The Auckland Writers Festival (AWF) is an annual event held in Auckland each May. It has a packed programme of author talks, book signings and masterclasses attended by writers and book lovers from around New Zealand.
Last week I was fortunate to attend the Auckland Writers Festival not once but twice, on two separate days. I went with my daughter’s school group as parent help on the Thursday and then again on Saturday on my own.
I try to go every time it is on (although I missed it last year due to our trip to Disneyland) as it is my idea of a great day out! I love learning new things, hearing authors talk about their craft and browsing the large selection of books in the pop-up bookstore in the event center. Yes, I could do all those things online from the comfort of my own home. But there is something about being in the company of thousands of other like-minded people that draws me back each year.
Here are three surprising truths about authors from the Auckland Writers Festival…
1) Authors are All the Same
Authors are all the same. It took Jessica Townsend, author of the Nevermoor children’s chapter book series almost 10 years to write her first book. Steph Matuku who writes similar books for children said the same thing. Then they both wrote books much faster after that.
Kaliane Bradley who penned the recent mega best-seller, Ministry of Time talked a lot about imposter syndrome and whether she would one day soon find out that everyone actually loathes her writing but was just being nice and her success was some sort of warped experiment. Finnish crime writer, Antti Tuomainensaid he just knew that his first book was “the worst book ever written”.
Despite feelings of inadequacy and lapses of confidence, many of the authors spoke about how much they absolutely loved what they do. Jessica Townsend said if you are going to spend all your time writing then you must love it. Ian Rankin who writes the acclaimed ‘Rebus’ crime series expressed how much he liked “lying for a living”.
2) Authors are Completely Different
Authors are completely different. How authors write, rewrite and edit their books is never the same. Irish novelist, Colm Tóibín, stated that he writes in the morning and edits in the evening. Steph Matuku used to be a discovery write or ‘pantser’ but now plots her novels. And One Day author David Nicholls said he is actually slower than he used to be, spending more time on rewrites and edits. Some authors write every day to a schedule but Antti Tuomainen said he prefers a more seasonal approach, getting more words down over the long, dark, Finnish winter.
Jessica Townsend described how she loves names and that making up the names of places and characters in her books drives the story. Steph Matuku said she found names hard and used baby name books to help. Kaliane Bradley didn’t give her first person main character a name at all.
New Zealand author Becky Manawatu shared that she did not show a single page of her award-winning, Aue to anyone during the writing of it. Jessica Townsend only allows her sister read her unpublished work. But Kaliane Bradley leaned on her online lockdown community to give her feedback while writing Ministry of Time.
3) Authors Reignite Creativity
Sure, I love attending AWF to learn new things, buy books and get them signed but the main reason I go is that, without fail, AWF reignites my creative spark. There are some common themes amongst authors but the surprising truth is that there is no one right way to be a writer.
From humorous Finnish crime to children’s fantasy to contemporary Māori fiction, every author wrote in different genres. Some stuck to one genre and some had tried their hand at many. Kaliane Bradley’s describes her book’s genre as “tragic-comedy time-travel romance”. Ian Rankin thought the first Rebus novel was literary until it kept turning up in the crime section of bookstores.
This may not be the most surprising truth about authors but every year I find it remarkable how much more creative I feel after a day or two at the Auckland Writers Festival. Attending AWF is like being given a permission slip to simply go and create. The breadth of authors shows that it really doesn’t matter what you write. There is a reader for every genre…even “tragic-comedy time-travel romance”.
I now have a number of new blog posts, writing projects and other creative ideas. You are currently reading my first creation.
Surprising Truths About Authors?
Perhaps the fact that, paradoxically, writers are all the same but completely different is not such a surprising truth about authors but I do need to be reminded of it as it helps to reignite my own creativity.
Hopefully I will see you at the Auckland Writers Festival next year. In the meantime, I not only have writing to do but a stack of new reading too!
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