Hi everyone,

As you have may have seen on the Chasing Driftwood Facebook page, it is Indie Author Week UK all this week so we are trying to highlight a few local indie authors who we think deserve the shout out! Gail Aldwin is a Dorset based author with some fantastic titles to her name. Her latest release, This Much Huxley Knows is available from the 8th of July. She kindly agreed to an interview with us – so here it is. Enjoy!

1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself – introduce yourself to anyone dropping by!

I’m Gail Aldwin, a Dorset writer currently on sojourn in Cambridge. I like to get about and was volunteering at a refugee settlement in Uganda before repatriation in 2020 due to Covid-19. I’ve been writing for over a decade and am continually fascinated by the ideas that pop into my head.

2. Do you have a preferred genre to write in and if so why?

My passion is for writing contemporary fiction. A novel is the biggest undertaking of all writing projects and perhaps the most rewarding. Pandemonium a children’s picture book I wrote with illustrator Fiona Zechmeister was great fun to create and involved in-depth collaboration – a whole different process from writing a novel independently. I continue to dabble in short forms of writing alongside drafting a new work in progress, as I find this exercises different creative muscles and like cross training, helps to build the stamina to complete a long project.

3. Where do your ideas come from?

Ideas are like dandelion seeds floating in the air. You just have to reach out and grab one. Now I’m more experienced as a writer, I usually know how to develop an idea. If it’s a fleeting moment or thought, that works for poetry. Where I can develop a story arc, it might be right for short fiction. Sometimes, ideas prompt questions and considerable thought. Those are the ideas I want to explore in a novel.

4. What kind of reader do you think likes your books?

This Much Huxley Knows targets readers who enjoy an uplifting novel. As it’s set in a London suburb and is going to be published in America, anyone who is an Anglophile or likes British humour won’t be disappointed.

5. What are you working on right now?

My work in progress is called Little Swot. It’s a dual timeline novel initially told from the viewpoint of a menopausal and redundant journalist in 2010. Stephanie decides to create a podcast which looks into the disappearance of sixteen-year-old Carolyn in 1978. Through the alternating structure of the two viewpoints, readers engage with Stephanie’s investigation and also connect with Carolyn’s experience of infatuation for a teacher and exploitation. This is a new venture for me, into the realms of crime fiction.

6. What sort of books do you like to read yourself? Any favourites or recommendations?

Lots of my reading recently has supported writing friends who have been published. One of them, Paula R C Readman, has written a remarkable novel Stone Angels which has been described as a why-done-it rather than a who-done-it. The story relates to an artist who requires beautiful models to satisfy his muse.

7. Can you tell us about your writing process? Are you a plotter or a pantser? How many drafts do you tend to do before you are happy?

My debut novel The String Games was written as part of a PhD and this involved using the novel to experiment with different ideas, techniques and strategies linked to the research. As a result, the novel went through about fifty drafts. Since then, I’ve plotted each novel to the ninth degree to try to avoid going down fictional dead ends. I’m sure This Much Huxley Knows went through loads of drafts but certainly not as many as fifty!

8. How often do you write?

I write every day. Since lockdown, I’ve joined writers’ hour each weekday morning at eight o’clock. It’s a zoom call with hundreds of other writers who share a concentrated fifty minutes of writing. We are welcomed by hosts at the London Writer’s Salon and offered a few inspiring words before we begin. At the end, there’s a chance to debrief. It works well for me, helping to separate the week days from the weekends (when I shouldn’t be writing so much but spending time with my family).

9. Did you always want to be a writer?

I came to the idea of writing much later than most although the seed was planted in my twenties when I lived overseas and wrote letters home. As a mature student, I worked on pieces for performance and then much later, when my children were teenagers, I was able to really focus on writing fiction.

10. Can you tell us about your publishing journey so far? Why did you take the indie path?

All of my books are published by small presses and in this way, I am regarded as an indie author. I started by getting interest in my collection of flash fiction Paisley Shirt and this was followed by a competition win with the offer to have a pamphlet of poetry based on the theme of siblings published. There is a huge growth in publication of such work by small presses, so this seemed the obvious place to start. I continued on my journey with independent presses in 2019 with my debut novel The String Games where the catalyst for the story relates to a missing child. Victorina Press also published a children’s picture book Pandemonium which tells the story of a purple panda. My latest novel This Much Huxley Knows found a home with a small press in America. I’m working hard to ensure my current work in progress is commercial so Little Swot may stand a chance of gaining literary representation and publication with a more established press.

11. What do you like about being an indie author?

Working with a small press means I’m involved with every stage of the process. It’s fun collaborating with cover designers and marketing assistants to try to help the work reach a wide audience.

12. What would you say are the struggles or hard parts of being an indie author?

Getting your book noticed when published by a small press is really hard. I actually enjoy the marketing aspect but it does take a lot of time and effort to get any recognition.

13. What advice would you give to anyone thinking of taking the indie route?

Try it! I’m very proud of the work I’ve had published to date. Small presses produce quality books that look attractive and professional.

14. How do you tackle marketing your books and what has been the most successful?

I’ve arranged a blog tour for This Much Huxley Knows. I’ll let you know how successful this has been after publication day on 8 July!

15. What has been your proudest moment so far?

Completing my second half marathon in 2019 – but that has nothing to do with writing!

Thank you so much to Gail for agreeing to this interview. If you would like to find out more about her and her books, her links are below. This Much Huxley knows is released on 8th July!

About This Much Huxley Knows

I’m seven years old and I’ve never had a best mate. Trouble is, no one gets my jokes. And Breaks-it isn’t helping. Ha! You get it, don’t you? Brexit means everyone’s falling out and breaking up.

Huxley is growing up in the suburbs of London at a time of community tensions. To make matters worse, a gang of youths is targeting isolated residents. When Leonard, an elderly newcomer chats with Huxley, his parents are suspicious. But Huxley is lonely and thinks Leonard is too. Can they become friends?

Funny and compassionate, this contemporary novel for adults explores issues of belonging, friendship and what it means to trust.

‘Read this and feel young again’ – Joe Siple, author of The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

‘Moving and ultimately upbeat’ – Christopher Wakling, author of What I Did

‘A joyous novel with the wonderfully exuberant character of Huxley’ – Sara Gethin, author of Not Thomas

Pre-order Links

AmazonUS, AmazonUK, Barnes and Noble, HiveUK, Book Depository

Social Media Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gailaldwin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gailaldwinwriter/

Blog: https://gailaldwin.com

For me, creating characters is one of the most enjoyable and challenging aspects of writing. I adopt the same approach to creating characters as I do to choosing books to read. When I read a book, I appreciate the writing style and voice, the plot and the genre, but it’s the characters I am really interested in. If the characters are good I will enjoy those other aspects so much more. The same goes for TV shows. I’ll watch anything in any genre if the characters are memorable! Creating characters is something writers often struggle with so here are some top tips to creating characters your readers will believe in.

1. Start people watching – how much attention do you pay to the people around you? If you want to create memorable and believable characters you must get into the habit of people watching. I don’t just mean watching people from afar or eavesdropping on conversations (although both will give you valuable insights into tone, voice, body language and mannerisms), I mean paying attention to everyone. Your friends, your family, your work colleagues, parents at the school gate, strangers on the street and in cars, people who serve you in shops, other customers, neighbours and so on. What should you be paying attention to? Everything! Hairstyles, dress sense and what it might reveal, nervous habits and tics, facial expressions, tones of voice, types of laughter, phrases and so on. You can take bits and pieces from everything you have observed to create realistic characters.
2. Start a basic bio – Everything starts small. Start a basic character bio and allow it to breathe and grow. The basics will include name, age, gender, occupation, physical appearance and character traits. You might want to draw your character or find images on the internet that feel right, or you might want to imagine them looking a bit like someone you know or have seen. Keep the bio safe in a specific notebook for the story you are working on and add to it whenever something new comes to you.
3. Allow them to evolve – sometimes you have to be patient and resist the urge to force it, but as the character starts to grow in your head, you can start adding more and more detail to your basic bio. Back story is an important factor to consider. Where have they come from? What has happened to them? Do they have a family? Friends? Are there any important events in their history that might be relevant to the story? Start adding anything that comes to you.
4. Devise personality traits – in order to create multi dimensional and human characters the reader can believe in, you need to give your character a personality. Ask yourself questions. What kind of person are they? Are they basically good or mostly bad? What are their personality traits? Are they an extrovert or introvert? Are they pleasant to deal with or obnoxious? Are they impatient or easily frustrated? Do they have a temper? The reader will want to know but remember NOT to TELL all the reader these things. Allow the character to SHOW who they are through dialogue, action and reaction.
5. Make them flawed – This is so important. Flaws are what make us human. No one is perfect, just as no one is all bad or all good. Most people are a mixture of both. What are your character’s flaws? Do they have any bad habits? You can think up small ones like biting nails or interrupting people, or bigger ones like flying into a rage or holding grudges. Even if your character is the protagonist and you want the reader to like them and root for them, they must have some flaws. Flaws actually make us like characters more because they make them more relatable. Maybe they are nervous around strangers, maybe they are shy and come across as rude, maybe they are not very good at asking for help, maybe they assume the worst of people or put up walls to keep people out. Maybe they are messy, forgetful, impulsive or easily bored. If you get stuck think about the people you know in your life. Even the ones you love the most have annoying habits and character flaws!
6. Know what they want – this is also very important. Characters in stories all want something. The plot is often about what they want and how they are trying to get it and what is in their way. You must know what your character wants and you must also know why they want it. Maybe they want to overthrow the government because they don’t like the way their society is run? Maybe they want to find someone from their past because they have a mystery to solve? Maybe they want to find true love because they don’t feel complete without it? Maybe they want to fight back because they are sick of being frightened? Know what they want and know why and you will be closer to creating a character the reader can engage with and believe in.
7. Make it hard for them – in order to create characters the reader is really going to root for, we need to make the journey tough for them. Set up obstacles and don’t make it too easy. The obstacles they face must be ones they cannot walk away from or ignore. Ensure they are forced to react to the conflict they encounter. Throwing conflict at characters is a great way to reveal who they are. Every character will react differently to conflict and its important to think about this from your character’s point of view. For example, not every character will react in the same way to a dilemma or an obstacle. Make sure their reaction makes sense with regards to the personality you have given them but also use the conflict as an opportunity to reveal more. Back story, family relationships and conflict, personal trauma, regrets, all these things can impact how a character reacts to conflict and as these very human things are revealed to the reader, they will become more empathetic to them.
8. Give them an inner and an outer journey – This sometimes gets neglected when writers create characters but it is important to be aware of. All characters will go on an inner and an outer journey. Think of the outer journey as the main obstacle, conflict or dilemma they have to face. Their partners affair, their lost child, their creepy neighbours, a hurricane, fire or explosion – these are all outer journeys, big events that make up the plot. But you also need an inner journey and by this we mean how and why the character changes as the story goes on. What is their inner journey? Think of it as their inner demons. Perhaps they have always been too shy, too scared to stand up for themselves but the drama of the outer journey forces them to react. Perhaps they have always been a loner who keeps people at bay, but a post-apocalyptic world forces them to learn to work alongside others. Perhaps they have a mental health issue that affects everything they do or a childhood trauma they are trying to deal with.
9. Practice dialogue out loud – this goes back to people watching. When writing dialogue for your characters it’s vital to pay attention to how people speak. What they say and what they don’t say, how they say things with body language and facial expressions, what mannerisms they display when they talk, what phrases they might use, what things they might be likely to say. When you have written some speech try reading it out loud as if you are an actor playing the part – you will soon be able to tell if it sounds natural and flows well.
10. Finally, allow the characters to speak and interact with each other – now that you have created a realistic character, don’t leave them mute. It’s tempting sometimes as writers to fill the reader in on important information using narrative but too much of this can really pull the reader out of the story. Rather than telling the reader what the character has done, where they’ve been, what has happened and what has been said, allow the character to! Scenes where characters interact with each other, talk to each other and respond to each other and to events are far more engaging for the reader and can also be used to reveal character traits.

We hope our top ten tips for creating believable character has been useful. Perhaps you have some of your own? Please feel free to comment and share!

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

A question we often get asked at writing clubs or workshops is how do you write a book? Often someone will have a good idea for a story, and possibly some characters developing but are unsure where to go from there. It’s an intriguing question and one I personally love to talk about so we figured it would make an interesting blog post. It’s different for everyone and if you research how to write a novel you will find a mountain of advice, tips and strategies to use online. Not every approach will work for you. Part of the fun of writing is working out what suits you and your idea. So this is mine. This is how I write a book.

1. Start with an idea – This is the most important ingredient. You need a solid idea OR a character. For some people the plot comes first and then they have to create and develop characters to go with it, and for others, it’s the characters they think up first. Either is fine and you might find it works differently each time. For me personally it is usually the characters that come first. They will start to develop in my mind and as their personality comes alive, they will start to suggest their back story and their main story and the plot will start to grow from that. Sometimes it works the other way around and I will get an idea for a story first and then have to devise the characters to fit it.
2. Let it grow – To start with, I let the idea percolate in my mind for a bit. I write down anything I don’t want to forget, but most of it stays in my head. It will swirl around in there for a while, popping up when I least expect it, developing and swelling and growing tendrils! I think it’s important to let this process take its course. I don’t want to force anything. Usually I will already be working on another project so there is no hurry to jump to this new idea. I leave it be and let it grow naturally.
3. Get a notebook – Now, when the real ideas start to flow, and by this I mean characters, personalities, back stories and possible plots and storylines, it becomes too much to contain in my head. I must start writing things down or something will get lost. I might start off tapping a few thoughts into my phone but eventually I get a new notebook and dedicate it solely to this idea. I start off writing down any notes I already have and everything else that has been growing in my head. Character bios, dialogue, action scenes, possible titles, character arcs, possible endings and so on. It won’t be a full plot yet and the characters will not be fully alive either, but I am paying attention to this idea now. It has its very own notebook.
4. Work on characters – For me, the characters are always the most important aspect of books I read and books I write. It’s different for everyone, but I want to love the characters, feel fully engaged by them, root for them and care for them. I can’t enjoy a book if I don’t care about the characters and equally I can’t write a book if I am not fully in love with these people I am creating. So, I will start to write detailed character bios into the notebook. They might start with the basics: name, age, physical appearance, occupation, home, family etc and then they will get more complex. What do they want? Who do they love? Have they been hurt? What are their regrets? What are their flaws? I want to get under their skin and know them inside out. This will be a long process and I won’t fully know them until maybe draft three, but I want to put the work in now.
5. Write a basic plot outline – This will start as a kind of mind-map of possible ideas. Ideas tend to spark of other ideas or questions, so I will note this all down. It all goes in the notebook. It’ll be messy and chaotic but it is all safely in one place. I’ll also bullet point what I consider to be the main storyline and jot down any ideas for sub-plots and character development. Most of my books are quite character driven so developing the characters alongside the plot is important to me.
6. Write basic chapter outlines – I won’t usually know everything that is going to happen but I will outline as many chapters as I can in the notebook so that I have a starting point and something to refer back to. Inevitably, extra, unexpected chapters and scenes will work their way in between what I initially lay out and once I get past a certain point I will probably then know the next few chapters. I then work a few chapters ahead, so I will usually always know what I want to happen in the next few chapters at least.
7. Start writing! – The fun bit. Also the scary bit! But by now I will be desperate to get going. If I have been working on another book, this idea may have had to wait for a while so by the time I get to it, I am very keen and excited to get started. I won’t know exactly where I am going and I don’t plan or plot every detail. I like to see what happens to a certain extent.
8. Write a chapter a night – Obviously, life gets in the way sometimes and sometimes the writing just doesn’t flow but my goal is always a chapter a night. That’s roughly 2-3 pages of a Word document. I treat it like work, like a commitment and push through the tough bits and the bits that don’t flow too well and I just keep going. I don’t mind how messy or awkward the first draft is, I just aim to get the gist of it, the basics of it done. This usually takes three months.
9. Second draft – I read it through, reminding myself of what I have done. I amend glaring typos but I don’t really edit much on a second draft, it’s more of a read through to see what I have got.
10. Third draft – a more serious read through and edit. I add bits, delete bits, amend typos and errors. I will know the characters better by now so might add bits to them, their speech, their back story and so on.
11. Fourth draft – I keep a list as I read through and edit and make notes of bigger things to fix like plot holes or inconsistencies in character or storyline. Whenever I go over another draft I check off these things on the list until there is nothing left.
12. Fifth draft Kindle read – by now I feel like I can’t do much more, so I send it to my Kindle and read it on there. It’s amazing how many typos and errors are picked up when you read your book on an ereader! You feel a bit less connected to it and can tackle it in a different way. I keep the notebook handy as I read and write down notes for each chapter in turn, typos, grammatical errors, plot holes, questions, anything.
13. Sixth draft – back to the laptop to amend the edits picked up on the kindle read
14. Beta readers – I am very lucky that I have some fantastic people available to read my work at this stage and tell me what they think. I might want specific feedback ie is it fast paced enough, is this character interesting enough etc, or I might just hand it over and say very little.
15. Seventh draft – editing based on beta reader feedback
16. Send to editor/proofreader
17. Eight draft/final – amend anything they picked up and that’s it. Done!

The amount of drafts will very much depend on the type of story, the length of the book and the feedback from beta readers. Sometimes my first draft attempt will evolve into something very, very different and sometimes it basically stays the same!

Feel free to add your thoughts on how to write a book. Everyone has a different process and there is no correct way to do it.