UQP Writer's Room: Melanie La'Brooy
Why did you start writing?
I started writing stories when I was around six years old because something inside me insisted that I HAD to. It’s a very curious and wonderful thing, this compulsion to weave stories. I sometimes get asked how I stay motivated to sit at my desk and write all the time. There’s just nowhere else I’d rather be than immersed in words and imagination.
How did you decide which form or genre was right for you?
I wrote my first (unpublished) novel in my twenties. It was very literary and serious and was basically me trying to be Jeanette Winterson. A few years later, I decided to write a very different kind of book and discovered that I was much better at being funny. I went on to publish five romantic comedies, with snappy dialogue and humour becoming my hallmarks. I also used to write political columns for a newspaper and I’ve dabbled in screenwriting so I’ve written across many forms and genres. It therefore wasn’t completely out of character for me to try another new genre when it came to writing the fantasy adventure that became The Wintrish Girl.
What was your inspiration for your latest work?
As a kid I loved reading fantasy: the Narnia books of course but The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander was also a particular favourite. As I grew up, I left fantasy behind but it re-entered my life as my kids got older. All of a sudden there were all these middle-grade fantasy books strewn around the house and as I started to pick them up and read them, I remembered how much I had loved this genre. So I decided to try to write one. Cut to several years later and I’d finally managed it. World-building is the hardest thing I have ever done in my professional life by far. The staggering degree of difficulty in writing middle-grade fantasy is one of the reasons I’m so proud of The Wintrish Girl.
How do you get started with a new project?
Usually an idea or a character grabs me and won’t let me go. I dive straight in and try to get down on the screen whatever scene is in my head. It’s never the opening scene that I begin with, it’s usually somewhere in the middle or the end! This unorthodox way of working means that I end up with a lot of loosely-connected scenes that I then have to make sense of by finding the narrative thread that links them. At this point I always feel a bit like Ariadne in the Greek myth, who unspooled a thread through the labyrinth so that Theseus could find his way out. Except I think Theseus would definitely have been eaten by the Minotaur if I’d been in charge of navigation. My narrative thread usually gets very tangled before I finally find my way through.
Do you have a routine? What tools do you use?
I like to go straight to my desk, first thing in the morning, as I always prefer to write early in the mornings rather than late into the night. My main tools of the trade are my computer, my notebooks with incomprehensible, scrawled notes and my thumbs, for opening packets of chocolate biscuits.
How do you handle writer’s block?
Moaning to anyone who’ll listen (usually it’s just the dog) doesn’t actually achieve much but it’s very satisfying. Getting away from my desk and doing something else usually works. I’ll walk the dog (who has to listen to me complain during the walk) or find a mundane task to do that doesn’t require a lot of thinking. While I’m doing something else, my mind will wander until it finds the answer.
How important is research in the writing you do?
Very. Luckily for me I get to do fun research. While writing The Wintrish Girl I researched folklore herbal traditions, lots of old words (I love etymology and scattered old words throughout the book) and mythical creatures. It was less like research and more like doing the most fun Grade 5 homework ever.
How much planning is required when it comes to structuring one of your books?
Er, right. Planning. I believe that’s what the grown-up, proper professional authors do. I am not a trained writer – I’ve never done a creative writing course in my life - so I missed out on all the lessons which undoubtedly make other writers’ lives easier. Honestly, I just see things in my head and I try to write them down. Then I string things together. I actually love structuring but I do it retrospectively. The different scenes and plot threads and characters are like puzzle pieces. Once I have them in a jumble in front of me, I love working out how to slot them into place. I’ve learned to call my process ‘organic’, as that makes my utterly shambolic, free-for-all writing approach sound quite meditative.
What’s the editing process like?
Amazing, heart-breaking, wondrous, exhausting and utterly essential. I actually love the editing stage. It’s incredible to see meaning emerge far more clearly, once the clutter of over-writing is cleared away. At one point my brilliant editor, Felicity Dunning, suggested we cut 10,000 words from the middle of the manuscript. Putting it back together again after this cut just about broke me but she was absolutely right. For a writer, a good editor is like one of those deceptively, flattering mirrors: they make you look far better than you actually are in real life!
How did you come to be published?
The utterly fabulous Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown has been my agent for twenty years now and selling my books is entirely her domain. I’m beyond lucky to have her in my corner; she has always championed my work and believed in me.
Social media – like it or loathe it?
I had managed to entirely avoid social media until a few months ago, when I joined Instagram before the publication of The Wintrish Girl. To my utter surprise, I’ve discovered that I quite like it. There is a very lovely, supportive community of Aussie children’s authors and booksellers on Instagram and I feel very fortunate to have been welcomed so warmly by them.
How do you handle the reviews?
Fabulous, enthusiastic reviews are like Christmas morning. They’re such a lovely reward for all the hard work. If a review is less than enthusiastic I’m still interested to see where someone thinks I missed the mark and why. You can’t please everyone all of the time but I think every writer appreciates genuine engagement with their work.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a writer?
I’d be lighting up Broadway as the star of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s latest blockbuster musical. This was a rhetorical question, right? As I can’t actually sing or dance. Lin-Manuel, if you’re reading this, I love you.
What is your number one tip for aspiring writers?
The rewriting is as important as the writing. Edit, edit, edit and then get an editor to do more edits on what you’ve already edited. Also, snacks.
Fast five
Plotter or pantser?
Pantser! Preferably large, comfy, granny-style ones.
Tea or coffee?
Can I have a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows?
When I’m not writing I’m…
At dance class, pretending to be one of Beyonce’s back up dancers. Call me, Queen Bey!
My favourite place to read is…
On our big, squashy couch, mid-afternoon, with my dog asleep nearby.
Ebook or physical book?
Ebook, shmeebook. I am a crusty middle-aged person who demands pages to turn. Now leave me alone, young whippersnapper, my favourite show on the wireless is about to start.
