Jo Nesbø: 10 tips from the established Norwegian author for writers

Photograph from K Magazine.

Norwegian author Jo Nesbø, master of the Nordic crime novel, gave in this interview a series of tips for writers. The creator of the inspector Harry hole and also fun children's books count your places, ways and motivations when he writes and what he writes about. 10 tips that are sure to come in handy for beginning writers. And perhaps those of us who already have some practice share them with him. Let's see.

1. There are no normal working days

Where Nesbø counts one work dynamics that usually vary depending on where you are. «Today I got up at 4 in the morning. I went to a place outside the hotel, had coffee and worked until 8. Then I went to the hotel gym and then had breakfast with my agent. I will do interviews until 4 PM, then I will go to the airport and fly back to Oslo. I will work on the plane, probably for 5 hours. Writing is what I do when I have no other things to do. I have no rules, and I wake up depending on what I did the night before.

2. Write anywhere

«I write everywhere, but the best places are airports and trains. When you're sitting on a train or waiting for a plane, you only have a limited time to write. That makes you feel that time is precious and you have to take advantage of it. If you wake up in the morning and say you're going to write for 12 hours, you don't feel it. I like knowing that I am going to do everything I can in just 1 or 2 hours.

3. Have a perfect plan

«If you have a good story to start with, it will be fine no matter how you write it. I like to have the confidence that I know the story, that when I start writing, I have worked it over and over again. So I don't have the feeling, after the first page, that I am a storyteller, a storyteller. The story is already there, I'm not making it up as I go along. That's when you also feel safe telling your readers, “Come and come closer, because I have this great story. So just relax and trust me. This is how I feel when I read the works of great writers.

4. Get in strong with a story

"Americans are the best at presenting their stories. In the first few pages of a book they have a blatant way of exaggerating them. It is a tradition. John Irving it does, and Frank Miller, the graphic novelist has the same way of manipulating you to turn the pages. I love that. And it could be anything that makes your readers want to keep reading. You cannot think in terms of rules. Just use that feeling you have in your guts. If the idea of ​​a beginning fascinates you and also sounds like a challenge, you are on the right track».

5. Use your life

«It is good to draw on real life experiences. When I write a book like headhunters, I use the black genre but I also use themes from my own life. I have done many different things. I was an officer in the air forces. I make music. I worked as a stockbroker for many years. This is how I got the inspiration to headhunters. When I was a financial analyst, those talent hunters interviewed me. What helps me for my books is that I have a life, therefore, I can narrate about others'.

6. Write what you have, what you have

«It is not about trying to write a best-selling book, but about writing what you have. And if you're lucky, you can share your love of storytelling with a large audience. I had no idea that my stories would reach so many readers. I thought they were more for a few. So I was surprised when I realized that I had so many people at home.

7. Let the title flow on its own

«No rules when it comes to the title of a novel. Ideas come in different ways. With The Snowman, the novel began with the title. I thought it sounded great as a title. And then it occurred to me what that title implied in terms of the story. That was the beginning. In other cases, it's the last thing I do and sometimes it comes to me when I'm halfway through the book. Like I said, there are no rules. headhunters it was obvious due to the double meaning. It came to me pretty quick.

8. The best creative work doesn't feel like work.

«My job writing books is something I would do for free. Some of the best writers not only in Norway, but in the rest of the world, would have other jobs besides writing. But for many, working is the best part of the day when they do what they really want to do.

9. Dock ideas

«What if I steal other books? Sure. And if I am a thief, I can tell you that I am stealing but I cannot tell you from whom. Well alright, a Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Those were great books and characters. For me writing is a reaction to reading. It is the same reflex that you have when you are at a table with friends. Someone will tell one story, then someone else will tell another, then the next. So you have to tell something new too. I grew up in a home where I had wonderful experiences both as a listener and as a reader.. Now is my turn".

10. Write to yourself

«When I am writing, I am imagining a single reader, myself. For me, writing is not about visiting people, it is about inviting people to where you are. And that means you have to know where it is. When you come to a crossroads, if you think about where the reader would want you to go, then you are lost. You have to ask yourself what would make you want to get up tomorrow and finish that story. Sometimes the story will point the direction, but of course, it is you as the writer who decides. However, other times it is the book itself that can lead you, the one that lives by itself.

Source: The wandering foxy


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