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Having read practically all of Michael Connelly’s books and being very much inspired by his character, Detective Harry Bosch, when writing my novel No Man’s Land, it was great to return to my roots as a journalist, sit down with him at the Wharf during the 2015 Sydney Writers’ Festival and interview him.

He’s a real master of the craft and I felt very fortunate to be able to ask him all those questions that have been bubbling away in my unconscious for years. And I’m pleased to say he seemed like a very decent bloke.

This is an excerpt from an ABC Book Show interview between Jennifer Byrne and best-selling Welsh novelist, Ken Follett. I thought it was a great interview that captured the essence of what makes a successful novel and reflects many of the key principles we apply in our courses at the Writers’ Studio.

In her background briefing of Follett she said, “I think it’s fair to say you went somewhat slowly to the top. Ten books which went nowhere, then the eleventh – Eye Of The Needle, which sold over ten million copies.

Writing a novel or screenplay is an art and a craft that requires writers to go outside their comfort zone and understand the challenges of the creative process.

To fully harness your creative potential, it is essential to grasp the subtleties of the creative process and understand how at first, elements of the craft of writing and storytelling can often feel counter-intuitive or counter-instinctive.

Writing is an art and a craft. If you want to write a novel or screenplay that other people are going to want to read, you have to learn how to craft your story from beginning to end.

In this blog we are going to talk about the critical opening of your story.

John Truby is a Hollywood screenwriting teacher and story consultant who shares many of the beliefs we hold about the process of storytelling and structure.

One of the key lessons we took away from this interview with him is that a good story and good writing comes as a result of sound structure and a well thought out, step-by-step process. You cannot really judge your work until you’ve completed the process.