My debut novel My Father the Whale might seem like it came out of the blue. But it was years in the making.
I’ve always loved writing short stories but luck and circumstance meant my journalistic work always took first place. Back in 2008 as I was finishing up my Masters degree in Creative Non-Fiction I decided to give fiction writing another crack and over the course of a few months I rewrote the draft of a novel that had been kicking around in my head for quite a while.
Then I got a book deal for my Milgram project and I shoved the draft of the novel in a desk drawer. Next a book on Muzafer Sherif’s Robbers Cave experiment took all my writing time and attention.
Finally in 2020 when my hometown of Melbourne was in prolonged COVID lockdown I got the draft out of the drawer again. With the help of a mentor I redrafted it and got it into shape. And it was shortlisted for the Harper Collins Banjo prize the following year and I was offered a contract.
Both my earlier non fiction books were great preparation for writing fiction. I mastered the art of research, of overcoming procrastination, and because I used so many fiction writing techniques in both my books I knew the power of strong characterisation and telling detail.
But there was heaps I didn’t know too. So I read like a fiend, and in a different way, interrogating every novel I admired and trying to pinpoint exactly what the writers I love do to make me feel so engaged and keep me reading their stories.
And in analysing novels I loved I discovered that great non fiction and fiction are more alike than different. It’s about the ability to tell strong stories with characters that readers care about, and in a way that keeps them turning the page.
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