Strange New Worlds




An Interview with James Swallow




The major upside to running the Literary Project is the opportunity I get to interrogate and steal information from chat to and gain insight from people already forging successful careers doing what I want to do. James Swallow is one of these people.




The major downside to running the Literary Project is the feeling of being smacked in the face with a hammer when you realise just how much hard work, dedication and talent someone has invested in their career to make it a truly successful one. James Swallow is one of these people.




Seriously, before I spoke to James I thought I was busy with a job, a toddler and husband, unenthusiastic attempts to take more exercise, a family tree, reams of never-ending offical forms, two blogs and my writing. Now I'm going to go buy me a book on time management and quit reading interesting-but-ultimately-irrelevant articles on Wikipedia about regency cravats or Norton 16H motorbikes from 1940.






Hi James, can you sum up your writing career to date for us? What got you started and why are you still doing it?




Okay, long story short(ish). I started off writing for fanzines and from that got work on pro publications (SFX, Starlog, that kinda thing). Being a media journalist got me contacts over in Hollywood where I made my first fiction sale – I was the first (and still the only) British writer to work on a Star Trek TV show – and that eventually led me toward writing prose fiction, audio scripts and videogames. I quit my day job in 1997 to write full time and I've never looked back.




I guess I got started when I was a kid; I loved writing stories and reading, and I always wanted to be a writer in some capacity (at least, after I realized that 'astronaut' and 'international assassin' would be the harder career choices). I'm still doing because I like to think I'm good at it, because people keep asking me to – but mostly because I love it.




Do you have an agent? If so, how did you secure representation and what are the main benefits; if not, why not?




I don't have an agent for my prose writing, although I do work with an agency on my videogames writing. I've never needed one, and while I sometimes think it might be useful, for now it hasn't really been an issue for me. Some writers don't like dealing with the business end of things, so an agent is important to them; for me, not so much (for now!)




I first came across your work through some of the tie-in novels that you have written. What is the appeal of writing tie-in? What are the limitations?




Tie-ins are great, because you get to play with fantastic toys! When I'm writing in an established universe, it's always one that I'm enthused by – I'd never write for a fictional world I didn't care about – and it is great fun to take epic characters and thrilling locations and tell stories with that toolkit. In a way, I feel like I'm giving back a little something to stories that have given me a lot of enjoyment.




Of course, the limitations are many. Quite often you have to put things back the way you found them and not break the universe (but that's not always the case). Tie-ins do get a (largely undeserved) bad rap... People outside the business often look down on them as uncreative works – which is utterly wrong, because you need just as much creativity to tell a story inside a set of confines as outside of them – and fans are often divided on their opinions if a tie-in doesn't match exactly with their personal take on a fictional world/character etc. But I prefer to think of the limitations as a challenge rather than an obstacle.




Speculative fiction is often regarded as a difficult market to break, and tie-in fiction as a route to more mainstream publication. Do you think that this is the case?




The truth is, all fiction is hard to break into. Speculative fiction, SF and fantasy or whatever you want to call it, is no exception. Talent, professionalism, dedication and a good amount of luck have to be the arrows in your quiver if you want to make a career at this stuff, no question.




I'm not sure I'd agree that tie-ins are the best course toward mainstream writing; certainly there are writers who follow that route, and do well with it. But breaking into the tie-in market is tough for anyone who hasn't already sold fiction out in the wider marketplace – for example, I sold four original novels before I got my first tie-in gig.




What advice would you give to anyone wanting to build a career writing speculative fiction, and specifically tie-in fiction?




See my point above! Most importantly, I'd say you need to read widely both in and out of the field you want to write for, and try to cultivate what is unique and interesting about your authorial voice.




As for building a career writing tie-ins, don't limit yourself to that. Publishers are much more likely to take on a writer who has proven they have the skills in a broader context; see, the unique qualities of tie-ins mean that they need writers who can deliver good workable prose, to deadline, every time; writers who know how to work with an editor and a licensor and be professional. There's an extra set of hoops to jump through writing tie-ins, and you're more likely to be able to negotiate them if you've already proven you can write and sell a book.




Working on so many different sci fi lines must pose some challenges for organisation and time management. How do you keep your focus on each project and manage your research?




You just have to be disciplined. I work an eight hour day, six days a week, month in and month out. I don't wait around for the muse to strike, I make her punch the clock at the same time I do! I just sit my backside in the chair and get it done. As I said above, I write full time, so this is my job and pays for my rent and my food. If I don't write, I don't get to eat – and believe me, that focuses you very well!




As for research – I have a myriad of books all over my house, a good local library and a (mostly) robust broadband connection. The problem there is that I can get sucked into reading up on something cool and suddenly the day is gone...




How did you get into writing computer games? For those who don't know, can you explain what this involves?




I've been playing videogames pretty much since they were invented, and I love 'em! It was something I'd wanted to get involved with for a while, and then in 1999 I hooked up with a company producing a Star Trek title to act as a consultant. Since then, I've been working on one or two games every year. My most recent project is a cyberpunk epic called Deus Ex: Human Revolution.




People ask what a "games writer" is, and that's a big question. Not all games have (or even need) a story, but some have a lot of narrative in them. A games writer's job can be creating the world of the game, creating characters and factions, writing in-game dialogue, scripting cutscenes, writing text for in-game items (books, screens etc), localizing the translation of a foreign game script; designing quests and missions...and more.




There are a lot of people involved in the development of computer games, at what stage do writers tend to enter the process?




The best time for writers to come on board is after the initial concept for the game has been created, but when things are still in a creative flux where a writer can bring their skills to the mix. Sadly, that doesn't always happen, and often writers come in too late to do their best; but the games industry is waking up to the idea that good story can make a great game a fantastic one, and embedding writers in the project at an early stage.




Computer games seem to be an underrated area of the writing industry – to be honest, so is tie in. Do you think this view is beginning to shift?




I think games writing is often under-rated by people who aren't in the games industry, for sure! And like I said before, tie-ins get a bad rap. I think in both cases, outsiders look at these kinds of writing and don't see them as particularly creative avenues for writers – when in fact, the opposite is true.




Usually, it's people who don't actually read tie-ins or play videogames who denigrate them; and frankly, I don't have a lot of respect for those kind of critics. I'd like to think the negative attitudes are changing, and I will continue to fly the flag for both games and tie-ins.




You've written an impressive collection of audio dramas; again, can you explain what these are and what it involves?




Audio dramas are typically full-cast plays with music and special effects, just like classic radio plays, except they're usually produced and sold directly to the CD and download market. I've written a fair few, for Doctor Who, Stargate and others, and I have to say, I love writing them! I think audio is a brilliant medium for story – even more so for science fiction, because your only limitation is the imagination of your audience! It's a very intimate type of storytelling, both challenging and huge fun to write.




What is your proudest moment to date in your writing career?




The first time I saw a book with my name. And that thrill never gets old. It's like "Wow, I made this!"; and the thought that people you will never meet will get to experience your stories is powerful stuff.




How did it feel when you found out that you were a NYT bestselling author?




Pretty damn awesome, to be honest! It's always great to have the respect of the industry and the audience; but at the same time it's important not to lose sight of the realities of the biz and let something like this give you a swelled head. At the end of the day, you're only as good as your next book. My hope is that having this accolade means that my work will get exposure to a wider audience.




What are you working on right now?




I'm just finishing up a top secret videogame project for a major studio here in the UK, and working on outlines for a couple of novels for 2011-2012.




Is there anything writing-related that you would like to do or achieve, but maybe haven't got around to yet?




Oh, lots! I'm a huge comics nerd, so I'd love to write a superhero comicbook. Maybe create my own TV series, write a thriller or an original SF novel. Write the script for a movie. For starters.




If I forced you at gunpoint to choose your favourite reality and format to write in, what would you answer?




Tough call. I'd probably say something of my own, either as a novel or a script.




And finally – can you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring writers?




Finish it.




All too often, I talk to aspiring writers and I hear them talk about how they have great ideas for stories that they start writing, but then abandon for others. If you do this, you're not a writer; you're a dabbler. Finish what you start, and learn from it. Even if the work isn't good, when you've done it, you've completed it and it will inform the next thing you write.



HUGE thanks to James for stopping by and for being nice to me at the Black Library Live event last week! James has a website over here, tweets here and you can check out his books here.