Writing is a craft you learn by doing
Of course, you need imagination. I’ve been daydreaming my whole life, which helps a lot. But imagination alone isn’t enough. A story also needs structure and technical skill. I once learned from another children’s book author that describing every detail of an action can get extremely boring. For example: Anne walks to the front door, takes the key from her pocket, inserts it into the lock, turns the key left, pushes the door open, removes the key, puts it back in her pocket, goes inside, and closes the door. Readers have already fallen asleep! Who cares about the key? It’s better to simply write: Anne goes inside. A writer’s tip (often heard, so certainly not just from me): Cut out everything you can.
You learn a lot about yourself while writing
I once tried writing a thrilling book. It became ‘Nightmare’ (book 3 in the ‘King’s Riding School’ series). But I struggled to make it exciting. I gave my main character too many allies. I identified too strongly with her, and since I’m easily frightened myself, I didn’t want to expose her to real danger. Eventually, I managed by thinking about scary movies. You know, films where a woman parks her car in a dark garage. As viewers, we already see black shoes lurking behind a door, a knife glinting faintly, heavy breathing… Then I’m shouting: ‘Get out! Leave the garage! Next time bring a bodyguard, pepper spray, or better yet, take another role in a different film!’ But the woman in the film never listens to me. As the music intensifies, she walks straight into the trap. Once I understood this film trick, I continued writing my book. I isolated my main character. She was excluded, not believed, suddenly becoming vulnerable.
The hardest part of a book is the beginning
Where, when, and how does the story start? I usually jump straight into action, guessing as I go. Sometimes I even change the beginning later. My character starts doing something, and I type the first sentences. That’s when something strange happens. I’ve already planned the whole story, built it like a house—first the foundation, then walls, then a roof. But while I’m typing, the story suddenly takes on its own life. Images flood my mind, and if I close my eyes, I see a film playing. A film inside my head. The images just flow, one after another. I only need to write down what I see. I type faster and faster, afraid I won’t keep up. The next day, I read what I’ve written, often surprised. Did I really write that? Where did that come from?
I edit a bit here and there and slowly re-enter the story. Once I reach where I stopped the previous day, the film in my head continues. This is how I write a book or story. A few pages a day. After about five days, a short story is finished, but a book takes much longer. A thin book takes about four weeks, while a thick one can take three to six months.
I love writing about horses and first love
I spent my childhood hanging around riding schools, and every horse enthusiast knows how contagious horse fever can be. Horses are just so…horse-like. They smell wonderful, make lovely sounds, and they’re large, warm, and cuddly. Now we live on a farm with twelve ponies and horses. We organize riding weekends for mothers and daughters and run a therapeutic farm where kids come to relax by spending time with ponies. Plenty of inspiration for stories! But I also love writing about love. Even though I’m getting more wrinkles, I’m still seventeen at heart—chatting endlessly with friends, giggling over nothing, fantasizing about that one special person. How wonderful that writing lets you relive your youth. That might be the best part of writing books: you become the same age as your main character again.
Emotions are crucial in a book
Emotions can be intense or even sentimental. As a child, I adored emotional books. They gave me a great excuse to cry and helped release many small sorrows. I especially loved animal stories—dogs separated from their owners, traveling hundreds of kilometers under tough conditions to find their way back. My favorite was the ‘Black Stallion’ series. I also adored romance novels, those comics where she eventually won him over. My friend’s sister had hundreds of these books. We’d read five per afternoon, drinking coke and munching on chips. Simply wonderful!