The Interview - Wallace Briggs

I wrote my first story pre ten years of age, and was berated by my teacher. It was supposed to be a holiday account but I had never been on holiday so I fantasised about travelling to Australia on a ship carrying livestock. the punishment was painful and I did not write another fiction story for over thirty years.

The first story I told after my imaginary holiday was almost 40 years later on a seaside holiday in Great Yarmouth (East coast of England). My then four or five year old son was playing on the beach with a group of four or five children when they sought shelter from a heavy shower in the confines of our beach tent. My wife pleaded for me to quieten their boisterous play by telling them a story, or something. And in that instant the red haired, bullied, alien orphan was born. Jimmy Crikey overcame the bullies, befriended witches, saved the little lady marooned at the bottom of the well and became the hero of Roombelow. Jimmy Crikey did not appear in print for almost another thirty years and now forty years later I have writen the sixth adventure in Jimmy's series of stories. In the interval between the fifth and sixth stories I have completed a memoir/autobiographical account of starting life as an impoverished urchin and ending my working life as an Export Sales Manger.

Take note of what others are writing in your genre but be yourself and stay true to your ideals. Don't expect to get everything right at the first attempt. Prepare yourself for the re-writes and get advice from a professional editor who specialises in your genre - not your best friend. Afford the expense because it will pay dividends.

I have no formula. I pick up my pen (figuratively) and characters and plot appear from the ether and tell me where they are going. Not that I recommend writing by the seat of your pants. Occasionally, the well is dry when I drop the bucket and and the stream has dried up. then I turn my hand to some new activity: play the organ; paint a plate and fire it in the kiln. Even if it takes a full week for the ideas to start flowing again, I wait out the pain knowing the joy will soon return.

In general, writing is not a chore and when I hit hard times I relish the challenge of digging myself out. However, in the writing of my memoir 'Love Changed Everything', opening up my heart and exposing my shortcomings for all to see - was hard.

The much maligned Enid Blyton was the favourite of my sons which I most frequently read at bedtime story times. They and I both loved her style and simplicity of writing. I would love to emulate her and discover her secrets. My inspiration was The MAgic FArAway Tree.

All the scenes in my series of Jimmy Crikey books need continuity and correct repetition of characteristics and the more characters I create the more traits and styles I have to assign and record. A character bible is a must. At the age of eighty one I find it impossible to recall every detail.