Graeme Simsion — The Community Writer
Graeme C. Simsion is an Australian author, screenwriter, playwright and data modeller. Prior to becoming an author, Simsion was an information systems consultant, co-authoring the book Data Modelling Essentials, and worked in wine distribution.
The Best of Adam Sharp: A Novel
By Graeme Simsion
Graeme Simsion is the internationally bestselling author of The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect and The Best of Adam Sharp. He also co-authored Two Steps Forward with Anne Buist.
What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?
I’ve long forgotten the name and author of a book about career planning I read more than forty years ago when I was at university. The author spent all but one chapter describing in painstaking detail how to build and execute a career plan, and how to stay on track in the face of setbacks and changes. The last chapter was written by someone else: an alternative approach, based on opportunism. ‘Winging it,’ he called It and it was the first time I’d heard the expression: have broad goals, but be prepared to change the plan as opportunities arise; be willing to take on something for which you’re unprepared and learn as you go; invest in new skills as they’re needed. It was a revelation — and the philosophy has defined my professional life.
By Joe Queenan
I was running a thriving consultancy business when I read film critic Joe Queenan’s The Unkindest Cut, his often hilarious account of his attempt to make an ultra low budget movie. I was hooked, and followed in his footsteps, dragging my partner and friends with me, undeterred by my utter lack of experience in any facet of filmmaking. The movie was forgettable (and best forgotten) but the screenwriting seed was planted. Within a year I had sold my business, and went on to enrol in a screenwriting course while I supported myself with freelance consulting work. That was the beginning of my transition from consultant and business owner to full-time writer.
What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?
The answer’s always going to be a book; I’ll try to look beyond that. So…a backup battery for my phone. I’ve hardly ever used it, but it’s eliminated low-battery anxiety.
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
I spent five years studying screenwriting and — throughout that time — working on a screenplay for a romantic comedy. It won a prize but the step to production for an unknown screenwriter with an original script was just not going to happen. I should have realised that from the start: most mainstream movies are adaptations of novels — generally bestselling novels. The studios let the publishers and public sort out the winners before they invest.
So I re-wrote The Rosie Project screenplay as a novel. At first it was a means to get the screenplay noticed, but I quickly became immersed in the novel as a work in itself (which was surely necessary if it was going to be successful). And now I’m a novelist first and only an occasional screenwriter.
Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?
Pay it forward. It’s the social contract, a basic principle to live by. In the context of writing, I’ve had a great deal of luck, and I do what I can to help others who are trying to break in. So teaching, talks, mentorship, endorsement, contributing to blogs… I encourage those who might benefit from such help to do the same for others in turn. I have a book on novel writing underway — I doubt it’ll make me money, but hope it’ll be helpful to at least some aspiring authors.
You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. — Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. In other words, practise empathy. I taught consulting skills for many years, and if consultants could do this with their clients, most of their problems would disappear. In writing, you need to be able to do it for all of your characters — if you can’t answer the character’s question ‘What’s my motivation?’ with something deeper than a stereotype (‘he’s just a boss’) or a label (‘she’s a histrionic’) he or she has no substance. That said, when I’m writing, I don’t explicitly think about my readers!
What is one of the best investment in a writing resource you’ve ever made?
I bought my first computer in 1984, and since then I’ve always typed; I can barely hand-write. You write differently when you use a word processor — and, unlike some of my generation, I’m well used to it. And I learned to touch-type — an undervalued skill.
Right now, I’m beginning a 10-day hike, and my i-Pad (with keyboard) will repay the weight it adds to my backpack: writing tool, research tool, communication tool (plus all the non-writing-related functions). For writers seeking the lightest computing solution, at present what I’m using seems to be it.
What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?
I still buy CDs and have a pretty big collection of them. I’ve got a bit of vinyl too, and that’s probably even more absurd but more fashionable. Plus the high-end turntable. I suspect it’s about being able to afford things that I couldn’t when I was younger. Our kids find my consumerism pretty distasteful, but they’re reacting against growing up with it, whereas I grew up having to save for that 7-inch single of Hey Jude…
In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life?
A year ago, my partner bought me an Apple Watch (I’m sounding like a shill for Apple here, with the iPad and all). I set the ‘move’ goal (calories / kilojoules burned each day) to the highest setting and aim to hit it every day. I feel better; I’ve lost weight; I’ve been motivated to get back to the gym. I’m sure it won’t work for everyone, but so far it’s worked for me.
What advice would you give to a smart, driven aspiring author? What advice should they ignore?
Get published. As you’re starting out, write a few short stories. Get them into competitions, submit for magazines, anthologies, whatever. Agents will be less quick to dismiss you if someone has rated your work. And it’ll improve your writing. That final look at the manuscript before it goes in the envelope frequently prompts another improvement.
Join a class and / or writing group. I’m a supporter of creative writing classes: there’s a body of knowledge relevant to writing and you should know it. Why should writing be different from every other trade or profession in this regard? Plus, you need feedback — and to get used to dealing with it. Critiquing others’ writing will improve your understanding of what works and what doesn’t. And the group or class will help you keep to deadlines and connect with the industry.
Plan. OK, some writers write by the seat of their pants, but if it’s not working for you, plan. If it is working for you, meaning that you’re finishing novels, not just getting a great 30,000 words down, keep doing what you’re doing. Otherwise, do what just about every other profession does and introduce an element of top-down development i.e. plan.
Draft like it doesn’t matter. Don’t get it right, get it done. If you’ve a plan to follow, it’ll make sense, it just may not be pretty. But you’ll have a massive sense of progress and of satisfaction in getting it done. You can then come back and apply your creativity to the sentence level.
Rewrite. You should know that, but in the euphoria that accompanies the completion of a first draft, it’s easy to forget and to start sharing your work of genius. Don’t. Let it sit. Rewrite. Repeat until satisfied. I always go over what I’ve written the previous day before starting on the fresh work of the day. I can always improve it.
The best way for most of us to deal with rejection is to have more irons in the fire — another publisher to send to; another short story in competition; the new novel we’re working on.
Ignore, or take with a big grain of salt, advice on writing from anyone who isn’t a successful writer (defining ‘successful’ in the way that you yourself define success).
What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession often?
Write every day. I don’t. But I work on my novel or other work-in-progress almost every day. That work may be writing, but it could be research, planning, editing, thinking about the opening sentence, solving a plot problem, reflecting on the writing process. And yes, promotion. If you’re down to participate in a public debate in the evening, don’t expect to get a lot of writing done during the day. If you want to write every day, do it, but it’s not for everyone.
Build your presence on social media (see below). I mean, sure, if you want to, but it’s got nothing to do with being a good or successful writer.
Read this book — or movie or TV series that’s in the same space as what you’re writing. You’ll be intimidated (you’re comparing a final product with a first draft), feel you’re not original and become paranoid about stealing ideas. I’ve never watched The Big Bang Theory — any overlap between Sheldon Cooper and Don Tillman is entirely coincidental.
In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)?
I’ve become slightly better at saying no to requests for endorsements. I’ve had to. I feel a responsibility to read new books (especially by debut authors) but it’s easy to become overwhelmed. If I don’t write myself, a blurb from me won’t have much cred anyway!
What marketing tactics should authors avoid?
‘Buy my book’ messages on social media. In fact, with a few exceptions, using social media as a marketing tool at all. I’m an old data guy, and I’m here to tell you that Twitter doesn’t sell books. Your time will be much better spent writing a better book. In fact most ‘marketing’ effort on the part of authors would be better devoted to writing. Even book tours (especially in the US which is massively over-serviced by touring authors) generally have little impact.
Broadcast media is a different thing. If you get a chance to be on radio or TV, drop the computer and grab the microphone with both hands.
I know I’m out on a limb here, but I challenge any marketing people reading this to show me figures to disprove it.
What new realizations and/or approaches have helped you achieve your goals?
It’s human, and often helpful, to be unsatisfied, to want to stretch further. We dream of being published, but when it happens we want to be a bestseller. Then we’re not happy until we’re number one on the NYT bestseller list. And then, what about the Pulitzer? Yes, this sort of thinking will drive us onwards, but it can also drive us nuts. When I was offered a publishing contract, I reminded myself that I had achieved my goal. Anything more was gravy. There’s been a lot of gravy, and as The Rosie Project sat at no. 2 on the NYT bestseller list, I was dreaming of that ‘No 1 NYT bestseller’ blaze on the cover. It didn’t happen (The Goldfinch kept me out) and I was disappointed, but only for about ten minutes. How lucky was I? So I’ve learned to enjoy the roller coaster ride (notably with movie adaptations) and not to pin too much on external achievements.
And, perhaps paradoxically, being sanguine about success has helped me achieve it; by not dwelling on failures, but moving forward with what I want to do.
When you feel overwhelmed or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do?
I don’t often feel overwhelmed. I spent a long time running a business, and you learn how to deal with overload: in my case, make a list and (in order) dump; delegate; defer; do.
And focus…hold on. I’m probably one of the more goal-driven, businesslike, organised writers around, but I’m hesitant to apply the rather American motivational model to what I do — and especially to recommend it to others. I lose my focus, I do something else. That’s a little glib, but I’m not driven by writing goals; I’m driven by a desire to write. There’s a huge difference.
That said, and being practical, I frequently find I have to force myself to sit down to the day’s writing (editing and planning are not so hard for me) but I’m soon into it. It gets easier the more you do it and have the feedback of it working. And ‘do something else’ can mean research or that blog that someone’s asked you to contribute to. It’s not an excuse for going to the pub.
Any other tips?
My most important advice to aspiring writers is that it’s a profession. Approach it as you would any other profession in terms of the amount of learning you’ll need to do and how long it will take to become expert. If you’ve worked in another profession, there’s your benchmark; if not, look to that friend who wants to be a neurosurgeon. There are more jobs for neurosurgeons than novelists. But if you have a modicum of ability and put in that level of work, you have a very good chance of success.
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Originally published at https://www.thecommunitywriter.com.