A Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ user
asked
Jo Baker:
Hello Jo! I've read Longbourn and I really like the way you portray the other side of the Bennets' household. It must have taken lots of background reading and imagination to make such a story real. I wonder how long did you take to write each of your novels? And how did you support yourself financially especially when you were just starting out?
Jo Baker
Novels usually take a decade of daydreaming and two or three years to write. They hang around as half-formed ideas for a long while, and then something sparks them off and things begin to fizz. In the past I have had jobs - some part time, some full time - bookselling, arts admin, teaching - it's only in the past four or five years that I have been able to write full time. I do think that it's not a bad thing to have a job, colleagues - and a salary! - writing can be terribly isolating, and going to a job really does help with that.
More Answered Questions
Milly
asked
Jo Baker:
Hi Jo. Firstly just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your book Longbourn. There are many places that spiral in the story around Arholme which is about 10 minutes from where I live in Kirkby Lonsdale. How do you find a way of incorporating direct places into a novel and are places considered before the novel or not? Milly
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