Today I am delighted to welcome Fleur Hitchcock for a guest post, in which she talks about the sometimes quite unusual questions authors have to ask themselves while going through the writing process.
When I wrote Dear Scarlett, it kept on presenting me with questions – when the manuscript didn’t present me with questions, then Kirsty, my editor at Nosy Crow did – and plenty of them.
As I worked my way through, and the manuscript took its present form, I managed to answer practically all of them.
Some of them were logistical challenges:
How do you get a penguin out of a zoo?
Can you get a penguin through a turnstile?
How many sweets can you get into one pocket – and would they go soggy?
Some of them were straight forward research:
Do penguins eat paddling pools?
How much fish do penguins eat?
How much is a diamond worth?
Some of them were plot decisions:
Should the PE teacher sink or swim?
Should Scarlett tell her mum about the box?
If and when should Scarlett own up?
Should the PE teacher sink or swim?
Should Scarlett tell her mum about the box?
If and when should Scarlett own up?
And some of them were ethical decisions:
Should Scarlett make honest Ellie lie?
How far is far enough?
Is it ever right to do the wrong thing for the right reasons?
Should Scarlett make honest Ellie lie?
How far is far enough?
Is it ever right to do the wrong thing for the right reasons?
I’m still not sure about the last one.
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Thank you so much, Fleur.
Watch Fleur talk about Dear Scarlett:
And you can reead my review here.
