Samir Malik
asked
Helena Coggan:
Omg it is amazing the young age you wrote this book! I can't wait to read it! I am also currently trying to write a book ( and failing ) and I'm thirteen, so do you have any advice for young writers like me?
Helena Coggan
Hello Samiha- it's lovely to meet you, albeit virtually! You're very kind- I've never thought of it as amazing so much as lucky, but if you want my advice, and I'm flattered you do, well...
Firstly: I would not advise thinking of it as 'trying to write a book', because when you're starting from very little the concept of a full manuscript is very very daunting. I didn't start using the word 'book' in my head until I hit about 80,000 words, and even then it was tenuous. Your aims are, in order: an idea, a set of characters, a world they live in, the rudiments of a plot, a thousand words, five thousand, ten thousand, twenty thousand... and that's still not reason to get your hopes up that it will make it to a full finished book (sorry). I was trying to write a full story from about eight (yes, I know, I was weird), and very few of them ever passed the four-figure-word-count threshold. More recently, and in particular when writing the book I'm working on now (my third), I had about *counts silently* six ideas, in drafts that amounted to at least a hundred thousand words together, covering a span of an increasingly panicky eight months. And that was when I HAD to write a book. So yes, in terms of advice: enjoy writing when it's still a hobby and not a job; keep your sights low; don't think about the possibility that things might fail, because that's never helpful; DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST I MEAN IT (sorry); and know that, if it means anything, you have all my love and best wishes- you guys are my kindred.
If there's anything else I can help with (apart from actually reading your work, which I can't do for reasons that are mostly legal, sorry) or any more questions you'd like me to answer, please do ask- this is what I'm for. That and writing down the voices in my head for a living.
All the best,
H
Firstly: I would not advise thinking of it as 'trying to write a book', because when you're starting from very little the concept of a full manuscript is very very daunting. I didn't start using the word 'book' in my head until I hit about 80,000 words, and even then it was tenuous. Your aims are, in order: an idea, a set of characters, a world they live in, the rudiments of a plot, a thousand words, five thousand, ten thousand, twenty thousand... and that's still not reason to get your hopes up that it will make it to a full finished book (sorry). I was trying to write a full story from about eight (yes, I know, I was weird), and very few of them ever passed the four-figure-word-count threshold. More recently, and in particular when writing the book I'm working on now (my third), I had about *counts silently* six ideas, in drafts that amounted to at least a hundred thousand words together, covering a span of an increasingly panicky eight months. And that was when I HAD to write a book. So yes, in terms of advice: enjoy writing when it's still a hobby and not a job; keep your sights low; don't think about the possibility that things might fail, because that's never helpful; DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST I MEAN IT (sorry); and know that, if it means anything, you have all my love and best wishes- you guys are my kindred.
If there's anything else I can help with (apart from actually reading your work, which I can't do for reasons that are mostly legal, sorry) or any more questions you'd like me to answer, please do ask- this is what I'm for. That and writing down the voices in my head for a living.
All the best,
H
More Answered Questions
Natasha
asked
Helena Coggan:
my mum when to the book fair you attended this week in London which I was incredibly jealous of .she told me about you and how weird she thought it was to being given a speech by someone my age and so I looked it you up and I found that what you have down is truly inspiring and I cant wait to get my hands on your book. Q: what were your favourite books as a kid and how did they effect you and your writing?
Gemma
asked
Helena Coggan:
My book club is reading The Catalyst and I'm sort of the leader so I thought it'd be cool to ask you some questions and then read them out to everyone at our next meeting! We're all under 17 so your age is really interesting. How long were you working on The Catalyst? What's your favourite character in it? I hope you don't mind those questions! I'm really looking forward to reading your book. :)
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