This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Graeme Simsion very kindly answered some questions for Novelicious. He is the author of The Rosie Project, and you can read our review of it here.
Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?
No such thing! I write when I can – which means sometimes in intense bursts of up to eight hours for perhaps three days in succession, sometimes an hour or so fitted in around other work and sometimes not at all for a month or three. But I do a lot of thinking and planning as well as writing – and I count that as equally or even more important.
When you are writing, do you use any famous people or people you know as inspiration?
I’m a longstanding fan of Bob Dylan – and I take some inspiration from the way he’s worked across genres and continued to do original work into his 70s.
What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?
Speaking as a man, if I like a book I’m inclined not to call it “Women’s fiction”! I really enjoyed Bridget Jones’s Diary and Toni Jordan’s Addition. Both are written in first person, are self-aware, and genuinely funny. Which is what I set out to achieve with The Rosie Project.
What is your writing process? Do you plan first or dive in? How many drafts do you do?
I’m a planner. I do sometimes dive in and write a bit without a plan, but then update the plan to reflect what I’ve done. I do lots of drafts. Good writing is re-writing. I estimate I re-worked The Rosie Project end-to-end about seventy times as it progressed from dramatic screenplay to romantic comedy novel.
What was your journey to being a published author?
I enrolled in a screenwriting course in 2007 and wrote The Rosie Project as my ‘school project’ over five years. In 2012 I decided that it might work better as a novel, and did the “sideways adaptation” quite quickly. The manuscript won the Victorian Premier’s Literary award for an Unpublished Manuscript and that attracted the attention of publishers. I signed a deal with Text and have worked directly with them since – I don’t have an agent.
What do you think is the biggest myth about being a novelist?
That you don’t need to work as hard at learning the craft as you would at any other profession. It’s a tough game, and you’re unlikely to become a success by working at it a few hours a week. Which is hard to accept when you’re trying to fit it in with a day job and family commitments.
What advice can you give to our readers who want to write a novel of their own?
Enrol in a writing class. Join a writers’ group. Be prepared to write and write and re-write. Write for publication and enjoy the success of having articles or short stories published.
What are you working on at the moment?
A sequel to The Rosie Project.
We can't wait! Thanks Graeme!