1: What does writing mean to Jasper Fforde?

2: How did you start writing?

3: How did you publish your first novel?

4: Is there a culminating moment that marks your career as a writer?

5: What part of writing do you find more difficult as a writer: characterisation, documentation, dialogue, a good beginning or the epilogue?

6: You tend to write different series, (Thursday Next, Nursery Crime...). Is it because your characters need more than one book to tell their stories or because when you find and outline it is more easy to develop a story?

7: How is your creative process, and your daily routine when writing? Do you have any rites, or places you have to be when writing?

8: How do you fight against the writer's block?

9: Did you erase characters, or plot lines because your publishing house demanded it?

10: Speaking about romantic literature, do you believe it is a proper genre or it is an invention of the market that needs labelling?

11: How would you define your ideal reader?

12: From all your books... Which was more fun to write?

13: Which was more painful?

14: Which one is the one you feel more proud of?

15: Of which one will you deny?

16: Which will you recommend to someone that wants to start reading Jasper Fforde?

17: How is your editing process? Do you hire editors?

18: When will the Spanish readers find out what happens next in the Thursday Next mysteries?

19: At last, what would you tell a starting writer?









1: What does writing mean to Jasper Fforde?

Writing means everything to me. I write whenever and wherever I can. You can write anything you want; the only limit to your book is the power of your own imagination; that you are carrying on a tradition of storytelling that is even older than the oldest profession; you are your own boss; you work from home; you have time to search eBay for all those things you found you needed after all; you can watch movies in the daytime and write it down to research; you can act really weird and no-one seems to mind; you get to meet other more talented writers and speak to them on a one-to-one; you can entertain people; you get to travel; no fixed work hours; you get to play god in your own books; if you don't like someone you can lampoon them in the next novel; best of all, you are doing something you really enjoy.

2: How did you start writing?

I actually began my working life as a teaboy and office 'runner' in Shepperton studios in 1981 on a film called 'Pirates of Penzance'. After that, I gradually worked my way up through the ranks, ending up in the camera department, a focus puller on films such as 'Goldeneye', 'Entrapment', 'The Mask of Zorro' and 'The Saint.' By 2000 I was beginning to make the move to being a cameraman which means taking a very long slide down the ladder; I did about 10 low budget/no budget shorts and one commercial - for Mr Kipling's French Fancies, as it happens (it's a sort of cake) when all of a sudden a hobby which I had begun ten years previously suddenly bore fruit. The hobby? Writing!

3: How did you publish your first novel?

I persevered! I think I had 76 rejections, which, when you consider they were over ten years, shows I wasn't really trying that hard! I kept on writing because I enjoyed it. Once the first two books were roundly rejected I really thought it was possible - even probable - that I would never be published. But it didn't really matter as I was enjoying the process. In fact, it was a tremendous release - since I was not going to be published it didn't matter what I wrote. Crimean war? No problem! Reengineered dodos? Bring them on! Catching meteorites with pitchers gloves? Go for it! So in a strange sort of way the rejection actually helped. I didn't have to play it safe or have an audience or publisher in mind - I just wrote it for myself. Then, when I was finally picked up they did so because my novels were -how shall we put it? Unusual. The weakness - the oddity of my books - had become the strength. The lesson here for would be writers is clear - write your own material and ignore publishers who tell you what people will read!

4: Is there a culminating moment that marks your career as a writer?

The one stepping stone I was missing to enable me to leap from writing as a hobby to being a published author was that someone actually read my book. Up until I found my agent, none of my applications had resulted in my book being read in its entirety. As is usual, I sent precis after precis with a sample chapter and was sent back a resounding 'no' on all occasions. It took a young agent starting up and who was hungry for material for me to be actually read; but once I was read, then things started to move. That phone call to my agent and her sitting down and reading my books was certainly a culminating moment.

5: What part of writing do you find more difficult as a writer: characterisation, documentation, dialogue, a good beginning or the epilogue?

I actually enjoy all of those aspects of writing and I think that any decent book delicately balances doses of character, atmosphere, pace and plot. Some books have much stronger plot and pace and can thus rely on a little less character and atmosphere. Others are all atmosphere and no plot - but if they are well written and the balance is maintained then they still work. I enjoy characters, I love creating pace and thrive on thinking up plots. You know what the hardest aspect of writing is - discipline. Sitting down and writing every day. That's the hard bit.

6: You tend to write different series, (Thursday Next, Nursery Crime...). Is it because your characters need more than one book to tell their stories or because when you find and outline it is more easy to develop a story?

It was more of a case that I had reached a natural break for the Thursday Next series and I thought we d have a breather in case reader or writer fatigue set in. I worked on the Nursery Crime series which I had begun before the Eyre Affair was published, Thursday had a rest and now she is back in the fifth Thursday book - First Among Sequels - out in English this summer.

7: How is your creative process, and your daily routine when writing? Do you have any rites, or places you have to be when writing?

I don't think I have any rites or routines - apart from hundreds of cups of tea and a healthy stock of shortbread biscuits. I do like to write from my desk at home in Wales, I like to start early and get a good hour of procrastination under my belt before breakfast. My books do require a lot of thinking and working things out, so a daily walk is also invaluable - I have my dog to thank for that part of my routine.

8: How do you fight against the writer's block?

Writer s block doesn't exist. It s actually called work avoidance procrastination It strikes all people, in all walks of life. We just give it a grand title to promulgate that tortured artist nonsense. My work avoidance procrastination is called eBay.

9: Did you erase characters, or plot lines because your publishing house demanded it?

Not that I can think of. It rarely gets to that state of affairs. If the publishing house found something unacceptable or offensive I think I might do also, and would have already removed it myself.

10: Speaking about romantic literature, do you believe it is a proper genre or it is an invention of the market that needs labelling?

To be honest I'm not a huge fan of pigeonholing. Some readers tell me that they would like to class my books under "Romance", which I had never thought about, but it's true, the second Thursday Next book in particular,"Lost in a Good Book", this has a strong romantic thread running through it.

I always describe my novels as 'The Swiss Army Knife of books' as I was trying to have something for everything within the covers - a trans-genre novel that I hoped would find a broad readership - perhaps even introduce a reader from one genre to the joys of another. As it turned out I have been embraced by readers from Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Crime, Horror and Thriller. What I would like is to see bookshops and libraries ignoring genres and categorising by something else entirely - such as colour of the cover. One of the most interesting sections in a library is the 'oversize book' section which has a startlingly eclectic mix - it would be much more interesting if all shelves were the same...

11: How would you define your ideal reader?

Open-minded

12: From all your books.... - Which was more fun to write?

The Eyre Affair was written before I was published and was therefore written over a much longer period with lots of gaps in between. It was fun to be free to write exactly what I wanted as I had by that point decided that I probably wasn't going to get published. Ironically - that was the book that I started my published career with.

13: Which was more painful?

When it comes to handing them over to the publisher they are all painful. If I had my way I would carry on working on them forever. They have to be forced from my clutching grasp. It's like having your baby taken away.

14: Which one is the one you feel more proud of?

That is a difficult question. I'm very proud of the Eyre Affair as it was my first to be published. I'm proud of Lost in a Good Book for my characterisation of Thursday and my discovery of the BookWorld. I like Well of Lost Plots for the plot and Something Rotten for the comedy. The Big Over Easy for eventually getting published and I always had a soft spot for The Fourth Bear.

15: Of which one will you deny?

I will never deny any of my books. I wouldn't write them if I was going to deny them in the future.

16: Which will you recommend to someone that wants to start reading Jasper Fforde?

I would always recommend "The Eyre Affair" - start at the beginning.

17: How is your editing process? Do you hire editors?

Once I have reached a stage that I am happy with, my partner Mari reads a first draft and adds any comments that she might have. I also have two editors for my respective publishers - one at Hodder in the UK and one at Penguin in the States. They will come back to me with ideas and remarks. I then work on the manuscript again, taking all of these comments into account. I enjoy the editing process and often find that some very good ideas and resolutions come to me during this stage of the writing process.

18: When will the Spanish readers find out what happens next in the Thursday Next mysteries?

The second in the Thursday Next series, "Lost in a Good Book" is due out in Spain in October 2007 - also to be published by NOVA at Ediciones B. I am told that there are plans for books three and four to come out in 2008.

19: At last, what would you tell a starting writer?

Write, write and write some more. And when you are not writing try taking up a job in an obscure place. The wider you spread your experience, the richer your writing will be.



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