How to Break a World Record and Survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald
(published by UQP)
Guest Author post about How to Break a World Record and Survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald for Joy in Books at PaperbarkWords blog
I have always loved the Guinness Book of Records: it was a source of utter fascination for me as a child. I remember turning the pages and gawping at the grotesquely long fingernails, the giant fruit and the amazing acts of strength.
The book itself continues to be wildly popular with children and adults alike. A few years ago, I snaffled the book out of my daughter’s hands and flicked through the pages again. I became particularly intrigued by the people who attempted the most obscure and strange records. What motivated someone to break the record for most post-it notes on a face? What about most t-shirts put on in 30 seconds? Is it just to be the best in the world at something?
I was also interested to learn that there are huge evidentiary obstacles to prove a record and no financial benefit. Your reward is a certificate. That’s it. And the vast majority of records do not appear in the printed book.
So I was fascinated to explore what might motivate someone to attempt a record.
I was also interested in exploring the question that many young people face: what am I good at? What’s ‘my thing’? As well as that human desire for extrinsic rewards like certificates and trophies. But what if someone is good at something that can’t be measured?
This all led to the character of Sam in How to Break a World Record and Survive Grade Five.
Sam is a kind and thoughtful eleven-year-old, but he thinks he’s not that great at anything. So when he’s set a class project about a moment he’s proud of, he can’t think of anything. Sam takes inspiration from his favourite book and decides to break a world record. But breaking a world record isn’t easy. And things get even harder when someone close to him needs his help and he must decide: will he be good? Or be the best?
After that first spark of an idea, I spent a bit of time delving into all the amazing world records out there. All in the name of research, of course. As you can imagine it was a lot of fun! I read and watched interviews with serial record-breakers, like Ashrita Furman, to try to understand what motivates them. I also was interested to discover that there are many children all over the world who are world record breakers.
And of course, it was essential that I tried out a number of records for myself to know what Sam was going through. It was not unusual to find me balancing on one leg, wearing multiple t-shirts and attempting to make a giant ice-cream (much to the amusement and glee of my children). Unfortunately, I didn’t make it close to 126 scoops and as of today’s date, I have not broken any records.
As the novel progressed, some of the bigger themes emerged. I started thinking about who we celebrate and why. A range of sportspeople, businessmen and celebrities came to mind. Personally, I have long admired the early-childhood educators that cared for my children; their kindness, patience and hard work. And yet they receive some of the lowest financial rewards and often very little respect. I spoke to a number of early childhood educators for the character of Mum. What they loved, what they found challenging and any funny stories. There were a lot of funny stories – I might need to write another book about that. The character of Waleed was inspired by my local butcher who chats at length to everyone in the community and spreads joy with his every-day kindness. In fact, the character of Sam is surrounded by ordinary people who do good every day but at least at the beginning, he doesn’t see how amazing they are.
One of my favourite quotes is by George Eliot in Middlemarch –
“the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts.”
I think this quote was in the back of my mind as I wrote.
In terms of the actual writing, it took a bit of time. I had a general idea of the climactic moment and Sam’s big dilemma, but I wasn’t quite sure how the characters would arrive there. I didn’t have a clear sense of the opening chapter like I did for my first novel. I re-wrote my first chapter hundreds of times and would probably still be writing it if my publisher had let me.
Through many drafts, I got to know Sam and the secondary characters better and the story started to fall into place. And of course, the wonderful editors that I worked with helped make the story deeper and richer.
I hope the end result is a humorous, fun and joyful story, that causes readers to think about what it means to be a good person.
Thanks Carla, this is an inspiring article. All the very best with How to Break a World Record and Survive Grade Five.
How to Break a World Record and Survive Grade Five at UQP
How to be Prime Minister and Survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald at PaperbarkWords
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