Patrick Ness is the best-selling and multiple award-winning author of the Chaos Walking Trilogy, A Monster Calls and The Rest of Us Just Live Here and many more. He also wrote the screenplay for the movie adaption of A Monster Calls, a film that carries the same charm, emotion and complexity of the novel.
Ness has been my favourite author since I read A Monster Calls in my first year of high school. His writing style and the way he tells a story is truly unique and special. I was thrilled, although very nervous, to talk with him at the Sydney Writers’ Festival after his panel discussion, Writing for YA Books and Film. The interview was great fun and Ness was a wonderful person to talk to, and during the day it was evident how much he appreciates his readers. I am extremely grateful for the time I had to chat with him, and certainly, have a lot to take away from this interview. His words and advice are inspirational and invaluable for young novel-writers and screenwriters alike.
The story of A Monster Calls is based on the original idea by Siobhan Dowd. What is most rewarding about seeing the story go from the original idea to what is transformed on the big screen?
Honestly, it just feels like it’s luck, you know. Because all I really wanted to do was hold a book in my hand. Like I said in the sessions today, the idea there would ever be a movie of it seemed ridiculous. So, it just feels like the best kind of luck, I’m really happy. And to think that I sat in a room by myself and made up most of the stuff based on Siobhan’s ideas and Jim’s [Kay] illustrations, and then out it comes in this big, massive, colourful and wonderful version. I just can’t believe my luck.
What challenges did you find when writing the screenplay of A Monster Calls, and what did you enjoy the most about the process?
It’s a very different kind of storytelling. That’s the good challenge, that’s what I did enjoy the most – learning stuff. I always want to keep learning and keep growing. I suppose that screenwriting is so specific, and so you have to do a tonne with very few words. And that is almost the opposite of what novel writing is. It’s all about the best crystallisation of a thought, or a scene, or a line, and keeping it as short and as powerful as possible. It’s a good discipline to learn, I think. It’s not bad for writers. It’s a good one to try your hand at.
Another one of your books, The Knife of Never Letting Go, is currently in the works for a film adaption. When you wrote these books did you consider the possibility of them ever becoming films?
Honestly, it’s a hope rather than an expectation. You think, ‘it could be fun but it’s never going to happen’. That feels to me like the healthiest way to do it because the chance is so small. Gosh. Yeah, gosh – I’ll say a very mild, mild gosh. I swear way worse than that but I’ll say gosh.
There seems to be a special message for young readers in your books. Is this your intention in the early stages of writing and do you think it’s important to represent the authentic voice of young people in books and film?
Well, it’s definitely not the intention when I start writing. What I’m doing most is trying to pay attention to the story that I want to tell. My theory is that if I tell that story as truthfully as possible and really responding to the joy I’m finding in it, then I’m doing that for a reason. The reason is the thing that I’m concerned about. It’s the message, for lack of a better word. I tell the story first, and then I look back and go ‘Ah, that’s what I was meaning to say’. Genuinely, it’s sort of a backwards process for me, because I don’t want to preach, you know. I don’t want it to be a sermon. I read far too many preachy books when I was a kid and I didn’t like them. I think if I can tell the story first, everything I care about is going to be in there, including trying to represent what young people really feel. Not what you think they should feel, but what they’re really feeling. That to me is the best thing fiction can do.
What advice would you give to young writers?
Are you a young writer?
Yes!
Yeah, that’s good! The one thing I always say, and I really mean this, is to write a book you want to read yourself. It’s because so many people don’t. They think, this was a hit so I better copy that. Or this is what YA books, quote un-quote, look like, so it better look like that. Or you know, these vampire books are popular so I better write one of those (they’re still popular somehow). But nobody was looking for the first Harry Potter. They really, really, weren’t. So, write a book you just cannot wait to get back to everyday, and people are going to sense that enthusiasm.
What film and/or book made an impact on your life when you were younger?
Probably lots of films. There were lots of films and books. Several years ago I read a book called The Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. It’s very obscure, and it was officially too old for me. Yeah, it was outside of my ‘official reading age’. So, I’m a big believer in reading inappropriate books, to reach for something that might be way too old for you, and you might not understand all of it, but, I’m a big champion of that. Reach, reach when you read, and see what happens. If you hate it, put it down. If you don’t understand it put it down. But sometimes you might find something that kind of explodes the world for you and shows you what it can be. That was Jitterbug Perfume for me.
How do you motivate yourself to write?
Well, it’s my job [laughs]. I just love it, and I feel lucky to be able to do it. I’m very goal orientated as a person anyway, so I try to use that to my advantage. I’m goal oriented rather than time oriented, for example. So I try to break it down into goals for the day, like a thousand words or three chapters revised, that kind of stuff. Nothing too huge, but also nothing too small, so it accumulates quite quickly. It’s just trying to minimise my weak parts and maximise my strong parts, the things that I’m good at. Maximise those, and try to minimise being overwhelmed, kind of thing.
What does the future hold for you?
Well, I’ve written another movie which I hope starts shooting in July called I’m His Ghost, fingers crossed. I’m working on a couple TV projects which I hope come to fruition. First up I’ve got a new book out in September called And The Ocean Was Our Sky. It’s fully illustrated by an Australian illustrator. So have a look out for that in September.
I definitely will! So, you’ve written books for both adults and young adults. Do you have a preference?
No, I don’t. I think the important thing for me both about reading and writing is to not be a snob. A good story is available everywhere. I genuinely believe that. It’s whatever the story needs to be. I didn’t plan to write for teenagers, but Knife of Never Letting Go clearly was for teenagers and my response was, ‘great, let’s see where this goes, let’s see what happens’. I don’t put in any different effort, any different thematic complexity. They’re both the same experience, to me. it’s just so important not be a snob when you write or when you read.
I’ve heard that there is a rhinoceros in all of your books. I’m wondering, is this true?
Almost all of my books. I like rhinoceroses a lot. I love them, they’re my favourite animal. I have a tattoo of one. I was putting them in my books, but then people started to notice and it was kind of my secret thing. And it’s okay, it’s cool. I don’t mind. But I thought, okay, I don’t want to be sort of trapped by this. So there’s consciously no rhinoceros in Release and there is no rhinoceros in the new book either. I don’t know about the one after that, but, we’ll see. If you look for them they’re in lots of places.
Thank you very much!
Thanks for the interview.
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Amelia (15)
Thank you to Sydney Writers’ Festival and Walker Books for organising this interview.