After university, Mark applied to be a runner with Talkback Television. Later, in 2012 he went back to university to study an MA at the University of East Anglia, one of the best programmes in Britain.

He shares with me some of his key takeaways from his time at UEA, the principle one being that the degree took away any excuses for him to hide behind. He wasn't busy doing other things. He was there solely to write, and so he had to write.

The other benefit was meeting other writers. It was wonderful to be part of a community or everyone was learning new skills and having a shared experience.

He also learned a lot about himself as a writer, the habits and tricks he used in his fiction, that he had learnt whilst writing TV scripts.

Later in our conversation Mark delves a little deeper and tells me what he feels are the key differences between writing for TV and writing a novel.

Mark tells me about his fantasy comedy series, Heroes of Histovia. He shares came easily and what came with a lot more difficulty. And he also explains the key themes behind each of the trilogy.

One of the things Mark Boutros learned whilst completing his MA was that until then structure had dictated his characters, not the other way around. What he discovered through studying was that his characters were the ones who should dictate the stoked structure of the story. 

This is one of the things that prompted him to write his book, The Craft Of Character.

He says that there isn't a story until the character wants something. Then it's up to you as the writer to find out why they want it and what about it feeds the characters' needs.

Mark talks through why it’s important to flesh out the bones of your character. Their worldview and their background inform how the respond to the character around them and the action that takes place.

It's very easy to make the decision that your character will do something, simply because it sounds good. But is it an integral part of their personality?

Mark also talks about how you get your character moving and playing an active role in the story, not just sitting back and letting the story happen to them. It's very important not to protect your principal character, says Boutros. 

By doing that, you give them the opportunity to get into real trouble and therefore real redemption.

He emphasises that the more time you spend on understanding your character, the more unique your work will be.

I asked Mark to share one of the most common mistakes he sees new writers make and he explains that it's that new writers write very passive characters, or spend spend enough time looking for the unique spin on that character. 

For example, he says, you can base a character on Joey from Friends, but what is it that makes them unique from Joey, or anybody else.

Mark Boutros rounds off the conversation by telling me what he's working on now, and where you can find out more about him online.

Connect with Mark:

Mark Boutrosmark-boutros

Heroes of Hastovia Book 1:

https://BookHip.com/BKZXADT

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