Celebrating Nationa IITo mark this year’s National Storytelling Week, from January 28 – February 4, we spoke toII IIa Yorkshire novelist and a Leeds-based children’s illustrator about creating stories…II
Interview: JOANNE HARRIS
Joanne Harris taught French at the Grammar School at Leeds before becoming a full time writer. KYTE PHOTOGRAPHY
International best-selling novelist Joanne Harris taught at The Grammar School in Leeds before her writing took over. Here, she speaks to Families about life as a writer and offers advice for those with a passion for writing stories. The success of Chocolat kick-started your career as an author – was it an easy decision to retire from teaching? Writing is generally a job that doesn’t make a lot of money, and nearly all writers have another job. For my first three published books I was a teacher and if one of my books hadn’t been unexpectedly successful I would have stayed a teacher. When you reach a certain level of success it’s very difficult to do the two things at once, so I gave up teaching. I thought then temporarily, and it turned out to be permanent. But it could have been different. Do you ever meet people and think they would make a great character in a book? I’m borrowing from people all the time. It’s part of being a writer, using the experiences you have with people and conversations; things you’ve noticed about them, and you filter them through this process. I don’t think I’ve ever actually put someone in a book, but I think we all borrow extensively from other people around us. How did it feel when you found out that Chocolat was being made into a film? I didn’t believe it at first, because books get optioned all the time, but very rarely do they end up making films. I started to pay attention when they started filming, and when they invited me on set, when it was clear something was actually happening. By then it didn’t really have much to do with me, so I was able to enjoy it in a different way. It was very nicely done, the cast was great, the direction was great, the score was great, and they deserved the success it had. 12
“Read a lot, because the more you read the more you realise how writing works and why it’s good and why it fails” You’re very active on social media, do you think this new digital age we’re living has changed the way people tell stories? I think it’s had an impact on the whole of the book business in a lot of ways, some good, some bad. What it has done is given us more access to each other and provides a much more interactive side to telling stories. I tell my #Storytime stories on Twitter, and you really feel as if you’re talking to people, because it’s a very conversational medium, which is its charm. It’s National Storytelling Week in January, what advice would you give to children or
adults if they have a passion for writing and want to take it to the next level? To be a professional writer you have to write, a lot, and understand that a lot of it will be bad but practice makes you better. So start writing, and don’t worry too much about where you are heading. Also read a lot, because the more you read the more you realise how writing works and why it’s good and why it fails, and just keep improving all the time. For more information on Joanne Harris and her work, go to www.joanne-harris.co.uk