An Interview with
William Nicholson

Three of the best contemporary children's fantasy series, other than J. K. Rowling's Harry Potterbooks, are the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians stories, and the Wind on Fire trilogy by William Nicholson.

Mr. Nicholson is the Academy Award nominated screenwriter of Gladiator, Nell, and Shadowland. The entire Wind on Fire trilogy The Wind Singer, Slaves of the Mastery, and Firesong, is now available in paperback. He is currently writing a new young adult fantasy series, The Nobel Warriors. The first volume, Seeker, and the upcoming Jango, are published in the US by Harcourt Children's Books.

I want to thank Mr. Nicholson for taking time to answer our questions about writing.

iPULP: Now, if you do any research, you will find that William Nicholson is a much-honored name in British history. Namesakes include scientists, inventors, at least two note-worthy cricket players, artists and writers (a poet and, of course, a screenwriter/novelist). Let me begin by asking, are you related to any of the other accomplished William Nicholsons?

NICHOLSON: Sadly, no. I'm having to start from scratch on my own.

 

iPULP: I have read that before becoming a successful screenwriter, you were a frustrated novelist. At what age did you start writing, and what type of writing was it?

NICHOLSON: I started writing stories as soon as I could write anything. I wrote my first novel when I was 16. It was an adventure story inspired by Ian Fleming's James Bond books, and hugely exciting. Later novels tended to feature failed love affairs, and were less exciting. All remain unpublished.

 

iPULP: How did you come to screen writing?

NICHOLSON: I was working at BBC Television as a documentary maker, and my friends knew I rose early each morning to write unpublished novels. This led to a proposal that I help out one friend who was planning a TV history drama - about Martin Luther, in fact. I did so, and found the work came easily. My next project became Shadowlands.

 

iPULP: Did researching and writing the Academy Award nominated Shadowlands, about the life of C. S. Lewis, have any influence on your decision to write a novel again, specifically, young adult fantasy with literate undertones?

NICHOLSON: Yes, I'm sure it did, although there's a long gap. My immersion in the work of CSLewis covered his religious essays as well as his children's books, and I'm sure the role model was formed there.

 

iPULP: Like Lewis' the Chronicles of Narnia and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the Wind on Fire books are about more than just the adventure-story trappings. The Wind Singer took on the notion of standardized testing in education. Slaves of the Mastery examined the many, often subtle, faces of slavery. Firesong had the concepts of hope, trust, and belief at its core. Within your writing process, which comes first, the story you want to tell, or the themes you want to explore?

NICHOLSON: The story comes first, middle, and last. I have learned, late in the day, to avoid writing to the themes. The great discovery is that whatever I write turns out to deal with my deepest concerns and values, so I don't have to worry about that. The important part is making the story powerful, and that, I believe, is all about the harnessing of authentic emotions.

 

 

iPULP: How much of the full trilogy story arc was plotted or outlined as you wrote the first book, The Wind Singer?

NICHOLSON: None. I realized after the first book was finished that I had raised a series of questions that needed further answers - specifically in the creation of the evil force called the Morah. In reaching for a fuller understanding of this, I began to sketch out the far larger story that then followed. Before starting work on the second book, I had planned the ending of the third; though not most of the events on the way.

 

iPULP: I sense from both your screen credits like Gladiator and Shadowlands, and the Wind on Fire trilogy, that you enjoy researching and blending reality with fiction. I also feel the rich tradition of classic and epic literature in your work, The Wind Singer has overtones of Gulliver's Travels, and the last two books are almost biblical in their sense of searching for social identity and a homeland safe from persecution and hardship. Firesong contains a sequence of temptation on an "island" that is worthy of Jason and the Argonauts or Ulysses. What do you feel is the importance of reading, to becoming a good writer?

NICHOLSON: I don't know how to answer that, because I've always read so much. You're right to point to all these influences. I use reading, as we all do, as a means of reflecting on my own life as I live it - of learning from others - and, as I wrote in Shadowlands, a line created by me for my character of Jack Lewis, ‘We read to know we're not alone.' I don't see why a non-reader shouldn't write. On the other hand, I don't know that a non-reader would think to write. You have to enjoy eating to want to cook.

 

iPULP: Being very successful in two writing mediums, you are in a unique position to tell aspiring writers of the particular joys and limitations of writing screenplays vs. a novel. What do you like and what drives you crazy about each medium?

NICHOLSON: The good thing about writing screenplays is that you're not isolated. Your work is subject to the views of others, which is an excellent learning process, as well as providing a social life. Perhaps more importantly, you get paid. The bad news is you don't control the process, and must develop a mature and detached attitude to your own work, letting it go when required. Also, it's hard to speak with your own voice. More a craft than an art. Novels are the opposite. Your own voice, your own art. But you're on your own. No criticism, no social life, no money. Personally I find doing both a healthy counterpoint, the one for the other.

 

iPULP: Finally, given your writing credentials, the obvious question is: Is there a film or mini-series version of the Wind on Fire trilogy in the offing?

NICHOLSON: For the moment I am refusing all offers for the film rights, and I have had many. I don't regard books as film-in-waiting, and have yet to see a good book made better by being filmed. I am fortunate in that I'm already well paid for my film work, and can afford to pass up the offers. However, as soon as I run out of money, I shall go crawling to whoever waves a checkbook at me.

 

iPULP: Thanks again for graciously answering our questions. We eagerly await your next offering, be it a novel or film.

 

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