About Jenni Gudgeon:
Jenni Gudgeon began storytelling with preschool adventures to her big brother about exploring the galaxy in their bunkbed. His space name is lost to history, but hers was the elaborate Moondoggy James Facetail Wood… Jenni wore the costume her mum made everywhere, and the photos are unbearably cute.
She lives with her partner and son in a tiny village in Fife, Scotland. When Jenni isn’t writing, she’ll be found searching the night sky for intergalactic beds.
What inspires you to write?
I never imagined writing a novel and almost failed English at school. I had no idea that writers edited their work and presumed that my first draft mind-dumps made no sense because I couldn’t write.
I trained as a photographer and became a photographic artist, etching one off pictures of mythical creatures into my photos. When I told people the silly stories I made up about these creatures, they said the two together would make a great book. I replied that I couldn’t write for toffee, and then one day I woke up with the first line in my head…
I was delighted by how much fun it was to make up stories in words as well as pictures and got completely hooked. My writing mentor kept telling me to write a novel, so when I couldn’t etch due to RSI, I gave it a go.
Now I can’t stop and would spend every minute of the day in my imaginary world if I could. Because of my art background, I know a lot of artists who often mention losing all sense of time when they’re working. I never got that when drawing or etching, but I get it with writing. An afternoon can go past in the blink of an eye.
The Tales of the Garden series was inspired by an actual event from my childhood. While exploring the farm tracks down a back road in the village I grew up in, I found a lane full of white crystals. I took one home with me and kept it in my memory box. When I searched for the lane again, it had vanished. My white crystal now sits above my desk.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
In my genre of fantasy I'm a big big fan of Neil Gaiman (of course), Terry Pratchett, Erin Morganstern, Sarah Painter, and Holly Black.
I've loved a lot of Iain Banks's books (Espedair Street is an old friend) though I'm less attached to his sci fi books as Iain M Banks.
I've recently enjoyed the Sheltland series by Ann Cleeves, been in awe of Bonnie Garmus and Abi Daré's debuts, and have great affection for Richard Osman's characters.
Tell us about your writing process.
I use the Save the Cat method to plan out ‘beats’ in my story before I draft it. These are one or two sentence guides to map out the main plot points and B-story. It means I know where I’m heading and at what word count the next beat will take over. I also plan the underlying theme of the novel beforehand.
These plot points aren’t written in stone, and often change during the draft as more interesting scenarios present themselves. They are there to give me a base line, so 80,000 words doesn’t feel too much of a stretch. As I inhabit each character separately while drafting, I often realise they are reacting to the situation in a different way to what I expected and taking the story down a different path.
I get very obsessed when I’m drafting and find it hard to concentrate on real life. I’m not sure how healthy it is to be more concerned about your fictional characters than your partner and children. I am all about the story at this stage and leave notes to myself in red type with directions like ‘describe this scene’, and the more banal ‘something’ when I can’t think up the right word. The romantic elements don’t come easily to me so these are often flagged up in red with messages like ‘Urgh! They’re kissing!’ and ‘dot dot dot!’
One thing I love about writing sitting down in the morning with no idea how I’m going to get to the next story beat, and the story just appearing out of nowhere. I hear a lot of authors say that it’s like the story was already there and they just had to write it down. On easy days, it really feels like this.
I love writing dialogue, and find my ideas flows best when I’m writing it. Oddly, more first draft dialogue makes it through to the final book than any other prose.
I find descriptions hard because I have aphantasia and don’t create mental images. To counter this, I find numerous pictures of what I want to portray on the internet and describe them.
When I write the first draft I use Scrivener. This allows me to see my research, notes, and reference images on the same screen as my draft. When I’m onto further drafts, I use Word because it’s easier to flick through from one chapter to another. I format my books using Atticus.
My books go through a rigorous editing process using a professional editor and proofreader. On top of that, I send unfinished manuscripts to beta readers who let me know about typos and which parts need more explanation.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don’t think I talk to my characters, but I do worry about them. A lot. Mostly when I’m in bed waiting to fall asleep.
In my current work in progress, I got so angry while drafting, that I stormed out of the room when I realised what my main character was about to do. I had to have a calming cup of tea and a biscuit before I could continue.
Watching my characters make bad decisions is the worst feeling in the world. I just want them to live a nice happy life, and instead I’m putting all these obstacles in their way.
What advice would you give other writers?
It's never too late to start.
I presumed I couldn't write because I wasn't good at English in school – as if I’d stopped learning at that point!
There is tonnes of online help available, but I found critique partners to be my best source of information. You need to be open to sometimes harsh criticism about something you’ve sweated blood over, and be prepared to make changes on their suggestions. If someone says they don’t understand what’s happening then that’s you not explaining rather than them being stupid.
You must be willing to learn from your mistakes, and to accept that the emotion you feel as you write doesn’t get on that page by osmosis. You have to find the right words to portray that emotion by hook or by crook. Sometimes that’s harder than others.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
With my art background, I'm a control freak and want to have the final say over every part of my book. Therefore I self-published.
It is hard for new fantasy authors to get a publishing deal without an existing fan base and you are expected to do the majority of the publicity, while getting a fraction of the reward that you'd get from self-publishing.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
As a reader, I read a mix of trad and indie published, but mostly trad published from the library.
In the future, I see authors starting out as indie, and getting picked up by trad when their fan base gets them noticed. I don't know why any new author would go the trad route unless they get a very good deal to do so.
What genres do you write?: Urban Fantasy
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Jenni Gudgeon Home Page Link
Link To Jenni Gudgeon Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Instagram
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
