On Tuesday 19th November, as snow settled on the Hill, author Olivia Levez spoke to Third Form about all things writing, science fiction, and aliens. Giving pupils an insight into her process as a writer, Olivia delved into the craft of character development, and technique of method writing.
“When writing The Island, I foraged like my main character, and lived mainly on coconut water, porridge and Cuppa Soup. I found many weird and wonderful survival tips when researching this book.” the author explained.
After years of English teaching, Olivia decided it was about time she wrote a book of her own. She now works freelance as an author, tutor and mentor for students with under-resourced backgrounds. Her books for teens have been described as “contemporary, page-turning and a little bit heart-breaking.”
Pupil, Lois, reflected “I enjoyed when she talked about her book and the point of view that she did it from. She signed The Island for me and I finished reading it a few days ago. I am about to read The Circus and hopefully Silver soon too.”
Impressed with the questions and enthusiasm of Third Form, Olivia commented “I loved visiting Kingham Hill School on a very snowy day to talk to third years in the beautiful School Library. My top tips for any budding writers would be, first of all, write everyday - you can use writing prompts that you can find online. The one that I used today was 'I could rule the world but...' The second tip is make sure you've got a support network. So, if you've got any friends that love writing, read each other's stuff, give each other feedback, and make sure you encourage each other to write."
