Interview with the author of Scar Town

Who is Tristan Bancks?

Tristan Bancks tells stories for the page and screen. His latest book is a suspense-thriller, Scar Town, for age 10+. His other books for kids and teens include Two Wolves, The Fall, Detention, Cop & Robber, Ginger Meggs and the Tom Weekly series. His books have won and been shortlisted for many awards, including a Children’s Book Council of Australia Honour Book, the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, and the YABBA children’s choice book awards.

Tristan is an author-advocate for literacy non-profit Room to Read. He is currently working with producers to develop a number of his books for the screen. He’s excited by the future of storytelling and inspiring others to create. You can find out more about Tristan’s books, play games, watch videos, join his Young Writer’s StorySchool and help him try to change the world at tristanbancks.com

What is Scar Town?

Seven years after Old Scarborough was drowned, a house is emerging from the water. 

Will and his friends Dar and Juno dare each other to explore it. 

But when they find bones – and a stash of cash – they realise they’re not the only ones interested in its secrets. 

Now they’re fighting for their lives against the men who want what they found. Will can’t leave the mystery alone, though. What if the  bones belong to his missing dad?

Interview

What was your inspiration for Scar Town?

As a child I went on holidays with my cousins to Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains. They drowned the old town beneath a lake for the Snowy Hydro Scheme and, when we would go out on the lake in a boat, the thought of all those houses and roads down there used to creep me out. In 2009 I wrote a short story set on the lakeshore of a drowned town and I loved the feeling of the story so, the following year, I decided to write a novel based on that. It only took me till 2023, so it was pretty straightforward. It’s my favourite of all my books, so I think it was worth the wait.

What drew you to writing?

It’s a compulsion. I’ve always written, since I was little. ’To-Do’ lists and short sketch scenes to perform at school and short stories and short films I’d try to shoot with friends. When I started acting after school I was always writing ideas for TV series’ and writing for film and TV magazines alongside. Later, I wrote short films that I directed and a feature script that was never made (nor should have been) until I found my way to writing children’s books. Writing has always been a core part of my life.

What was your process for writing Scar Town?

‘Process’ sounds so neat, as though I knew what I was doing. But it was more that I followed a feeling. I wrote the original short story inspired by an image of a tree which collided with my memories of Jindabyne holidays, my love of Stephen King’s novella ‘The Body’ and its film adaptation ‘Stand By Me’ and a song by The Verve called ‘Appalachian Springs’. To me, the finished novel, thirteen years later, still feels like those initial inspirations. Usually I write five or six drafts, send it to my publisher and then another couple of drafts with the editor. (I work with fantastic publisher and editor at Penguin, Zoe Walton and Claire DeMedici). On this book, I had a few false starts where I followed that gut feeling but it didn’t lead me to a plot that lasted longer than 15-20,000 words. The story needed a bigger engine and it often helps if I can imagine a climactic scene that I’m writing towards. On this one, I had a scene in mind but I could not work out how to get there. Anyway, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) 2021 drove me through a 40,000-word draft, which led to my usual five or six drafts and then two with my publisher. I hope I never spend thirteen years on a book again but I also think the story and characters benefited from all that composting.

Did your process change when writing different genres?

My funny books for younger kids – Tom Weekly, Nit Boy and Ginger Meggs – are shorter, so the process isn’t as agonising. I do just as many drafts but the shorter arc for each story means that I’m not juggling quite as many chainsaws at the same time.

What is your approach to world and character building?

Spending time with the story is the most important thing for me. Gathering photography and artwork and maps and videos and music that feel like the story, and viewing and listening to them regularly. Visiting locations and taking photos and video if I can. Speaking to people who have had similar experiences to the characters if those experiences are different to my own. Telling myself the story over and over again in the form of ‘My story is about…’ in the three pages I freewrite each morning. Drafting and redrafting the story is key, not just trying to churn it out to get it published. The more time you spend, the more you immerse yourself, the characters and world start to feel as true as your life.

How would you describe Scar Town in five words?

I can in six. 🙂 ‘Missing father. Drowned town.  Buried secret.’

Did you have a favourite moment in the book to write?

I feel a very strong gut connection to the opening words in the book. They are what drove me back to the story again and again over the years. (You can read or listen to the sample online here.) And also the moment when the kids find the money and a dark secret hidden in the wall of a house that’s been drowned for the past seven years.

What was your favourite book growing up?

Early on, I remember loving Where the Wild Things Are and Mr Men. Then Tintin and Fungus the Bogeyman. Like every kid, I loved The BFG and other Roald Dahl. In primary school it was Paul Jennings’ Unreal, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and The Hardy Boys. I had a huge collection of Mad magazines and, in high school, I loved horror – Stephen King and James Herbert. I can see little threads of influence from most of those old faves in the books I write now.

Do you have a favourite genre to read?

I read widely – bios and non-fiction books on filmmaking, classic novelists like Steinbeck and Hemingway, lots of middle-grade and YA fiction. I love suspenseful novels that feel authentic, and I also love humour. Beyond genre, I want the story to feel lived-in, like the author really needed to tell this story and loved it. Most of all, I want something that makes me feel.