BBC Maestro - Sue Purkiss

 

Ken Follett

A few weeks ago, I noticed an ad with a special offer for the BBC Maestro courses. Now, I like a good course. It's always interesting to hear other writers talking about their craft, and I find there's always something to learn.

So I investigated. The courses aren't just about writing - they cover all sorts of other topics too, such as painting, well-being, music, script-writing - but these were the ones I was interested in. I decided to look at Ken Follett. If you haven't come across him, Ken (I feel we are good friends now, so I'm sure he won't mind if I call him Ken) is a writer of hugely popular historical fiction and thrillers. You can click on any of the couses and see a trailer, and I liked the sound of Ken's course, so I decided to buy it. The offer price was £47.40 for 22 lessons/six hours, which seemed to me extremely reasonable compared to what you would pay for any real-life course. 

And I have found it absolutely brilliant. I think one of the main standouts is that, despite the fact that Ken has clearly made enough from his writing to retire several times over, he's still absolutely passionate  about it. He loves writing, and he works really hard at it. Of course, now, he can afford to pay researchers, and also has a vast network of very useful contacts and a very supportive publisher - but he still puts in the hours and the work, typically taking about three years to write one of his epics. The research takes a long time: he doesn't specialise in one period, so often, he's starting from scratch - he ranges from the Vikings to nuclear war. 

I had read a few of his books a while ago, but I've read a lot more since watching the course. Even if these are not the type of fiction you normally read (he is entirely upfront about the fact that he is not writing literary fiction: he wants to write books that lots of people will want to read - and that will, incidentally, become bestsellers and make him lots of money), you will, if you're anything like me, find yourself unable to stop turning the pages. And he tells you just how he does this - he is very generous in the way he shares what he has learnt over many years. Of course, it's a very different thing writing a vast historical epic with a large cast of characters and many interweaving stories, as opposed to a very much shorter book for children, but still, there's a lot of carryover.

Having thoroughly enjoyed listening to Ken, I discovered that for another £36 I could have access to all of the courses for a year. So I followed up Ken with Jojo Moyes - also a delight, and so generous in sharing her expertise - and then with Lee Child. (I'm taking longer over Lee Child. To be honest, I find him slightly scary. Especially after reading some of the books.) Malorie Blackman awaits, also Harlan Coban and many others - I have my eye on a storytelling course, and also one on public speaking.

What emerges from all the ones I've listened to so far is a) how hard they all work, and b) how different their processes are. Lee Child, for instance, works in an utterly different way from Ken: Ken is a planner, Lee Child is - not. For one the story is paramount, for another it's the characters. Lee Child is particularly interesting on language: he considers every word: the weight of it, the sound of it, the meaning of it. 

I may not be about to write a multi-million selling adult novel of my own (though you never know, you never know...), but I have found these courses invigorating and, yes - inspiring. But for now, as they all point out, you don't get anywhere unless you get on with it. So - er - off I go to do just that. Although I might just listen to one or two more lessons first. And there is the washing to get out of the tumble dryer - and maybe it's time for another coffee...