Start with an idea: Catch Tilly

After the great response to Valerie Volk’s interview, we’ve decided to a series on how writers write. We’ve asked some of our past Stories of Life contributors about their writing process. We hope that this will encourage and inspire you to write your 2023 Story of Life.

Any event where you witnessed God at work could be a starting point. It starts with an idea, says Catch, who talks about her writing process based on her most recent publication The teacher is not a troll. 

SOL: How did you come to write The teacher is not a Troll?

Catch: When my husband was a child, he had swords on the wall. They belonged to his Mum, and he wasn’t supposed to touch them. But he did. Often. And went on to become one of the only two professional swordsmen in Australia.

I wrote The Teacher is Not a Troll for him. To be the book he told me he’d wanted when he was growing up. With knights and dragons and real sword-fighting techniques. I can’t supply dragons (unfortunately) but at the back of the book are historical techniques that kids can learn so they can ‘try this at home’.

And that is who the book is for. Kids from seven to nine who dream of being a knight and who would like to know how that is possible. My main character Dai is male, but his kid sister Bear is just as feisty and just as good with a sword, and I really hope the book will appeal to both genders.

SOL: Could you describe the way facts and imagination interplay in the writing of this book?

Catch: Here’s a picture of two kids from Adelaide Sword Academy (my husbands sword school) fighting with real swords. And the technique the one in yellow is using is the same technique that Dai uses to defeat his troll teacher. It’s called winding and it comes from fencing books from the 16^th Century.

It’s my experience that kids love things that are real. But they also love dragons and knights and imagination. So, I imagined a secret order of knights, I imagined monsters, but I kept all the sword work authentic. The training Bear and Dai do and the sword blows they use to defeat the monsters are exactly the same blows they would have been taught as pages and squires in medieval and renaissance Europe. And I think that’s one of the most exciting things about the book.

SOL: How would you describe your writing process for this book?

Catch: With most of my books I have the same process.

I start with an idea. Or an inspiration. In this case it was a group of pages my husband trained. They worked together brilliantly and could take down adults without losing a single child. In one event we had 8 parents vs 8 kids and at the end of the battle 8 parents were dead and 8 kids were still standing. Now that’s an idea to start a book.

Then a character: I wanted an Arthurian slant, so I imagined generations of knights echoing the knights of the round table. So, I needed an Arthur, but I didn’t want them to be the main character and that’s how I got to Dai (who’s a modern twelve year old version of Kai- Arthurs foster brother).

Then I start writing. At this point Bear (Dai’s annoying sister) popped onto the page along with the castle and the teacher who is a troll. I keep writing and let the story develop how it wants to.

Then about one third in I come to a grinding halt and that’s when I start planning. At that point I pull out all my structure ideas and start thinking about motivation and hero’s journeys and what does and doesn’t belong in the story.

Then I finish the first draft and get feedback. I’m lucky to be part of a writing group Literati which started at Tabor who read the story and let me know where it worked and where it didn’t.

Then it’s rewrite and look at publication. The Teacher is NOT a Troll  is self-published with Immortalise. I made that decision because I wanted to have the control to set the price point of the book (not to expensive) and to control the information on swords at the back of the book.

And if you think this book sounds interesting then copies can be purchased from these two sites:

the Teacher is not a Troll – immortalise (in Australia)

The Teacher is NOT a Troll a book by Catch Tilly and Ben Morton (bookshop.org) (in America)

SOL: For writers of creative non-fiction, our ideas are born out of observations. Creativity comes from the way we present the story surrounding that observation. Good writing allows readers to experience the wonder we felt when we witnessed or experienced God’s grace.

Feedback Month is coming up in June. There is no cost to you for this. It will be a great opportunity to get feedback from experienced editors, before final editing before the submission period closes on 31 July.

All photos supplied by Catch Tilly.