The TEN is celebrating three months of Q&A interviews with writers.
*pauses for rapturous applause*
Thanks to you, I have some great writers lined up for the coming weeks, covering all genres and categories, and of course, I’ll be continuing my INSIDERS series.
When I launched at the end of December, there weren’t as many of you as there are now so I thought I’d reprise my first Ten for The TEN, in order for Mark’s interview to be enjoyed by all my new subscribers and followers.
Links to my other Q&A’s are at the end of the article. Enjoy!
Today, The TEN kickstarts an ongoing series, where published writers share the secrets of their success, by sitting down with the extraordinarily talented Mark Tungate.
Based permanently in France, Mark has been a journalist for over 30 years, specialising in media, advertising, travel and luxury. Mark and I went to journalism college together in the UK. Starting our careers on local papers, we subsequently both moved abroad to explore brave new worlds; him to Paris, me to Los Angeles.
He’s effortlessly stylish and well read. I always picture Mark wearing a smoking jacket, thumbing through GQ, and sipping on a martini, even when doing something as mundane as the weekly shop. In fact, when I asked Mark what his writing snack of choice was he said, “Gin and tonic”. which made me chuckle.
Mark is the author of a number of books, including the bestselling Adland: A Global History of Advertising, Luxury World, and The Escape Industry. Click here to find out more. He’s also the Editorial Director of the Epica Awards, the only global creative prize awarded by journalists.
His fiction, published under the name Kurt Magenta, can be found here.
Mark! Thank you for being my first victim - ahem - interviewee and talking to The TEN. Let’s start with what initially inspired you to become a writer.
All writers, I think, start as readers. Funnily enough I was an apathetic reader as a child – Enid Blyton and her ilk bored me a little. Then I went to see my first James Bond film with my dad. Live and Let Die, I believe it was. Dad said: “You know, these are books as well.” I got hold of Doctor No from the library and boom! After that I binged “grown-up” thrillers by people like Alistair MacLean, Desmond Bagley and Raymond Chandler. I noticed on the back covers that they’d all been journalists before becoming novelists, so I thought: “Hmm…journalist. If I can’t be a secret agent, maybe that’s the next best thing.”
If there is one, can you describe your typical writing routine or schedule?
I often say: “Getting up early is the answer to everything.” As I have a full-time job, any creative writing I do has to take place outside work hours. When I’m working on a project, I get up at 6am and after a few push ups, a shower and an espresso, I’m at my desk by 7. An hour later I have breakfast with my wife, then at 9 the “normal” day begins.
How do you approach the process of generating and developing ideas for your writing?
By doing nothing. Somebody once pointed out that a lot of writing happens when you’re not writing. I swim every day. I sit in cafés and restaurants, or stare out of the window on train journeys. Basically, I daydream. If something pulls me down the road that leads to an idea, I jot down some initial thoughts. As I live in France, I’d love to tell you that I write in cafés. But no. In cafés I watch people, read, and make the occasional note. “Buy milk,” stuff like that. I write in my home office, at my desk. In the afternoons I like to switch to the living room table for a change of scene.
What role does research play in your writing process, and how do you go about it?
For my non-fiction books I make a list of what I need to know and then go to the appropriate sources. Each chapter has an individual file on my laptop and in the real world. I buy a stack of books too. For my stories I only do research when I hit a snag. “What would this person be eating in this particular place, at this particular time?” Then I go online and try to solve it.
What do you do if you encounter the dreaded writer's block?
You’re going to hate me, but I don’t have those. I always have a long list of ideas in my notebook. Not to mention potential first sentences. I think this approach comes from being a journalist: you always have deadlines, so you don’t have the luxury of clapping your palm to your forehead and groaning that the muse has departed. You gotta bash that article out.
How do you manage the balance between planning and spontaneity in your writing?
I’m definitely a planner: I have a clear idea where I’m going. The spontaneity comes during the writing, when a neat turn of phrase or joke pops into my mind. I often cackle to myself while I’m tapping away.
What is your revision and editing process like, and how many drafts do you typically go through?
I hate revising and editing, so I try to do it as I go along. That way, my first draft is pretty clean – at least, as far as I’m concerned – so I can just tweak it here and there. I find it’s beneficial to return to the text a day or so later and see how you feel about it then. If you don’t think it’s the worst thing ever written in the history of the planet, it’s probably OK.
How do you stay motivated throughout the writing of a longer project, such as a novel or screenplay?
My published books are all non-fiction, but I still have a method that might help. I regard each chapter as an article, as if it’s a standalone piece for a magazine or a website. I write far more than 25 articles a year, so I tell myself that 25 chapters can’t be too much of a slog.
If we were to get a sudden POV shot of you looking at your keyboard, what would we see on your desk?
To my left, a pile of magazines, mostly about travel and interiors. Plus a pair of binoculars for watching the birds in the garden. To my right, two different notebooks (for work and fun). Books waiting to be read (currently we have Kate Atkinson and Maurice Pagnol). A French-Provençal dictionary. A little pile of receipts under a capital G from an old printing press. (My wife is Géraldine and my son is Gustave.)
Who are your favourite authors/screenwriters – and why?
There are classic writers I’ll never tire of, like Graham Greene and Simenon. And then there are contemporary writers whose books I buy without hesitation. Alan Furst. Patrick Modiano. Philip Pullman. William Boyd. Actually I keep a list of all the books I read during the year. Last year I started with “The Avignon Quintet” by Lawrence Durrell and finished with Veiller Sur Elle, a French novel that won the Goncourt – the equivalent of the Booker. It’s a sumptuous romance about a sculptor and his lost love, set during the rise of Fascism in pre-war Italy. I’m sure Netflix will get around to it.
To order Adland: A Global History of Advertising, Luxury World, and The Escape Industry, click here.
Visit the archive:
Ten for The TEN with Edward Chisholm
Ten for The TEN with Vicky Hamilton