How to come up with a title

This was actually very last minute. We suddenly realised there was no title. All this time we'd just been calling the manuscript Mythil. Ameena, the publisher, asked me to think of some good titles and I think I came up with a short list but nothing seemed right.


One was Mythil and the Yakas. But that spoilt the element of surprise - it told you up front that the story would have real yakas in it.

Another was Mythil and the Masked Ones but of course that was far too long and obscure.

Then I hit upon Mythil's Secret. It was short and sweet and was in keeping with the 'mysterious' element of Eranga's fantastic cover design. Ameena loved it. I loved it. And that's how the title came about!

Favourite author/book

I don't have one. I have too many and I'm very fickle when it comes to a favourite author or book. Also I prefer to go by books/stories than authors. Here's a short list off the top of my head (with apologies for misspelling!):

The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien
The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud
Witch Week - Diana Wynne Jones
Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki (animated film)
My Friend Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki (animated film)
Clean Break - Jacquelin Wilson
Cold Tom - Sally Prue
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke
Six Bad Boys - Enid Blyton
Those Dreadful Children - Enid Blyton
Good Night Mr Tom - Michelle Margorian
Just William - Richmal Crompton
Anne of Green Gables - L M Montgomery

Do you write as you go along or plan the story first?

The story unfolds as I write it. So my first chapter was pretty much as I first saw it. Sometimes the ideas come too fast for me to write them out so then I use bullets so that I don't forget and flesh them out later.

The ending took me a long time to figure out. So for ages and ages the story was 3/4s done and it frustrated me no end wondering how the story would conclude.

Chapters

When you've written your story, how do you divide it into chapters?
Well, what I did was to look at places in the story where the reader would just have to turn the page and read on. That's where I put my chapter break because I didn't want people to put the book down for too long once they started reading it.

Opening line

Here's a question we discussed at Book Buzz!

What made you open the book with the line 'Go outside and play Mythil?'
I felt that it was a line that most of us could identify with. Have you ever noticed how when adults want to discuss matters that they think children shouldn't hear they think of the most unimaginative ways of asking you to leave the room? The line is also significant to the story on several levels. First, Mythil's worries stem from the fact that he is excluded from such adult conversations and left to imagine the worst. Ironically, sending him out to play, which was meant to shield him from worries, actually led to his first encounter with the yaka and all the problems that follow. Second, as a writer I guess this is a point I wanted to make - a theme, if you like, that runs throughout the book - you can't keep talking down to kids. Sometimes it's best to include them and explain adult issues so that they don't seem so scary. The book explores Mythil's thoughts and feelings as he tries to make sense of the adult world on his own.