Ask the Author: Kia Abdullah
Answered Questions (7)
Kia Abdullah
Hi Kat, thank you for the question! Those People Next Door is a full-length novel (around 85,000 words). The Quick Read is a highly abridged version (20,000 words) aimed at emergent readers (i.e. adults who are new to reading or who don't read very often). The story moves along at a much faster clip as it's designed to get people into reading. It was such an interesting project for me as it made me think about language on a granular level and made me a better writer.
Kia Abdullah
Ha ha. It might a bit spicy of me to name names.
Kia Abdullah
Hi Rachel, thank you for the question. Book 3 (Next of Kin) and Book 4 (untitled) are both standalone novels, so there aren't any plans to return to Zara yet. My publishers have left that option open to me though, so never say never!
Kia Abdullah
Hi Brittany, thank you for the question. Yes, there will be a second novel with Zara. In Truth Be Told, Zara will be working on a new case: a campus rape in an elite London boarding school. The novel tackles consent and toxic masculinity in the context of a courtroom thriller. It's out in the UK on 3rd September. I hope you enjoy it!
Kia Abdullah
In terms of writing in general:
1. One of the most heartening things I ever heard was from Ira Glass on the subject of taste. He explains that your work will disappoint you for the first few years of your career because you’re falling short of your impeccable taste. So many writers quit before they break through that wall. The ones who make it are the ones who keep going. If you’re an aspiring writer, do listen to the quote in full: https://vimeo.com/24715531.
2. How do you know that you have writing talent? You don’t have to be a millionaire; you don’t even have to make a meagre living. Instead, says Stephen King, if you write something for which someone sends you a check, if you cash the check and it doesn’t bounce, and if you then pay the light bill with the money, you can consider yourself talented.
3. There is always going to be someone better than you. There is always going to be someone who is not better but *is* more successful. Bite down your jealousy and just keep working.
4. Don’t be disheartened by writers more prolific than you. The fields of publishing and media have plenty of people who are either independently wealthy or supported by a wealthy partner. Don’t be daunted by their seemingly effortless ascension. Bite down your jealousy and just keep working.
5. Read classics, read contemporaries, read, read, read. I have an alarm on my phone that goes off at 8.30 every evening to remind me to cut off my screen time (computer, phone, social media) and to read instead. It doesn’t always work but it often does.
6. Man Booker winner Anne Enright said the first 12 years are the worst. For most of us, that's true.
In terms of writing a novel:
1. Your protagonist doesn’t have to be an asshole at the start of the novel to change for the better over the course of the story. Whatever happens, they should be likeable – or at least redeemable.
2. Always ask yourself two questions about your novel: What does my hero want? What does my hero achieve? I once wrote an entire book and realised at the end that the hero achieved nothing. She was involved in all sorts of exciting and wonderful things, but was reactive and not proactive. Your lead character must achieve something even if it’s something as nebulous as happiness.
3. Read out loud. This is incredibly important. It will help you catch sentences that seem okay on paper, but not when read out loud. I must have read one particular sentence of mine dozens of times on paper before reading it out loud and spotting the ungraceful repetitiveness of ‘corridor’ and ‘door’.
4. Use beta readers. Once your novel is ‘done’ (i.e. written and revised at least twice), ask four to five people for their honest feedback. They will pick up untold numbers of plot holes, errors, inconsistencies and clichés for which you will be eternally grateful.
5. Delete anything that couples the month of the year with a weather condition (e.g. September wind, March rain, July heat). I often do this and it always comes off clichéd.
6. If your character has a complicated timeline, give her a birthday in early January. It will make all the years, ages and major events easier to follow.
7. Identify and delete your writing tics. I used http://www.writewords.org.uk/phrase_c... on a finished novel and realised there was a crazy number of “she nodded” and “she shook her head”. Run your novel through the tool to identify and delete your crutch words and phrases.
Okay, that’s it for now. If you have questions on any of this, please ask!
1. One of the most heartening things I ever heard was from Ira Glass on the subject of taste. He explains that your work will disappoint you for the first few years of your career because you’re falling short of your impeccable taste. So many writers quit before they break through that wall. The ones who make it are the ones who keep going. If you’re an aspiring writer, do listen to the quote in full: https://vimeo.com/24715531.
2. How do you know that you have writing talent? You don’t have to be a millionaire; you don’t even have to make a meagre living. Instead, says Stephen King, if you write something for which someone sends you a check, if you cash the check and it doesn’t bounce, and if you then pay the light bill with the money, you can consider yourself talented.
3. There is always going to be someone better than you. There is always going to be someone who is not better but *is* more successful. Bite down your jealousy and just keep working.
4. Don’t be disheartened by writers more prolific than you. The fields of publishing and media have plenty of people who are either independently wealthy or supported by a wealthy partner. Don’t be daunted by their seemingly effortless ascension. Bite down your jealousy and just keep working.
5. Read classics, read contemporaries, read, read, read. I have an alarm on my phone that goes off at 8.30 every evening to remind me to cut off my screen time (computer, phone, social media) and to read instead. It doesn’t always work but it often does.
6. Man Booker winner Anne Enright said the first 12 years are the worst. For most of us, that's true.
In terms of writing a novel:
1. Your protagonist doesn’t have to be an asshole at the start of the novel to change for the better over the course of the story. Whatever happens, they should be likeable – or at least redeemable.
2. Always ask yourself two questions about your novel: What does my hero want? What does my hero achieve? I once wrote an entire book and realised at the end that the hero achieved nothing. She was involved in all sorts of exciting and wonderful things, but was reactive and not proactive. Your lead character must achieve something even if it’s something as nebulous as happiness.
3. Read out loud. This is incredibly important. It will help you catch sentences that seem okay on paper, but not when read out loud. I must have read one particular sentence of mine dozens of times on paper before reading it out loud and spotting the ungraceful repetitiveness of ‘corridor’ and ‘door’.
4. Use beta readers. Once your novel is ‘done’ (i.e. written and revised at least twice), ask four to five people for their honest feedback. They will pick up untold numbers of plot holes, errors, inconsistencies and clichés for which you will be eternally grateful.
5. Delete anything that couples the month of the year with a weather condition (e.g. September wind, March rain, July heat). I often do this and it always comes off clichéd.
6. If your character has a complicated timeline, give her a birthday in early January. It will make all the years, ages and major events easier to follow.
7. Identify and delete your writing tics. I used http://www.writewords.org.uk/phrase_c... on a finished novel and realised there was a crazy number of “she nodded” and “she shook her head”. Run your novel through the tool to identify and delete your crutch words and phrases.
Okay, that’s it for now. If you have questions on any of this, please ask!
Kia Abdullah
I could wax lyrical about creating imaginary worlds and inspiring other writers, but if I’m being 100% honest, I would say that the best thing about being a writer is being able to say that you’re a writer. It instantly piques others’ interest, lends you intellectual gravitas and – if you wear it well – conjures an air of raffish subversiveness (“I didn’t succumb to the desk job! I lived life my own way!”). Writing is an indulgence and being able to say that you do it for a living is an absurd privilege, especially for a working-class girl from east London.
I have to say though: it took me a long time to get here. Even after I had published two novels, I still felt that I wasn’t a “real” writer because I wasn’t making a full-time living from my work. That has changed now and I’m finally comfortable in the skin of a writer, pallid and sun-deprived as it may be.
I have to say though: it took me a long time to get here. Even after I had published two novels, I still felt that I wasn’t a “real” writer because I wasn’t making a full-time living from my work. That has changed now and I’m finally comfortable in the skin of a writer, pallid and sun-deprived as it may be.
Kia Abdullah
Deadlines. I truly believe that a deadline is one of the most effective motivators for writers. When I started writing over a decade ago, I used to see writers grumbling about deadlines and feel a pang of jealousy because, hey, no one was waiting for my writing! Now, I have deadlines too – sometimes agreed with my agent, sometimes promised to an editor but always, always promised to myself. That’s how I am inspired to write: by knowing that I have to.
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