Writers’ Lab: An Interview with Gabby Tye
If you read Young Adult fiction, then you might have read or heard of the national best-selling RunHideSeek trilogy by Singaporean writer Gabby Tye. In October and November 2015, Seek made The Straits Times Bestseller List, making Gabby Tye, then 15 years old, the youngest Singaporean author to make the list.
Tye is also the youngest Singaporean author to have her book rights acquired by a major Chinese publisher, and have the movie rights optioned to Woosh Pictures, a feature film and television drama series production company in Singapore. Earlier this year, Run, the first book in the series, was also adapted into a 60-page, full-coloured anime-styled graphic novel.
The busy author is currently part of Writers’ Lab (November 2021 - January 2022), a pilot creative writing project organised by the National Library Board (NLB) and National Arts Council (NAC) to support manuscript and writing development using NLB’s resources and collections.
We sit down with Gabby to find out more about her writing journey and what it was like turning the first book in her series into a graphic novel.
Run: The Graphic Novel was just released this year. How does it feel to see your work as full-coloured images? What was the process of working towards the graphic novel version of Run like?
It’s such a surreal thing. I was really excited after receiving the news that it was happening. It was something I had talked about since the RunHideSeek trilogy was published so it was an amazing experience to see the characters come to life.
I was a little nervous because the production of a graphic novel wasn’t like anything that I’d ever done before. I was worried the artists wouldn’t be able to meet the expectations I had of the characters and the storyline.
While writing the series, I created a character bible and noted down the appearances, character traits and backstories of every single character. Thankfully, the artists and the team went above and beyond to make sure the characters were developed exactly how I had envisioned them. The team did an incredible job. The process was a lot smoother than expected, and I really love the end product!
If you could summarise RunHideSeek in 50 words or less, how will you describe it?
A dystopian world where all plants and animals are dead and the government has only protected the top two per cent of the population. You wake up with no memory, surrounded by a group of strangers. You have to figure out a way to survive, find out who you are and where you came from.
You wrote Run when you were 14. Could you share how the writing process of the trilogy was like? Has your writing style changed?
The most important thing I did was to have a plot summary. I would write out what would happen in each chapter, and then go back to fill up the book. I used to write the scenes that were more interesting first, like the fight scenes, before going back to write the connecting chapters in between. I would also write in the Notes app on my phone if I was out when inspiration hit.
When I was 14, I didn’t really have a standard writing style. What I did back then was to write what felt natural, or to write what I would have liked to read in a book.
However, I do feel that my writing style has changed over the years. Comparing the writing in Run, the first book, to the writing in After, the last book, I feel that readers will be able to see how my thought process has matured.
Who is your favourite character in the trilogy?
I might be biased, but my favourite character in the story would have to be Kayla. I based Kayla on myself. When I was younger, she was someone I wished I could be. It was enjoyable pretending to be her, going through the struggles that she faced in the story, and watching her grow into someone I could be proud of.
How do you manage to create worlds or characters that are immersive, realistic, and yet fantastical for your readers?
I like to base characters or worlds around things that I know or am familiar with because it’s a lot easier for me to write about it. That’s why I set the RunHideSeek series in Singapore. I love learning about new things, and when I find something that I don’t know about, I’m compelled to find out as much I can about it. Often, while researching about these random topics, I find inspiration for things to write about. I like incorporating the things I’ve learnt into the stories that I write.
What is the most rewarding and frustrating thing about writing?
It’s frustrating not being able to find the right words. Sometimes, no matter how many times I re-write a scene or a paragraph, nothing seems to fit, or something just seems off. When this happens, I like to take a step away from writing to give my mind some time to process my thoughts and give myself time to figure out how to put it all down.
It’s most rewarding when readers come up to tell me how they related to something I wrote, that they’ve always wanted to write a book, or how I inspired them to start writing their own stories too. To think that there are people out there that I’ve inspired to start writing is so crazy to me. It makes me happy that I’ve somehow managed to encourage them to take a step towards achieving their dreams.
What advice would you have for young people who would like to become writers?
Just start writing! Even if it’s just one sentence or one paragraph, or even just a phrase. Writing a whole story might seem daunting at first, but trust me when I say you can do it! It’s never too late to start writing, you could be 12 years old, like I was when I first started writing, or you could be 22 like how old I am now. You could even be older or younger than that, but just know that there’s someone out there waiting to read the stories you tell.
What do you hope to achieve as part of Writers’ Lab?
I believe that Writers’ Lab will give me insight and resources to the new story that I’m going to write. I’m really excited to begin my journey because I’m sure that it’ll teach me new things and open my eyes to different perspectives of storytelling.
For more information and to register for the two upcoming Writers’ Lab sessions held in January by Gabby Tye, click here and here.
Intrigued by the premise of the series? Check out the RunHideSeek trilogy:
From left to right:
Run — Gabby Tye | Physical Copy, eBook
Hide — Gabby Tye | eBook
Seek — Gabby Tye | Physical Copy, eBook
