The Joolz Denby Method From Interview no. 11 • First, the slow-cooking – put everything in and wait and wait and wait. Go on holiday, go to the gym, take your idea for walks. For months and months stare out of the window in a gormless fashion while it all simmers away. • During this time observe: if I see someone, for instance, wearing a bracelet, I’ll think ‘she’d wear that bracelet’ – think of the ways your character would pick it up and put it on. Rehearse dialogue in your head. • Do all the research – learn the basics of relevant disciplines (in Stone Baby it was forensic psychology and epidemiology). Interview all the people you need to. • Read – lots and lots. Reading crap books is useful because you can learn from the mistakes and work out how you’d have written that ancient Egyptian mystery novel – it’s a practice thing. • Then, when you feel ready, just write. Spend concerted hours and hours writing – thousands of words a day. • Edit. Be ruthless. I’ll delete two-thirds of what I’ve written the next day – and then condense and re-write it. Watch those phrases when you think ‘God I’m clever’. Always take that one out if it interferes with the smooth-running of things. You can always save it and slot it in where it’s less obtrusive. I overwrite so much – then I lose thousands upon thousands of words. • You’re not there to promote your ego, it’s the telling that’s important. Scan the text carefully for agenda – especially if you have strong opinions and you find it creeping in with that slightly hectoring tone. This will all come out as the words come – but don’t be afraid to cut. • With short stories and poems editing is more than half the work. You should be able to summon up an image in a few well-chosen and graceful words – so your audience isn’t aware of it, they just absorb it. • By the time the publishers get it, it’s as near finished as I would like it to be. I’ll only re-write once: I dislike editors and don’t like being told what to do. When it’s back for the re-write get a consensus of people (near strangers) to read it and ask them to make notes. When they all say ‘I don’t really understand why you did that’, there’s something there – otherwise it’s the subjective views of one reader. • Be on your guard against the siren-song of editors who go ‘ooh make it a mystery – we know that, and that’s safe’. They wanted to make Stone Baby a detective thriller, because they knew that would sell – so watch out. • Finished. Fall over and cry on the sofa. Next. Be on your guard against the siren-song of editors who go ‘ooh make it a mystery – we know that, and that’s safe
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