Q&A: David Almond (Author)

I caught up with the award-winning author of children's classic Skellig, which has recently been turned into a Sky TV feature film...

David Almond: Author of Skellig

So tell me, David, what is it like to watch one of your books on the big screen?
Well another book, Clay, was turned into a film last year by the BBC, but Skellig has also appeared in various forms - now it’s a film, it’s fantastic.

There’s just something about this story that just keeps on moving and changing and people keep wanting to try new things with it. They’ve done a fantastic job with this film, I’m really pleased.

How much involvement did you have in the making of the new film?
I was working closely with them at the start but it’s been going on for almost nine years now. When the director Annabel Jankel came to me years ago we talked how it would transfer to the screen - what kind of things would have to be retained and what could be changed.

But then there comes a point where you just have to say “ok, off you go,” because, you know, I needed to get back to writing books. That’s what I do.

So you were happy for Annabel to take creative control and run with her own ideas?
Yeah I think so. I think what you’ve got to do is work with people you really trust, and also, you trust your own story.

Now let’s talk about you – how did you get to where you are today?
Doggedness and thick skin I think! It’s usually the same story. I was writing for years and years never really expecting to end up writing for children, but then I found myself writing Skellig. About fifteen years later I became an overnight success; I’d been waiting for the review that’d do it and finally it came and I thought “ahah!”

But you do it because you love it and because you’re driven to do it. You go through lots of difficulties, lots of rejections; I wrote a novel that was rejected by every single publisher. You just have to keep on going.

Had it always been a dream of yours to be a writer?
Well as a kid I would write stories and jot down ideas; I just never stopped really – just kept on going - - it’s what I’d always wanted to do, even. As well as to play for Newcastle United…

Every young boy’s dream…
That’s right; maybe not for Newcastle mind you!

So what do you think inspired you, even as a child, to want to be a writer?
I had an uncle who wrote poetry – he was never published – and I remember being really charged by the fact that I had an uncle who was a poet. He was also a printer; he printed the local newspaper, so I think my attachment to print was there from a young age.

I remember going to the library which was just across the street from where I would play football. It’s just tiny things like that just build up; it doesn’t take huge forces.

And do you think elements from your own childhood games and experiences have been an influence on your characters and stories?
They have been, yes – a massive influence really. It’s strange because I began to use my own childhood around the time that I started writing Skellig, and I realised it was like a whole undiscovered country really; something I could use and explore.

It’s not like I really plundered my childhood or anything, but you take an elements of your own life and reimagine them the outcome is a story. That happened with Skellig because when I was young I had a very poorly baby sister who died, which, of course, is something that helped create the characters in the story.

It wasn’t like I thought “Oh, I must write a story about this,” but I was obviously driven by that force. All of my books contain little fragments from my life really.

But what if you’d never been successful? Can you imagine what you’d be doing now?
I don’t know really, because in a sense I had that; I had years of rejection. I always had a little bit of success – not much, but enough to keep me going – and I never really imagined myself giving up.

Had I got to that point, I don’t know. I guess writing involves sitting still a lot at desks, so maybe something mobile like a countryside ranger or something like that. An explorer – that’s another thing everyone wants to be as a kid isn’t it!

And what would you say is the secret behind writing a successful book?
I think the only thing you can do is write the best story you can, in the best way that you can. People come to me and say “what should I do in order to write a great book,” and all you can do is say that really.

You’ve got to write the story that you want to write. You can’t just write what you think will be liked by a lot of people; it’s got to drive you and have its own power. You can’t do anything else really.

If you’re going to spend a long time writing a book, you’ve got to enjoy doing it and also feel that you have to do it.

How long does it take to write a book out of interest?
Well Skellig actually didn’t take that long – about 7 months all together I think – and at the time I was teaching full-time as well. But usually it takes me about a year to finish a novel.

And do you treat it like an office job – is it a 9-5 thing?
When I’m at home I try to do it like that, yeah. One of the things that happens though, when you do have several books published and you’re doing well, you get lots of nice invitations to things that you really have to do; on top of the writing.

So it gets to a point where you’re incredibly busy. I’m very busy at the moment. In some ways I think I had more time when I was teaching than I have now. When I’m writing though, it’s a job. I start at nine and I have a lunch break then finish at the end of the day. It’s the only way to do it really…

It must take a lot of motivation…
Aye, but as well as being work, it’s also play. I think it’s really important to recognise that it’s hard work and can be very dure but it’s fun as well.

How do you like to relax in your spare time?
I suppose just ordinary things really; we go to the theatre, watch the telly. We live out in the Northumberland countryside so we actually like going to cities now. We go to art galleries and there are some really nice beaches near us; very cold beaches up here but they’re very nice.

Finally, after doing so much, is there anything else you’d still like to achieve?
Oh I have some outrageous goals, but the predominant one really is just to keep on writing good books. Last year there was an opera made of Skellig; I’d like to work on another opera because that was really fascinating to do.

But really, I just want to keep on writing more books. It’d be nice to have another movie as well. The process of seeing Skellig made has been amazing, so I’m really hoping that some of the other projects that are in the pipeline come to fruition.

It’s fantastic to see the finished result and how someone else tells your story. They bring their own vision to it and you just have to step back really and watch it happen.