Barbara Taylor Bradford “For me it all starts with a memorable character. Graham Greene, the legendary English novelist once said in a famous interview that “Character is plot.” This is the best advice I ever got as a novelist. When I sit down to write a book, I try to tell a compelling story about one single character. What this person is inside, and how they view the world is your story. That’s how it began for me with Emma Harte in ‘A Woman of Substance’. You begin with a character that your readers can relate to and build the story around them.”
[interview at Authonomy]

Well Barbara, A Woman of Substance sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and you’re from Yorkshire too, so I believe you. And I read AWoS when I was a teenager [here’s my original copy], and loved Emma Harte.

My novel, Connectedness, is about an East Yorkshire artist called Justine Tree. I started out wondering how a young woman who gives her baby up for adoption would feel 20 years later. Justine, complete with her name, hang-ups and motivations seemed to come into existence fully-formed. I originally made her an artist because I’m interested in art, but now she couldn’t be anything else. I started off with all sorts of ideas for the story’s direction, but I’ve abandoned them to let Justine tell her own story.

If you agree with Barbara Taylor Bradford, perhaps you will agree with:-
Lucy Prebble – because you’re a perfectionist, research is a compulsion
Sarah Waters – putting people into houses is akin to a pressure cooker
Sofie Gråbøl – always look for the weak side of a character, for the dark side

 

‘A Woman of Substance’ by Barbara Taylor Bradford [UK: Harper Collins]

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
It starts with a memorable character: I agree with… Barbara Taylor Bradford http://wp.me/p5gEM4-qE via @SandraDanby #amwriting