Once Upon a Wartime

Due to Easter and the Royal Wedding, the UK has virtually been on holiday for the last two weeks. All very nice but it means I haven’t done much writing (although reading and research has continued as I can do that with someone else in the house). In an attempt to mix holiday with study, I went to the Once Upon a Wartime: Classic War Stories for Children Exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. This features five stories: War Horse (Michael Morpurgo), Carrie’s War (Nina Bawden), The Machine Gunners (Robert Westall), The Silver Sword (Ian Serrailier) and Little Soldier (Bernard Ashley). It is an exhibition designed for both children and adults and includes information on life at the time of the novels to provide context and objects (e.g. a letter from some children to Kitchener begging that he let them keep their horse as well as Kitchener’s reply – no he didn’t take it). One of the most exciting things for me were the objects relating to the authors themselves, everything from Robert Westall’s typewriter to the actual sword that inspired Ian Serrailier and the painting of a horse that hangs in Michael Morpurgo’s kitchen. There were also original typewritten manuscripts complete with scribbled comments from the editors. The ideas for the stories as well as characters were also set out. Carrie’s War and The Machine Gunners were key stories for me as a child so this exhibition was a treat.

Private Peaceful

I am taking every opportunity to immerse myself in the world in which my novel is set. This week I went to see a stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful. The novel is written for children but the play is equally aimed at children and adults. Private Peaceful (acted superbly by Mark Quartley) spends the night before his execution for cowardice, looking back over his life. Once again, I come back to the importance of story. It sounds so obvious but if you are going to write a novel you must have a story; a strong and beautiful thread that leads the reader through the world that you have created so that by the end they have a sense of satisfaction about the place in which they end up. Every incident that Morpurgo uses from Private Peaceful’s childhood is used to illustrate an aspect of that character but they are also subtly linked to create the story; otherwise it would just be eighty minutes of reminiscences.
Morpurgo is a previous Children’s Laureate and the author of War Horse, the stage adaptation of which is the most incredible play that I have ever seen. If you ever get the opportunity to see it, please take it.