An Interview with Damian Harvey

Less Words, More Skill

An Interview with Damian Harvey

My son - known throughout the blogging world as The Little Dude - is a book fiend. Not quite two, one of his earliest words was "book!" and one of his favourite pass times is snuggling up with his daddy and a good story. Books overflow from his shelves and breed throughout the house. Since he was old enough to nibble the corner of a board book he's had access to everything from traditional, beautifully illustrated fairy tales to singing electronic books based on animated films and tv shows. I firmly believe that books are important to development, and that children should be introduced to them from as young an age as possible.

It bugs me how dismissive people are sometimes about books written for children. They seem to think that less words means less importance, less effort and less skill. Then there is the belief that having children qualifies you to write for them. The ability to write for little ones is not a talent I possess; there are times when I don't even think I've got the ability to discern what my own child might like. I've bought books that I'm convinced he'll love that he does little more than glance at, but then he's fallen in love with another story at first reading. I wish I understood it, but more often than not I'm just grateful that someone out there had the imagination to produce a book that has captivated my son.

Damian Harvey does know how to write for kids, and knows how to do it well. He writes across several age groups and understands how to engage with his audience. If you're wanting to make a career writing for children, then it would probably do you some good to get his advice. Luckily for you, I've gone and done it already. Aren't I nice? :-)

Hi Damien, welcome to the Literary Project! Can you talk us through the path to your first published book?

I'd been writing children's stories and sending them to publishers for a couple of years before having much success. I was lucky in that I received a few positive comments and encouraging notes on the bottom of some of the standard rejection letters so that helped keep me going. In the end though I had two picture books accepted for publication at around the same time. An Itch To Scratch (published by Gullane Children's Books) and Snail's Legs (published by Frances Lincoln). Both of these books came to publication in a different way though.

An Itch To Scratch went through the usual rout of submitting to an editor, gathering a few rejections and then eventually finding someone that liked it enough to publish it. An illustrator was found (Lynne Chapman) and the book was published a year or so later.

Snail's Legs (a picture book for slightly older children) was rejected by the first few publishers I sent it to. Although they liked the story, and thought it very original, they felt that it might be too upsetting for young children (the story features a frog, a snail and a chef). A couple suggested I change the ending of the story but I was reluctant to do so in this case as I felt the ending was very important for the story to work.

In the end, I sent the story to Korky Paul as I felt it was the sort of quirky story that might appeal to him, and I was right, he loved it. It took a little while to find a publisher willing to take the story and then, for one reason and another, it took almost five years for the book to be published.

In the time all this was happening I kept myself busy writing more picture book stories and also writing educational reader books for reading schemes.

Do you write full time? What do you think are the advantages / disadvantages?

I write almost all of the time but still have a part time job that takes up one or two days of the week. Thankfully this job is extremely flexible and allows me to pretty much come and go as I please so I'm always able to put more time in to writing when I need to get something finished or have time out for the many school and library visits that I do.

Writing full time gives you the time and space you need to write and allows you to keep your mind focused on what you're doing. This is certainly what I'm aiming for in my writing career. Having the part time job, however, gives me that little bit of financial security that you don't always get from writing. It's nice to know that there is something going in to the bank during those quite times.

Do you have an agent? If so, how did you secure representation & what are the benefits?

When I first started writing I went it alone. It seemed harder to find an agent than it did to find a publisher so I didn't have much choice. I think this was partly due to the fact that I was writing picture book stories and also because I obviously had no track record. It was a little frustrating as many publishers had started to decline unsolicited manuscripts (those not sent through an agent), however, there were a few that were still willing to look.

I eventually found an agent through a couple of writing colleagues who informed me that there was an agent looking to take on new clients. I sent off some samples of my work, we arranged to meet, and that was that. My agent is able to go through my contracts and see things that I would have missed, ensuring I get the best deal possible. She is also able to get my work to publishers that would not otherwise consider it, keep me up to date with news of things that publishers might be looking for, bring work my way, and much more.

Why writing for children?

In a way, this didn't really seem to be a conscious choice for me, though I'm sure it must have been. I love children's books and the wide ranging scope of subject matter and styles that can be used, and I also love working with children as an audience. I have no great interest in writing for adults though the age range of the children's books I write is broadening all the time. There are not many authors that can successfully write for both adults and children. Some do and do it well, some try and fail miserably.

You write across a broad spectrum of ages / styles for children (the Little Dude loves Snap, by the way). Can you give us a rundown of the main differences of each? Do you have a favourite?

I initially started off by writing picture books as I love the medium so much and never really thought of writing for older children until I started spending a lot of time in schools talking to children about books. It was then that I thought it would be nice to go a little older with what I was doing. I'm delighted to hear that your little boy loves Snap! I had a lot of fun writing that book though it took quite a long time to finish. It was a book I kept putting on one side and coming back to over the course of a couple of years.

When writing, it can take me a little while to decide on the voice or the style in which the story should be told. For me, this is more the case with picture books than with books for older readers. Picture book stories can be so simple that it is the voice, style and words used that make it either a really good story or just an ok story. As there are so few words in a picture book story, each word has got to be the right word. It's amazing how long you can spend writing and re-writing a sentence that says essentially the same thing but uses different words until you get the right rhythm and pace. Writing longer books you get the chance to explore things in more detail and go into far more depth with characters, scenes and settings. They are completely different styles to tackle but I love doing both.

In the past I would have always said that I prefer writing picture books but this has started to even out a little over the past year or so and I love writing longer books too; you can lose yourself in a longer piece of work in a way that you can't with a picture book, and sometimes this is a great thing.

I saw from your blog that you do a lot of work with schools and libraries. Do you think that this type of direct marketing and promotion is important for children's writers?

You're right, I do quite a lot of work in schools and libraries around the country. I do think this direct approach is important for authors as it certainly helps bring your books to your intended audience. Sadly not everyone has their books prominently on show in the window at Waterstones or has them in display stands as you walk through the door. This approach is not for everyone however. You need to be the sort of person that is comfortable working with children - often very large groups of them - and working in schools can be exhausting. It also takes you away from your desk and it's not easy to write when you're travelling around the country.

What are the main benefits to children when they meet authors face to face?

Children get the chance to see that the author of the book they are reading is a real person and not some faceless being. They realise that books are written by normal (or near normal) people like them and that they could write too if they wanted. For me, visiting schools is about making books, reading and writing fun. So many children do not enjoy reading as they see it as hard work, and it is hard work when you are learning. Each time you manage to get to the stage where you can read a book you are given an even harder one to tackle. Seeing books in this way does not encourage children to read for pleasure... it's far easier to turn on the tv or play with a games console. Getting letters and emails from parents saying that their child has not been able to put down one of my books after having met me in school is a fantastic feeling.

What are you working on now?

I'm always working on several things at once. It means that if I reach a stumbling block I can move on to something else for a while. The down side is that I can spend a lot of time writing but not actually finish anything. This is something I'm trying to get out of at the moment. Having said that, I have just finished a picture book about a little Troll, and am working on two more picture books - one for very young children and one for slightly older children to enjoy. I'm also busy on a high action novel that mixes science fiction adventure with our everyday life and a book that will hopefully appeal to young girl readers. Girls in schools keep telling me I should write something more girly... so I'm giving it a go.

What is your ultimate career goal in the writing world?

Other than being able to make a good or reasonable living from writing I would like to write a book that stands the test of time and becomes a children's favourite for many years in the way that books like Each, Peach, Pear Plum or Where the Wild Things Are have.

How much say do you have on the illustrations for your books? Is there any one illustrator whose work you think fits particularly well with your writing?

Although I get to view and approve rough illustrations I don't have too much say in the finished artwork. I won't insist that something be changed just for the sake of it and I strongly feel that a finished picture book should be greater than the sum of the two parts - words and pictures.

I quite like to write different styles of story and not all of these would suit one illustrator's style, however, from a marketing point of view it would be good to build up a recognisable body of work with one illustrator much the way Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have.

Writing for children is a competitive area - why do you think it is so appealing?

I think some people are misled into believing that writing for children is easy and others into thinking that is a way of getting rich quick. Sadly none of these are true for the vast majority of writers.

For the genuine children's writers, it is just such a wonderfully interesting and varied area to work. It is very competitive and gets more so all the time, but that's not always a bad thing.

What do you think are the main mistakes made by people wanting to write for children tend to be?

I think I would have to say that a lack of knowledge of what's out there already and a lack of understanding about what children (and children's publishers) actually want. A bit of market research is important so that would-be children's authors know what actually makes a children's book. It's not enough just to have an idea, you need to know how to make that idea into something that will be interesting and appealing for the age group you are writing for.

And finally, can you sum up in one sentence a key piece of advice for someone aspiring to make a career writing for children?

Write until you get it right, be patient and be determined.

Huge thanks to Damian, who is another twitter bod who can be found over here. His website is over here, and you can check out his books over here. Little Dude highly reccommends Snap to everyone, and thinks you should buy him a book, too.

Oh, and if you write SNAP in the comments (Little Dude insists!) then you just might be lucky enough to win one of Damian's books. The Little Dude shall pick a winner next Wednesday by randomly pointing at a name on the computer screen and ceremoniously smearing it with chocolate. Good luck to all who enter!