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An
interview with Scott
Monk
This photo of Scott Monk was taken by Tricia
Johnson
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Scott Monk was born in Macksville, NSW, in
1974, and grew up in Sydney. His first book, Boyz
‘R’ Us, was published when he was 19. His second
novel, Raw, is currently one of the prescribed texts for
the Standard English course in Module C: Texts
and Society. His third novel, Crush, was published in
2000. Scott now lives in Adelaide and works as a
journalist.
Maree Arrow, Birrong Girls High School,
conducted this interview with Scott in early May, 2001.
Scott, what was the first thing you wrote?
The first story I can remember writing is a story about my Lego men battling aliens. Great stuff! But my first serious attempt at writing was when I was 13. My English teacher asked us to write a 20-page novella on anything. Before then, we were always forced to write stuff like: My life as a maggot! This first manuscript, In the Clutches of Magic, was like The Hobbit. A gnome goes wandering a fantasy land battling four wizards. I thought I'd make millions with it. I ended up with a collection of rejection slips from publishers. I eventually had a cleansing night at my university, the University of Canberra, and chucked out all my bad manuscripts. In the Clutches of Magic was one of them. I will never attempt to write it again It was the first of eight failed manuscripts.
Scott, what was the first thing you wrote?
The first story I can remember writing is a story about my Lego men battling aliens. Great stuff! But my first serious attempt at writing was when I was 13. My English teacher asked us to write a 20-page novella on anything. Before then, we were always forced to write stuff like: My life as a maggot! This first manuscript, In the Clutches of Magic, was like The Hobbit. A gnome goes wandering a fantasy land battling four wizards. I thought I'd make millions with it. I ended up with a collection of rejection slips from publishers. I eventually had a cleansing night at my university, the University of Canberra, and chucked out all my bad manuscripts. In the Clutches of Magic was one of them. I will never attempt to write it again It was the first of eight failed manuscripts.
What made you first want to write?
One of my Peter Board High School English teachers, Ms Shane McLeod (now Ms Shane Scanlan), was the biggest influence on my writing life. Mid-year in 1987, she set our class a 20-page assignment. We could write about anything as long as we wrote something. I was a reluctant English student - in fact, I hated the subject. Another English teacher always gave me 14/20 without fail for every assignment. I refused to read the set texts and for exams regurgitated all the notes scribbled on the board. I was petrified when this latest assignment came around. But I did it. I started writing in the next school holidays, during a time when it was flooding in Sydney. I wrote those 20 pages in three days but realised I still hadn't finished the story. So I wrote and wrote and wrote. Twenty pages became 40. Forty became 80. Eighty became 160. And 160 became 220. When it came time to hand in this novella, I slapped 220 pages of In the Clutches of Magic onto my teacher’s desk and she nearly died of a heart attack. But bless her heart she marked every page and suggested I send it to a publisher. The publisher rejected it and broke my heart. That was a lot of work for a 13-year-old! My peers paid me out for my failure and I vowed “I'll show them''. I never told anyone that I was still writing until the day when the contract for my first book, Boyz'R'Us, was finalised when I was 19. That was the happiest day of my life.
Where did you get your first influences for writing?
One of my Peter Board High School English teachers, Ms Shane McLeod (now Ms Shane Scanlan), was the biggest influence on my writing life. Mid-year in 1987, she set our class a 20-page assignment. We could write about anything as long as we wrote something. I was a reluctant English student - in fact, I hated the subject. Another English teacher always gave me 14/20 without fail for every assignment. I refused to read the set texts and for exams regurgitated all the notes scribbled on the board. I was petrified when this latest assignment came around. But I did it. I started writing in the next school holidays, during a time when it was flooding in Sydney. I wrote those 20 pages in three days but realised I still hadn't finished the story. So I wrote and wrote and wrote. Twenty pages became 40. Forty became 80. Eighty became 160. And 160 became 220. When it came time to hand in this novella, I slapped 220 pages of In the Clutches of Magic onto my teacher’s desk and she nearly died of a heart attack. But bless her heart she marked every page and suggested I send it to a publisher. The publisher rejected it and broke my heart. That was a lot of work for a 13-year-old! My peers paid me out for my failure and I vowed “I'll show them''. I never told anyone that I was still writing until the day when the contract for my first book, Boyz'R'Us, was finalised when I was 19. That was the happiest day of my life.
Where did you get your first influences for writing?
I used to read lots of fantasy and sci-fi
stuff, which I don't anymore. I was also heavily influenced
by two American books - The Outsider by SE Hinton and
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Strangely, these were
both texts I was forced to read at high school.
What other people (or things) have influenced your
writing?
I'd have to say being a journalist has influenced my writing
quite a lot. I keep to the old rule of KISS - Keep It Simple
Stupid. It's better for a writer to keep their descriptions
and phrases to every day language. There's no need to use
flowery language all the time. My agent, Selwa Anthony, and two
publishers - Mark Macleod and Linsay Knight - have shaped my
writing immensely. Other writers from whom I draw influence from
are Tim Winton, Margaret Clarke and Catherine Jinks. As for
poets, I've always like John Keats. Shakespeare and The Bible
also use amazing language.
Why did you choose to write novels rather than say, poetry
or short stories?
I think it's got to do something with my
love of movies. I like long, grand movies with long, grand
storylines. I don't like short films or artistic statements.
You don't fall in love with the heroine, back the hero and
boo the villain. With movies and novels, you can develop
characters and make them believable. As for poems, I've
written a few over the years, especially during my university
days. But they are more private works.
Why have you chosen to target young adult audiences?
I'm turning 27 this year, which sounds ancient to some young people. Being a teenager and 20-something are the only things I know. I can't pretend to write about a main character who’s 40 with three children. I haven't lived that stage of my life. So I stick with what I know. I think stories about young adults are great. There's a lot of conflict in teenagers' lives. I think it travels into the 20s as well. There's a kind of emotional puberty 20-somethings go through.
What techniques do you use in order to gather ideas?
Why have you chosen to target young adult audiences?
I'm turning 27 this year, which sounds ancient to some young people. Being a teenager and 20-something are the only things I know. I can't pretend to write about a main character who’s 40 with three children. I haven't lived that stage of my life. So I stick with what I know. I think stories about young adults are great. There's a lot of conflict in teenagers' lives. I think it travels into the 20s as well. There's a kind of emotional puberty 20-somethings go through.
What techniques do you use in order to gather ideas?
Yes, there are a number of techniques. I use
the old Shakespearean cliche of having the weather change with
the main character's emotions. Imagery is also strongly used.
In my second book Raw, there are lots of words that
portray one animal (the police) hunting down another (Brett). I
use onomatopoeia - sound words - when describing approaching
trains or car horns. I love short sentences. It's one thing
that's always stuck in my mind from high school. I also use
the journalist principle KISS when writing - Keep It Simple
Stupid. There's no use in writing big long descriptive pieces
in novels. They're boring. And rain is rain! It's not:
“Long silvery sheets of cold refreshness filled the air
from the heavens.'' I like oxymorons - such as harsh
happiness. I also try to make interesting character names. For
instance Frog (for a small kid), Peeper (for a guy with big
eyes), and Grover (for a guy who once dressed up as the Sesame St
character at a fancy dress party). This allows their names to be
easily remembered by the reader. But my basic two secrets for
writing are scenery and conflict. Paint interesting scenes that
are easy for the reader to picture and try never to return to
exactly the same scene. Also, conflict creates pace and pace
keeps readers interested. Conflict can come as character v
character, character v the system, or even character v nature.
Being a heavy media "junkie" as a teenager, I scour
newspapers, movies, radio and television for the "germ"
of an idea. The best stories are usually real ones - a reason why
I love being a journalist.
Do you ever use autobiographical elements in your writing?
Absolutely. It's a fraud not too. However, not everything is autobiographical. No, I wasn't a part of a gang (aka my first book, Boyz'R'Us). But yes, we had kids wrapped up in gangs going to our school.
How do you actually go about the process of writing a novel?
Do you ever use autobiographical elements in your writing?
Absolutely. It's a fraud not too. However, not everything is autobiographical. No, I wasn't a part of a gang (aka my first book, Boyz'R'Us). But yes, we had kids wrapped up in gangs going to our school.
How do you actually go about the process of writing a novel?
I used to write a page a day. So after a year
you'd have a 300 page manuscript. Now, if I'm disciplined
enough, I can write a chapter in a day. But what normally happens
is I'll write three or four chapters, then take a break for a
month. I'll then go and write another three or four chapters.
Writing in the morning is better than at night because you're
fresher. It's harder as a journalist now to write my novels.
One, I don't have as much time and secondly the two styles
are completely different. I do quite a lot of drafting. In fact,
that is the most important part of being an writer. The story has
to be continually refined to make it better. Research is also
important. Not only is it necessary to get things right, but
research can uncover great little anecdotes (small,
self-contained stories) that can be used in a novel. I've
talked to police, detention centre staff, prisoners, a
prisoner's wife and other people during my research. Gives
everything a realistic feel.
What main advice would you give to aspiring young writers?
The old adage - write what you know - is fantastic. If you're a teenager, write about what's happening around you. Also, write - don't talk about writing. If you talk about writing, you'll never get around to actually doing it. When writing the first draft, avoid constantly going back and revising it. It is a first draft. It's supposed to be as rough as guts. Write each chapter then lock it away. Write any possible changes down and lock them away. Make all those changes in the next few drafts.
What's something you would really like to write?
I'd love to write the world's second best novel. I'd prefer to read the world's best novel than write it. But seriously, I'd like to write a private detective series one day. And maybe a horror novel set in Adelaide.
What main advice would you give to aspiring young writers?
The old adage - write what you know - is fantastic. If you're a teenager, write about what's happening around you. Also, write - don't talk about writing. If you talk about writing, you'll never get around to actually doing it. When writing the first draft, avoid constantly going back and revising it. It is a first draft. It's supposed to be as rough as guts. Write each chapter then lock it away. Write any possible changes down and lock them away. Make all those changes in the next few drafts.
What's something you would really like to write?
I'd love to write the world's second best novel. I'd prefer to read the world's best novel than write it. But seriously, I'd like to write a private detective series one day. And maybe a horror novel set in Adelaide.
If students or teachers would like to email
Scott, his address is boyz_r_us@hotmail.com
Read another interview with Scott where he talks about his novel Raw
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