Laura Malin Of Malin Entertainment: 5 Things You Need to Know to Become a Great Author

An interview with Jason Sheppard

… Number one: discipline. Many people think, oh, I can just write whenever I feel like, but no. Writing is an exercise. You need to keep doing it again and again and again. Plus, a lot of writing is not even writing but rewriting. It’s something you need to be disciplined about and to be constant about. You cannot write once every ten days and expect to have a book, because in my experience it is not going to happen.

As a part of our series about “5 Things You Need to Know to Become a Great Author” I had the pleasure of interviewing Laura Malin. Laura is a Brazilian novelist, biographer, and screenwriter with more than 80,000 books sold in her country, which puts her in the national best-seller rank. Her first novel was published when she turned 30, and in the past years, she has released a total of nine books — three novels, and six non-fictions (mostly biographies). Apart from being a book author in Portuguese, Malin is a screenwriter and development executive, having scripted and collaborated on many TV shows and movies. The screenwriting skills helped shape her stories to write in a very edited, commercial, page-turner way — she is always aiming for a book that will play like a TV series or a film in the reader’s mind.

Besides her work, Malin is a full-time single mother of two amazing girls who are 20 and 18. She is getting ready to publish her first book in English, and this means the world to her as she can broaden her horizons and reach more readers than ever.

Thank you so much for joining us Laura! Can you share a story about what brought you to this career path?

Iam a journalist from Brazil. I specialized in writing and screenwriting at UC Berkeley, in San Francisco. Then I moved to LA and became a screenwriter. Back then, I never thought I would be a book author because it seemed pretty unattainable — book authors are big people. I did not consider myself big. I was fine with being a screenwriter. Then one day, an editor called and asked me: Well, you have a vibrant, fresh voice, would you consider writing a book? Do you have anything written? I had something that I meant to transform into a script, but it was halfway between being a book. I sent it out to him and two weeks later he called me saying: you do have a book! It is 80% there. Would you consider publishing it? I was very surprised that he believed in me before I even believed in myself. And that’s how I published my first book called Julio&Juliano.

Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?

Oh, my goodness, so many stories. If you fly across the Atlantic from Brazil to Africa, there is an island that belongs to Brazil called Fernando de Noronha. I decided to take a break and spend New Year’s with a friend there — I had been feeling burned out so I could really use a paradise-like that. Being a single mother has always been very hard on me, and this was the first time I didn’t have the girls for New Years. As I arrived there, I was thinking that I would finally get a break. But the moment we landed, I decided I would research for a new book. So very quickly, I got into work mode, and instead of resting, I spent the days researching this very remote island where you can still dive with the sharks. And then I wrote not one but two books, a series of two books that took place on that island. yeah, I didn’t have my vacation.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming an author? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?

The biggest challenge was exactly believing in myself as a book author. Sure, I had screenwriting skills, but I did not believe in my writing skills. Even though I already had a hit TV show, I could not believe I was a book author. It took me a while after having published my first book to believe in myself.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming an author? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?

I think if you want to be a writer; you must have a paying job. At least until you can support yourself. Because it’s hard to make money. And don’t give up just because this is not your major source of income. It doesn’t mean that you’re not good at writing!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when first starting and the lesson you learned from that?

I wrote my first biography about an actress, Débora Duarte, who’s very well known in Brazil. So I went to her house, and we started talking, but she would never tell me anything private — and a biography, you know, you need stuff that is not in the press. So, I went once, twice, maybe eight times — but she would not spill the tea. After a while, I went back to the publishers and told them that I didn’t have a book. They insisted that I tried a bit more. I went back to Débora’s house and asked her if we could look at pictures together, press clippings and stuff, in hopes that her memory would ignite — but nothing happened. Finally, I called her agent and told him about it, and he said: Deborah is going to this interview program where actors interview other actors on stage. Maybe she will reveal more about her life once she is on a stage. I thought that was unlikely, but there I went with my notepad and recorded. To my complete surprise, she opened up about every single thing I was asking her before! Everything, all the tricky subjects that she was not telling me. She did it in front of a live audience of maybe 200 people. So there I learned there is no right way of writing a book. Sometimes you have to use methods that are unorthodox.

In your opinion. Do you consider yourself a natural-born writer, or do you develop that aptitude later on?

I consider that writing chose me when I was a child. I remember when I was nine, I wrote a book to give to my whole family as a Christmas gift. That was in the early 80s. My father, who is also a journalist, has access to copy machines. So, I handwrote, he typed in his old typewriter, then he made copies. We put together maybe 20 books to give to my family. I still have a copy.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I’m finishing one novel, it’s going to be in Portuguese, that I’m very excited about. I have been finishing it for a long time, it’s my longest book in progress. Usually, my process is quick, something around a year of research, plus six months of writing. But this one is different, I started before I moved to America, which was seven years ago, and I never got to finish.

Other than this, I have been producing and developing a lot of very exciting projects. I’m enthusiastic about a book that I got the rights to — it tells the story of Instagram. I love this story because one of the founders of Instagram is Brazilian. And my core mission as a storyteller is to bring Brazilian characters that are relevant or that successful to the whole world. It is a project that I think is going to be very fun to watch.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

Number one: discipline. Many people think, oh, I can just write whenever I feel like, but no. Writing is an exercise. You need to keep doing it again and again and again. Plus, a lot of writing is not even writing but rewriting. It’s something you need to be disciplined about and to be constant about. You cannot write once every ten days and expect to have a book, because in my experience it is not going to happen.

Number two: align expectations. When my first book came out, I fought hard to publicize it. Don’t expect success just because your book was published. When you finish writing the book, you start promoting it. It is an ongoing job.

Number three: Don’t rely on anything else but on good professionals and PR. People who can help you get to a better place and send books to everybody to promote it.

Number four: Everybody thinks they have a great story to tell and I’m pretty sure they all have a good one, but you really need to stand out. So, unless you have a very specific voice, think twice.

Number five: Do research before you write. What are the comparables — other books like yours. How is your book going to survive in the book jungle?

What is one habit you believe contributed the most to becoming a great writer? Is it perseverance, your discipline, as you say, or play craft or study?

I think all of those are important. But the number one thing for me is being an excellent reader and to read a lot. Reading a lot, including the classics, is very fundamental to writing. Because if you don’t have references, it’s going to be very hard. And, again, it’s a craft. Learn how to write, feed your brain, and have discipline.

What literature do you draw inspiration from and why?

Well, my favorite book author has been Isabel Allende. I love her. I love the way she writes about the female experience, but her sensibility is more than the female experience. All her characters are simple, yet all have big, huge souls. I think I identify with her because she’s also Latina. She is fantastic, I met her once and we talked for hours. I wish I could be her friend! But honestly, when it comes to reading, I have no boundaries. I love Émile Zola, a French author and naturalist, who was my biggest inspiration.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

This is going to sound funny, but I’m a big hugger and I don’t think people hug enough. I think by hugging each other more we can bring more love into the world.

Thank you for these excellent insights!

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