Jon Barton: 'The River Thames felt like the perfect setting for a thriller, and an opportunity to explore perspectives I’d not seen in crime fiction before.'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
10th Jan 2023
Screenwriter Jon Barton studied on our six-week online Edit & Pitch Your Novel and Write to the End of Your Novel courses in 2019. His debut novel Dive (the first of a trilogy) is out on 14 January with independent publisher Joffe Books. We spoke to him about the real-life divers who inspired the story, how screenwriting compares to novel writing and his journey to publication.
You’ve taken multiple courses with us including Edit & Pitch Your Novel and Write to the End of Your Novel. How did your time studying with us impact your writing journey?
The online courses proved the art of the possible. They offered a means to motivate myself in my own space and time. Editing a novel was destined to be a daunting task, and the courses fired me up to tackle the self-edit. When I signed up for my first course in 2019, I had a layman’s knowledge of the publishing industry. Genre categories, for example, tend to be more specific in publishing. It was a huge learning curve. But I’ve been able to apply those learning outcomes to my approach to writing this book and subsequent books in the series.
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met during the courses you took?
I was fortunate enough to forge close connections that’ll last a lifetime, and the writing community is generally friendly and supportive because we all share the same challenges. It’s been one of the highlights of my journey so far to meet authors online and in person – because the authors I’ve met are genuinely lovely people.
The first book in your three-part debut crime series Dive will be published by Joffe Books on 14 January 2023. The series will follow Metropolitan Police diver David Cade as he uncovers the secrets of The River Thames. Can you tell us a bit more about the novel and the inspiration behind it?
Coming up as a screenwriter, my side hustle was pulling pints at the Captain Kidd pub in Wapping, which is next door to Thames River Police. Divers would come in to offload after a shift and share war stories with trademark black humour. And it struck me that divers are neglected characters in crime fiction. They’re basically non-speaking characters, but they’re doing one of the diciest jobs in the met. I was excited by the potential of this murkier world of policing that puts the Thames at the heart of the action. The river is the UK’s biggest crime scene: it holds macabre secrets and has a habit of exposing them. It felt like the perfect setting for a thriller, and an opportunity to explore perspectives I’d not seen in crime fiction before.
Having had a long-term career as a scriptwriter, do you approach writing a novel differently?
Screenwriting is often about problem solving. You want to reveal character, but you can’t unless you do it through action or dialogue, which can feel clumsy and expositional. Screenwriting is forced economy. That’s also true of novel writing, but the tools used to hook the audience are totally different. You can’t use the same tricks and sleights of hand, and my editor has brought me up on that! What’s true is you can explore the characters mindset and psyche on the page, and it’s very liberating to do that.
Writing crime fiction, you need to make sure that all police procedural is accurate and realistic. How did you go about researching police procedures to ensure authenticity?
My first point of contact was with the divers I met at the Captain Kidd, because that’s lived experience I simply cannot replicate. But I also wanted this world to reflect one we’ve not encountered in crime fiction before. Divers often have a clear directive: they’re searching for evidence. They don’t have the pressure of constructing a criminal case, so authenticity was more about creating a version of this world that felt real. I also wanted to laser focus on the danger of the Thames. It’s a deadly environment. I spent time talking to commercial divers and the port authority about the challenges that poses.
Do you have any tips for our readers who are writing a series of books as opposed to writing a standalone novel?
I find it useful to keep in mind what kind of experience I want the reader(s) to have. Returning readers approach each book in a series with inherited knowledge of the setting and the characters. I personally love being rewarded for my attention with those recurring details, but I also want to attract new readers. So the first and last questions I ask are: what kind of experience do you want both sets of readers to have? What’s different about this story that creates unique conflict for the characters?
If you could be any fictional character from a crime novel, who would you pick and why?
Agent Clarice Starling (from Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris) remains the gold standard for me. She’s the perfect surrogate for the reader, in that she’s a rookie and an idealist, as we all are upon entering a new world. She’s led by emotion but defined by the strength of her actions. She’s not Columbo or Poirot: she shows up in difficult circumstances time and again. She’s who we hope to be.
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I’m editing the second book and writing the third, and pitching Dive to production companies. Just in case Idris Elba is reading this…
Dive will be published on 14 January 2023, pre-order your copy here.
Find out more about our Write to the End of Your Novel course and our Edit & Pitch Your Novel courses here.