. I felt like an idiot because it was just those three simple words…

What’s your advice to new writers?

Show, don’t tell.

I’ve finally figured out what Myra meant! Don’t tell us your character is happy, by having her say, “I’m happy.” Show us, by having her say something like: “It’s lucky I’m holding onto to his hand, or I’d float right up into the air like a balloon.” Don’t tell us your character is scared, by having her say, “I’m scared.” Show us, by having her say something like,” My heart is fluttering in my throat like a trapped bird.” Similes work great for this.

Also, don’t be afraid to write about the worst thing that ever happened to you. Don’t be afraid to be honest. And be very afraid of adjectives and adverbs. Don’t say, “She lived in a cute little house by the sea.” Say, “She lived in a cottage by the sea.” “He ran quickly down the street.” Say, “He zoomed down the street.” This will make your writing richer. Oh, and avoid clichés like the plague.

Sonya Sones has been writing young adult novels in verse for nearly twenty years. Her books have received many honors, including a Christopher Award, the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize nomination. Her novel entitled One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies earned her a Cuffie Award from Publisher’s Weekly for Best Book Title of the Year. Her novel for adults, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, was optioned by Michelle Pfeiffer. But the coolest honor she ever received was when her novel What My Mother Doesn’t Know landed her a spot on the American Library Association’s list of the Most Frequently Banned Authors of the 21st Century. (To find out why, see page 46.) Her latest novel, The Opposite of Innocent, was published in September, 2018, by HarperCollins, and is a Junior Library Guild selection.

Abbi Waxman

How did you become a writer?

I had always written, and was constitutionally incapable of much else.  I graduated from college with a degree in Anthropology (excellent degree for nosy people who want to stick their beaks into other people's motivations) and went into advertising. It seemed like a good choice: I spent all day writing, I could wear jeans and get drunk at lunchtime and no one cared if I swore like a long distance trucker. Perfect, really. I did that for many years, and I definitely recommend it as excellent training for any professional writer, because your work gets thrown away constantly, and you get very blasé about it. 

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

My mother was a murder mystery novelist, so she was my greatest influence, largely because I saw it being done every day. It seemed highly attainable, pleasant work, with very little risk of personal injury.

When and where do you write? 

Early mornings, in a coffee shop near my house. Ideally I go straight to work as soon as I wake up, but as I have three kids my work is often pre-empted by pretty much anything else.

What are you working on now? 

My fourth novel. I'm still in the honeymoon stage where it's going to be the greatest thing I've ever written, largely because I've barely started. It's all downhill from here.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

Yes, of course. I try to think of it not as a block but as a self-imposed period of reflection. I clearly don't know what to write next, so my brain unplugs my hands so I don't type a load of shit I'll need to throw away later. Sometimes I push through and write a load of shit anyway, and sometimes that works and sometimes it just complicates matters. I find writers block usually means I'm trying to either do too much with the story or not enough, but don't quote me. It's painful, but it's not like I'm a child soldier in Rwanda, so I try to keep things in perspective. 

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Wear layers. It's easy to get cold when you're sitting still.

What’s your advice to new writers?

You mean apart from wearing layers? Don't take yourself too seriously. Take the work seriously, take the time to do it everyday, but don't get all bent out of shape about being a struggling artist. If the pleasure doesn't outweigh the pain then stop, for goodness sake. Life is too short. Oh, and disconnect from the Internet; that bugger will distract the living daylights out of you.

Abbi Waxman is a writer who learned her craft writing the ultimate fiction: corporate advertising. After working for a variety of ad agencies in London and New York, she quit her paying job to raise three kids and write novels. One of those things turned out to be a lot easier than the other. She lives in Los Angeles with her daughters, three dogs, two cats, seven chickens and one very patient husband.