Cailean Steed, author of 'Home' - Thriller writer talks about grand teenage ideas, why writing is discovery not creation, and swapping around an entire story

Writer's Routine

Dan Simpson

Arts, Books, Hobbies, Leisure

4.9 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Cailean Steed began writing short stories and audio dramas. She won the 2020 Pen to Print Audio Play Award, and decided to go back to school to learn how to tackle a full novel.

They ended up taking an idea that had been brewing for years, moving it from a grand teenage story of assassins and conspiracy, and turning it into a thrilling tale of sisterly love. Their novel, 'Home', tells the story of Zoe, trying to rescue her sister from a cult they grew up in, and she managed to escape from.

We talk about why Cailean had to swap their entire story around and how that affected each chapter. Also, how they get by dedicating just one day a week to writing. You can hear why Cailean is extremely interested in the way other people see the world, and how much they plotted two timelines, with the same characters, both written in the first person.

You can support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine.

@writerspod

writersroutine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to writers' routine. This week we're chatting to Kaylin Steed. Their new novel is home. It's out next week. We talk about swapping their entire story all around. Also, how they get by dedicating just one day a week
0:23.6	to writing, really. And a piece of advice that they got from Stephen King that really helped
0:29.7	them get on. Writing is not making something up, but it's like discovering something,
0:34.9	almost like excavating a fossil, you know? Like you're brushing away dirt and something is there, but it's like discovering something, almost like excavating a fossil, you know?
0:38.6	Like you're brushing away dirt and something is there, but it's there fully and intact.
0:43.3	And writing feels a lot like that for me.
0:45.0	I kind of, I feel like I'm kind of like feeling along the shape of something that exists in its
0:51.6	entirety already in a way.
0:54.0	So it doesn't feel like I'm making it up.
0:55.8	It just feels like I'm kind of discovering it as I go.
0:58.6	There is more with Kalyn Steed in this week's writer's routine.
1:09.6	Yes, welcome along. It's writers routine. This is the show where we take a look through an author's working day. It's really simple. We have a look at where they write, when they write, if they've given much thought to where and when they write, what they do that gives an idea the best chance of getting down
1:28.2	onto the page and then hopefully published. This week, it's Kalyn Steed. They've written short
1:34.6	stories and audio dramas. They were the winner of the 2020 Pen to Print Audio Play Award.
1:41.1	And then they decided that they wanted to write a novel we chat about though why they
1:46.8	went back to school to learn more about novel writing as opposed to just starting out and cracking
1:52.8	on the novel is called home it's all about Zoe trying to rescue her sister from a cult that she escaped many years ago.
2:04.9	We talk about why Kalyn first had the idea as a teenager.
2:11.1	And, I mean, at the time when you are a teenager, most of the ideas you have a huge and high concept.
2:19.8	We talk about why young stories start like that, but then they become more real and a bit closer to home as you get older. Also,
2:25.3	we talk about plotting a two-timeline story, why they had to swap the entire thing around,
2:30.4	and you can hear why they're interested in the way different people see the world.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dan Simpson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dan Simpson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.