Six tips for using notebooks, by Dan Metcalf

1. I love notebooks – they are the bedrock of the writing profession and the reason so many books come into being. I don't mind what shape or form they come in: high quality, expensive moleskines; earthy, organic field notes; or home-made pocket books. They all have the same, basic function – serving as my outboard brain.

2. Writers the world over rely on them as the starting points for their stories. Neil Gaiman writes all his first drafts in them, filling decorative tomes with his flowing script. David Almond scribbles his ideas and thoughts down in a notebook and describes his job as having to translate those notes into a fully-formed story. Paul Magrs uses school exercise books to write his novels.

3. The purpose of the notebook is whatever you make it. It can be a place for ideas, scribbles, doodles, cuttings, poems, photos, first drafts or a combination of them all. It is, most importantly, your own space, and a stranger looking into it should feel as though they are gazing on your pure, raw thoughts. A tidy notebook is a reflection of the owner's mind. A messy one, more so.

4. They are a way of capturing your thoughts, of trapping them in ink so they don't float away into the night. You won't use a lot of what goes into them, but that's okay. Eighty or ninety per cent of the pages will be covered in scrawl that is unusable (in my case, unreadable), but the remainder will be pure gold.

5. It is important to experiment with your favourite type of notebook, to find a fit with your writing, your way of life. Do you prefer A4, A5 or A6? Hard or softback? Spiral bound, perfect bound, saddle stitched or legal pad? Plain or decorative? There are as many variations as there are writers, so search for your soulmate.

6. Digital pretenders try to usurp the throne of the mighty notebook; the elephantine Evernote – the social Pinterest – the humble blog. None can take the place of the battered book in my pocket, waiting to be folded, felt, fondled, to be torn, scribbled on and abused. The tactility of the notebook its USP. An individual feel which can not be replaced.

image: Billy Alexander: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/ba1969

Self Publishing Success Stories, by Dan Metcalf

Self-Publishing can seem like a long and lonely battle sometimes, so take heart with the stories of these authors who made it work for them:

Karen Inglis:
Karen is a children's author who has cracked the knack of self-publoshing books and marketing them to children. She breaks down exactly how she does it in this podcast.

Barry Eisler: 

Eisler is a thriller writer with the distinction of having served time in the CIA, which is probably what gave him the balls to walk away from a six-figure contract for his John Rain books. He now publishes his own ebooks and has retained the rights to his previous works.

David Hendrikson:
David managed to sell his books in bulk to schools and colleges throughout the US and has a brilliant story of how he did it. Check out the podcast here.

Amanda Hocking: 

The Texan author had 17 unpublished novels sitting on her hard drive when she decided to self-publish them through Amazon. Through self-promotion, social media, and already having the manuscripts to satisfy the emerging demand, Hocking managed to make $2.5million in the first two years of going it alone. She is now signed to a traditional publisher, a move which she welcomes.

EL James:

Whatever you think of them and the ‘New Adult’ publishing craze that followed it, The Fifty Shades of Grey book have been phenomenally successful. First published online, the books spread like wildfire, and had soon made the former TV producer a cool $95million.

Nick Spalding:

Spalding turned his humourous prose into gold by selling his short funny books through Amazon. Titles such as Life with No Breaks and Life on a High, which were written in one sitting, sold well and now Spalding has a six figure book deal.

Edgar Allen Poe:

I’m not sure if you’d call Poe successful (dying young and penniless), but he made his mark on the literary landscape, created the detective novel and inspired generations. He self-published Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827. 

William King:

William King was already a successful writer, having contributed to the Games Workshop Warhammer books, and used his small fanbase to launch his original series as ebooks. His brilliant blog includes a breakdown of exactly how much he made from self-publishing in a year, and lots of tips on how to get your book out to the masses. These make for great case studies for writers thinking of going it alone.

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Dan Metcalf is a writer of children's books from Devon. He recently self-published Paw Prints in the Somme, about a cat in the trenches of the First World War. Find it here.

Audio Drama Podcasts, by Dan Metcalf

I think I've spoken on this blog recently about my love of podcasts (wait a minute. Yep, here it is) and I thought I'd continue my thoughts here. There has recently been an explosion of content (ugh, hate that word) in the podcast arena, especially from the BBC. Recently Auntie Beeb launched the BBC Sounds App, which pulls together music, live radio, the 'listen again' feature previously on the BBC iPlayer, and now for the first time, podcasts. Before now the BBC only allowed downloads of programmes previously broadcast on regular radio but an update of their charter allows them to produce brand new content (ugh) for download only. One area they have now flexed their muscles in has been drama.

The BBC is of course the home of radio drama, having produced it since the corporations inception. The Archers is probably the most popular having racked up nearly 70 years of top notch farming action. The Afternoon Play is also a bastion of the airwaves, with many new writers finding their break on Radio 4.

The BBC Sounds App has experimented somewhat with different ways of doing drama on the internet and even hoped for crossover audiences by commissioning an Eastenders audio series.
A few other writers have found a way to tempt listeners into scripted drama however, and I can highly recommend the Case of Charles Dexter Ward, available to download and stream on BBC Sounds.

An updated version of the story by HP Lovecraft, the audio series takes inspiration from the success of true Crime Podcasts such as the wildly popular Serial. In it, a pair of journalists are investigatng the case of the titular Ward and recording their every move, speaking to witnesses of the wierd event and digging deep into the archive. It plays as a straight podcast, the actors even pretending to ask for money on their crowdfunding pages (a regular part of independent podcasts). It's a ballsy move, writing wise, especially when you consider that it rules out interior voice or other tricks often employed in radio plays.

Another podcast-within-a-podcast is the independant production Blackwood. In this spooky drama from Skylark media in the US, a group of bored teenagers are investigating a local legend, the Blackwood Bugman - it plays out as a sort of Slenderman or Blair Witch piece of recent folklore. The plotting and writing is fine, even if it relys on 'yoof speak' whcih sounds stilted in the actors voices.

Back at the BBC, experimentation continues with the rather excellent Forest 404. Voiced by Doctor Who alumnus Pearl Mackie, main character Pan is an audio archivist in the future who comes across a sound she has never heard before - the sound of the rainforest. When she begins to ask questions - what is a forest? where did they go? why has no one heard this before? - the authorities try to wipe her memories, and a search for the truth ensues.

The drama is neatly played by just three actors, each giving their own version of events, beautifully sound designed and with original music by British DJ Bonobo. The BBC have gone a step further by recording talks to complement each episode, with experts speaking about the themes and ideas raised in the drama. Another separate strand of the podcast has soundscapes of the world of Forest 404; rainforests, original music, ambient sounds.

One of the only audio dramas specifically aimed at children is the snappily titled Once Upon a Time in Zombieville, and I was lucky to hear the producers talk about the show at last year's Children's Media Conference in Sheffield. Made by Glasgow firm Bigmouth Audio who specialise in recording sounds and speech for animation, this is billed as an 'audio cartoon'.

The producers simply recorded a fun script and peppered it with brilliant sound effects, complete with high-class acting talents. Check it out.

But it's not just little old BBC who have cornered the market. Hollywood's coming too. The standout radio drama Homecoming, about a decompression programme for ex-soldiers, starred film actors David Schwimmer, Catherine Keener and Oscar Isaac. Even more impressively, it was very quickly turned into a TV drama for Amazon Prime and starred A-lister Julia Roberts.

Finally a project I binge-listened to just yesterday. Blockbuster is a dramatised documentary with a seriously impressive musical score and sound design which tells the story of the friendship between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg as the attempt to make their breakthrough hits Star Wars, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The acting is kind of cheesy-yet-fun, but worth a listen to hear what can be achieved by an independent production.

The best things about podcasting and radio drama is that the audinence is increasing - it's highly ocnvenient for listeners to stick on a podcast at home, at work or on a commute. And also the bar to entry is fairly low. You don't need a huge studio and a bank of sound effects - a microphone and PC will do.

What are you listening to? Let me know in the comments.

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Dan Metcalf is a writer of things. See more at danmetcalf.co.uk

Magazine Writing, with Dan Metcalf

If you're thinking of writing for magazines, then join the club. There are thousands of freelance writers out there just waiting to get the nod from an editor, and you'll have to make yourself shine out in the crowd. Here's a few tips on how to pitch to a magazine:

1. Submit a proposal – Let's face it, you don't have the time to write a spec piece of journalism, and your editor doesn't have time to read a full article in the hope it may be perfect for their mag. Perfect the art of the short email, getting to the point quickly and succinctly, and giving the Ed all the information they need to make a decision.

2. Have an angle – Business books yell from the rooftops about having a USP – Unique Selling Point, and you must have one too. What makes you the perfect person to write this piece? What is so different about the article that the magazine should snap your hand off to take it? It could be something small like your red-hot writing style, or something more professional, like your experience in the area. Get it in your pitch and don't give them an excuse to say 'thanks but no thanks'.

3. Keep it short – your pitch should fit in an email that will take less than a minute to glance over. Keep it to around 150 words and structure it so your main headline is at the front of the paragraph, grabbing the editor's attention. Follow it up with how you are going to write it and what the article is going to include.

4. Be professional – No one wants to work with an amateur, so as far as anyone is concerned, you are a professional writer. Get a business card printed up – there, you're a writer now. Be business-like and courteous, follow up the pitch with a friendly 'nudge' email a few weeks after you submitted it, and no matter what you do, STICK TO THE DEADLINE. It's there for a reason.

5. Ask for money – The current climate means it is more common than ever to have writers writing for free, but if you want to make some sort of career out of this, then you need to be upfront and make sure that everyone knows you intend to be paid for your work. Don't under value yourself either, or you'll be setting a standard for the future and for your peers.

6. Get social – Twitter is a must nowadays, so you can network with editors from the comfort of your laptop. Here is where you can keep in touch and perfect the 140 character pitch!

* * *

Dan Metcalf is the writer of the Dino Wars series danmetcalf.co.uk/dinowars

Digital Decluttering, by Dan Metcalf

Anyone here subscribe to fantasy author William King’s email newsletter? 
You should
A few weeks ago he posted a newsletter titled ‘Digital Hobo’
in which he discussed the concept of digital decluttering, 
and introduced me to the daddy of the movement, Cal Newport:

"Newport’s last opus, Deep Work, profoundly affected my thinking 
about work, writing and how to deal with technology. 

 His new book has had a similar effect.

I am convinced by his arguments that our attention is being fragmented
by our use of technology, 
particularly smartphones.

Newport’s thesis is that our attention is snared by companies like Facebook
using similar methods to those used in casinos. 
We become like Skinner’s pigeons, 
constantly tapping away at the screens of our smartphones
to the detriment of our concentration and our work."

I was unaware of the term but had already started to take steps towards
what I saw was an essential change in my life. 

Sometime last year, I got rid of my smartphone and instead
bought a tiny, distraction-free dumb phone. 
The AIEK device (I’d never heard of the company either) 
is smaller than a credit card and has minimal functionality. 
It can text and make calls… that’s about it. No internet, wifi, games or apps.
It’s like going back to the late nineties but you can't even play Snake. 

I made the change because even when I had finished a day at the laptop,
I was attached to my phone, looking at twitter, facebook, youtube etc.

I even started to get an ache in my thumb on my right hand from scrolling and swiping. 
So in the interest of sanity and being more connected to my family, I ditched it. 
Now my free time is exactly that - free. No pings of emails from the smartphone.
It also means that I only check social media in work hours which saves a lot of time.
I find I have become more streamlined, only checking notifications
(which I have silenced for all but my favourite FB groups) 
and not scrolling town the feed/timeline.

The theory behind this is considered and rings true. 

The aforementioned Cal Newport defines DEEP WORK 
as the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task
and the thesis of the book is that 
“The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare 
at the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. 
As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, 
and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.”

The ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task?
 Sounds like writing a book to me 
(other examples are coding software,
 extrapolating data from complex spreadsheets and databases
and getting to grips with difficult concepts in a small amount of time. 
But for our purposes, let’s stick to books). 

As a writer, the ability to concentrate on the task of telling a story is paramount,
and digital devices are fragmenting that attention
 to the point where the author would be better off going offline
and hiding in a hut far from civilisation to finish the work-in-progress.

So what to do? Newport suggests the digital declutter -
I’m reading Deep Work at the moment and have yet to come to that part
but William King suggests using FREEDOM,
a service which allows you to block certain websites or the entire internet
for periods of time (9-5, say). 

Remove games and other temptations from your work PC. 

Go to a workspace that doesn’t have wifi (increasingly tricky I find). 

Swap the tablet for an old-school amazon kindle, 
the kind with e-ink and no swizzy apps. 

Better still, swap the devices for good old books - they don’t run out of battery.

And if all this sounds a bit over-the-top ask yourself this: 
do you want to spend your time answering emails, reading tweets
and scrolling through pictures of your old school friend’s holidays, 
or do you want to get that book written?

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Dan Metcalf is a children's writer from SW England. His book Paw Prints in the Somme, based on the life of a cat in the trenches of WW1 is available here.

The Myth of the Full-time Author, by Dan Metcalf

I was looking through an old blog of mine from about five years ago and came across this:

From the Guardian:  

"Roughly speaking, until 2000, if you wrote a story, made a film or recorded a song, and people paid to buy it, in the form of a book, a DVD or a CD, you received a measurable reward for your creativity. Customers paid because they were happy to honour your creative copyright."

It's worth clicking through to read the whole article from Robert McCrum, which looks at how the credit crunch and the Internet's increasingly liberal views on copyright have affected writers and the image of the professional author. Admittedly, only a few writers get to be full-time nowadays, and the rest have to make do with part-time jobs and spousal support, so why do so many of us dream of developing our writing into a career when it is so unlikely?

Which may be a cynical way of looking at the business, but mathematically valid. I find myself looking at TV talent shows the same way. Why do these (sometimes) talented bright young things put themselves through the X-Factor, The Greatest Dancer, Britain’s Got Talent et al when the odds of winning are so low? They openly admit and even boast that the shows start off with thousands of applicants, only some of whom are invited to auditions, then whittled down to the best of the bunch and then told to fight it out on screen for a number of weeks until only one is left. Only one can win, and the odds of it being you are minimal. It would make more sense to sell everything you own, fly to Vegas and place everything on black on the roulette wheel. At least then you get a 49% chance of winning something.

The same could be said of this writing biz. Why put your novel into a slush pile in the hope that it will be plucked out, read, liked, invested in, edited, printed, distributed and sold in the millions? It happens to very few and my thoughts above of authors rarely being full time still holds up today.

Strangely, I found myself as a full time author just a year or so after that post was written, but only through the auspices of the coalition government and them laying off a load of librarians in my council. I was one of them and took the leap into freelance writing. Now I find myself on the job market again, which is unfortunate but necessary. I don’t begrudge working a ‘proper’ job to fund my family, but it comes with some problems. Namely, lots of my referees from 4+ years ago have moved on and I have no way to find them! Also we had become quite used in my family to me being at home and being able to go to school open days, be around to take care of poorly kids, and generally being flexible when it came to the old work/life balance. Now my children look at me oddly when I leave the house in a shirt and tie, instead of bumming around in my pyjamas.

For me, I find writing a brilliant way to pay the bills, but I think less and less authors will be able to pay the bills only through writing in the future. We’ll all have to be entrepreneurial and have a side hustle going to keep the wolf from the door. Does it suck? Yeah, it kinda does. Am I surprised? Not in the least.

Speaking from the Heart: Dictation Software, by Dan Metcalf

I was heartened recently to see that a story I had begun writing over three years ago in a notebook was actually pretty good, or at least had promise. My heart sank however when I realised that in order to turn it into a book that I actually wanted to present to publishers, I would have to type it up.

I’m a slow writer. Or to be exact, I’m a slow typist. If I was still allowed to hand in a manuscript, scrawled in ink and blood with blotches all over the folio, I would, like Jo March in Little Women (okay, maybe not the blood). But I suppose now we live in the 21^st century and writers have to beam their stories over the interwebs like we’re living in a Philip K Dick novel. Typing up a story from handwritten notes is the worst, not least because I have unreadable handwriting. My eyes flit from keyboard to screen to the page, and it becomes slow and tiresome. It would take me hours to type up the story.

And then I remembered something I had heard on a podcast about dictation software. There are lots of different ways of speaking your story aloud, the most popular being Dragon dictation, but a free and simple way of testing it out was Google Docs. If you have a google account for anything, then you already have access to this and you can run it right from your chrome Browser (also free). So with a rubbish netbook, an old hands-free mic from a smart phone and my best BBC announcer voice, I set about reading the story aloud.

I was pretty pleased with the results the story went from this:

To this:

Some glaring errors there, not least the replacement of ‘pookas’ to ‘hookers’ (oops...). The software had trouble with the made-up word ‘grublin’ for which I will forgive it. A way of remedying that I guess would be to just say a recognised word - ‘goblin’ for example – and then perform a quick Find & Replace in MS Word when editing.

I had also tried to include punctuation in my speech. The Google system recognises a few stock phrases that instantly transform themselves into punctuation but not all, and you can add others later in the edit (the phrases in question are ‘Comma’, the very American ‘Period’ for full stop, ‘Exclamation Point’, ‘Question Mark’, ‘New line’ and ‘New Paragraph’). Fairly simplistic, but I cannot vouch for other software such as Dragon, the well-established market leader in this area.

I had a full chapter written in less than ten minutes, with another ten minutes dedicated to editing, which I did in LibreOffice, my word processor of choice. I’m happy with the result:

Once upon a snowfall, when the woodland burst with pookas and nymphs, a lonely grublin sat on its stump and grumbled.

It grumbled because that's what grublins do. They are happy (or unhappy, as the case may be) to sit in the woods and complain about things.

“It's too scrimping cold,” it muttered to itself. “Never known a winter like it.”

But it had. It had known no fewer than four hundred and thirty-six winters in its lifetime and each of them had been as cold and bleak as the last. For each of these winters it had sat on its stump as it always had, and grumbled.

And other writers swear by it. Kevin J Anderson, the bestselling sci fi author, dictates whole tomes and tidies them up later (with might account for his epic output). Self-publishing gurus Mark Dawson and Joanna Penn are experimenting with dictation and there are numerous books on using the technique to its best effect (sources here and here).

So would I use dictation for a whole book? Well… probably not. As an avowed introvert who can barely string a sentence together out loud in real life, I find that silence when working helps to contribute to my writing. Also, I work in coffee shops and libraries a lot and would get some pretty strange looks whilst recounting tales of fairy-folk. But as a short cut to getting my tales onto the old PC? Yeah, I think it might just work...

Do you dictate? Would you? Would the result be the same as parking your backside and typing away? Let me know in the comments.

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Dan Metcalf is a writer of books for children. His latest book, Paw Prints in the Somme, is available at danmetcalf.co.uk/pawprints. 

Promoting Yourself as an Author, By Dan Metcalf

Being an author nowadays is all about making yourself known, and here are six great pointers as to the most effective ways:

1. Be present - Everywhere! Get on all the social media sites so your readers can find you and interact. They want to see you and relate to you. They've already bonded with your writing, and you can help guide them towards your other books so they can love you even more!

2. Be predictable - When updating your internet presence, consider having a set time each day/week/month that you update. It can be anything  - a daily tweet, a weekly video on YouTube, a fortnightly podcast or a monthly blog post. Whatever it is, make it so your fans are waiting for it to pop into their inbox or notifications.

3. Be persistent - This doesn't mean badgering your followers with spam! Simply start something and keep at it. If you're podcasting, do it regularly (see above) and for a long time. It may take a few years to reach your peak audience figures, but it'll be worth it. You're in this author game for the long haul, and your readers are too. Continue your online presence (and offline too - conferences and shows are a must) until everyone knows who you are.

4. Be friendly - A no brainer this one. Be nice. No one is going to follow the person picking fights on twitter or commenting on the fan's poor grammar in a YouTube comment. Be approachable, friendly and open.

5. Be generous - It's not all about you, y'know! Focus on your fans. What do they want? If it's a podcast, do it. If it's merchandise, do it. And be generous with your accounts when you hit the big numbers of followers - you could help promote a friend's book or Kickstarter project, or turn your attentions to altruism and help raise money for a good cause.

6. Be yourself - This the most important. No one wants to hear from a smarmy salesman. Be you. That's who fans want to hear from; they fell in love with your voice, your sense of humour and your view of the world, so give it to 'em in spades.

Happy Chrimbo everyone. 

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Dan Metcalf is a children's writer. His most recent book, Paw Prints in the Somme, about the cats that served in the First World War, is available via http://danmetcalf.co.uk/pawprints 

The Freemium Author, by Dan Metcalf

A while ago I was merrily shopping in a supermarket and a voice came over the speaker system:

‘Please make your way to the deli counter for a free demonstration and a guaranteed free gift!’

Never one to pass up a freebie, I obeyed the voice from above and found myself watching a man give the performance of a lifetime while demonstrating a knife and sharpener set. I waited until the end and he gave out a small spiralizer-type gadget for turning apples into wafer-thin ribbons. Being broke, I thanked him and left, but several eager customers waited to purchase the main event, the heralded knife set.

“Where’s this going, Dan?” I hear you cry.

This last month I have been filling my time by visiting around 25 schools in what I call my ‘freemium’ tour. In an effort to gain readers for my newest book, Paw Prints in the Somme, I have been doing speaking events at assemblies in my local area. The book is set in the First World War, so tied in nicely to the commemorations of the centenary of Armistice. I offered schools the assembly for free, in return for covering travel expenses and for the chance to sell my books. I quickly filled my diary. I was welcomed at each school and I had asked them to order ahead of my visit, so I took away forms and monies on the day. I returned a week or so later to supply the books.

Y8 and TSIMS have enjoyed a brilliant talk from author, Dan Metcalf about his new book 'Paw Prints in the Somme.' @metcalfwriter #WW1 #RemembranceDay2018 pic.twitter.com/GupN5eYZAY

— Taunton Prep School (@TauntonPrep) November 16, 2018

I know what you’re thinking – you gave your time for FREE? Isn’t that what the SoA and all right-thinking authors say NOT to do?

Well, yes. But hear me out. I will never do a full or half day visit for nothing. These were 20 minute assemblies, and I designed the business model of this experiment to be zero-risk. I covered travel expenses (a standard 45p per mile) and received book orders ahead. Then I used print-on-demand to print the books – no crazy print runs here. If a school wanted one book, I print one book. If the school wanted 100, that’s what I print. I didn’t want to pay for a 2000 copy print run and have them under my bed forever more. This way the print cost per book is slightly higher, but the risk and inconvenience is much less.

The ‘freemium’ model is widely used in many areas of business; offer a free service or product, then hook the customer with your quality and invite them to invest in a further service. In modern tech companies like Spotify, this might be a limited, advertising-supported version of the streaming service. Once they hook you with how amazing the speed, quality and convenience is, they then grab you and hook you into a premium service. Or maybe you’ve received a sample, short story or even the first in a series of books for free? This is a classic way to entice readers into your stories and brand, well known and practised in the independent publishing world.

The assemblies I offered for free were the same as the man in the shop giving away his spiralizer tools for watching his knife demonstration. It tickled the interest of some potential customers. My assemblies demonstrated my storytelling, my public speaking and great relationship with students. Of course, while I was in the school I gave them free posters and leaflets for my school visits (for which I charge full price, naturally).

When I posted a question about this tour on a private author’s facebook group, I received a few gasps of horror. I should never, ever, under any circumstances do visits for free, they said. And I understand. I don’t, much like I don’t hand out copies of my book for free. I do however do readings of my first chapters for free on my website, and amazon offers a sample of my ebooks for free. Is that the same as handing out free books? I don’t think so. I see it as a necessity to make sales.

Let’s be realistic. I’m no Neil Gaiman or Philip Pullman. I don’t have a legion of fans. I’m fairly early on in my career (hopefully) and I cannot afford to sit on my behind and wait for the sales to find me. I need to be out there, talking to readers and doing whatever I can to make my name known, which includes thinking outside of the box when it comes to author visits. I’d love to charge every school I visit, and so would my bank manager, but in reality that is going to drive them away. An unknown author for £££? No thanks! By sneaking under the radar with my freemium service, I can gain trust.

Was it worth it? Well… yes. I think so. It’s early days but I have already had one offer to be a patron of reading and several referrals to other schools (Headteachers talk. Lots.). On the cold, hard cash front, I have a healthy profit margin of 58% on anything I sell, and I can confirm that we won’t have to cancel Christmas this year. So while the big hitters of the kidlit world can charge whatever they like for visits, I’ll be innovating and testing my business model for a while to come. And you know what? I’m fine with that.

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Dan Metcalf is a children's author from the south west of England. His First World War book Paw Prints in the Somme is available via danmetcalf.co.uk/pawprints 

The Story That Chose Me, by Dan Metcalf

Mostly, writing books for children is a fun job, because I get to write about whatever I want. Child detectives? I wrote ‘em. Galaxydefenders? I wrote that too. Dinosaurs with laser guns? Can’t get enough of ‘em.

But sometimes, I feel like I haven’t really got a choice in what I write. Sometimes, I think the story chooses me.

One day I was taking my cat to the vet. While I was waiting I picked up a magazine, and I was shocked by the article I saw.

“...thousands of cats were sent to the trenches of World War One…”

Cats? Why? I had to know! I found myself looking at my own tired, old moggy, and wondering if he would be any good in a war? 

Probably not.

I started to research. It turned out that the trenches in France and Belgium during the conflicts of 1914-18 were very tempting for vermin, so the generals ordered that cats were brought in to deal with them.

I couldn’t shake the idea of a cat in a horrible war zone. They would have been born over here in our country, taken across the sea to France and Belgium, and delivered to the trenches, where there were bombs and gunfire and mud. But then again, this is what happened to thousands of young men and boys.

Soon the cats that were sent as ratters became friends to the soldiers. Some became mascots to the whole squadron. The more I read about his, the more I knew I had to write it. So I did.

I wrote a book called Paw Prints in the Somme, for 8-12 year olds. I made up a cat called Tom, who was raised on a farm in Devon, but taken to war. He’s scared, but finds a friend in Jim, a soldier who was just 14 years old (an all-to-common occurrence in the ‘Great War’ due to the leaders choosing to believe the lies told to them by the boys seeking glory). Together, they promise to get through the war and return home to Devon. I found it to be the hardest book I have ever written, largely because of how important it felt when I read about the real cases of child and grown-up soldiers in the trenches.

This November I’ll be touring around schools to give assemblies based on the theme of Remembrance and my book. I’m hoping it will help children remember the fallen, especially since now there are no survivors of the war itself to pay our respects to.

It is important to remember those who fought in WW1, and all wars, because they did the bravest and most selfless of things, fighting and risking their lives for something they believe in. This year it is exactly 100 years since the end of World war One, and it is more important than ever that we say thank you to those that were part of the war: men, boys, horses, pigeons… and cats.

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Dan Metcalf is a writer of books for children. You can find his new book Paw Prints in the Somme at danmetcalf.co.uk/pawprints