Video transcript
NSW Premier's Reading Challenge 2025 - SWF author interview (secondary) - 03. Hayley Lawrence

[intro music]

SEHAJLEEN: Hi! My name is Sehajleen, and I'm a student from Glenwood High School in western Sydney. I'm here today on Cammeraygal land at The Concourse in Chatswood to take part of the Sydney Writers' Festival Secondary Schools Day. And I'm here to interview Miss Hayley Lawrence for the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge. And so, hi, Miss Lawrence, how are you today?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: I'm very well, thank you.

SEHAJLEEN: OK. So I hope you don't mind, but most of my questions are about your new book, 'Into the Wild'. And I'm fascinated with the story. And I wanted to find out a bit more about your writing process.

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: Sure.

SEHAJLEEN: OK. So firstly, I'd like to talk to you about the setting, the Blue Mountains, which I feel are both stunning and treacherous. And did you hike or explore these areas yourself while writing? And how much research went into making the landscape feel so immersive and real?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: I really did-- I love the Blue Mountains. So it's one of my places. You know when you have places that speak to you, the mountains speak to me. So the Blue Mountains are one of those majestic and dramatic backdrops that I love.

So I did go and hike in researching for the novel. That was a bit of fun, because I've been through the Blue Mountains many times. This time I got to do it with a bit more of a research focus. What does it smell like? What does it feel like? What are the textures? What's the climate like? So I got to really explore it so that I could then put that onto the page when I was writing the novel.

SEHAJLEEN: That's really cool, yeah. OK. The first line from the blurb immediately gave me chills. 'There are places in the world so remote that if you get lost, you may never be found.' What do you think this statement captures about the heart of 'Into the Wild'?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: I'm so glad you feel like that, because that was the very first line that came to me in formulating an idea for this story. And I thought, we have so many novels that are set overseas or in other places. We have in Australia the most remote, rugged, wild places to explore. And they're right on our doorstep.

The Blue Mountains is so close that I just really liked the idea of, oh, people do go missing in the Blue Mountains. It has happened. People slip. They fall. People regularly die out there. And yet we still keep going. We want to visit. It's just so beautiful. But it's this idea of the remoteness of it.

SEHAJLEEN: Yeah.

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: And what if somebody did go missing? How would you find them?

SEHAJLEEN: It already has the mystery in it. Yeah, like that. Yeah, exactly.

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: Yeah.

SEHAJLEEN: Each character, Olive, Ted, Knox, Betty and Silas, feel like they're bringing their own baggage into the wild. How did you go about developing such distinct voices for the group?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: I had an idea a very long time ago about sending a bunch of very different people into space, where they get trapped in a space capsule. And I basically translated that idea to, what if I have 5 very different characters who are going into the bush and off the beaten track?

And then you have to sit with those characters. And you have to basically sit there and say, talk to me. Almost like a medium, you channel them. And I'm trying to listen, because, first, you have to figure out who these people are and what their motivations are, because they have to be as real as you or I. We do things for reasons.

And what are their reasons? And what's behind their reasoning? What's their backstory? Sometimes we don't know that straight away as writers. And as we're writing, they reveal more and more of themselves to us. That sometimes comes out in the first draft process.

So as I was writing, each of the characters, they're starting to tell me a little bit more about themselves. That makes their voice easier to write, because if I know I've got a character who's very, very brief with words, for instance, he's never going to go on long, wordy rants. Or if I've got somebody who's really verbose, their voice is going to be really different. They're going to be non-stop chatting. And so it actually is a really fun part of the writing process to write chapters from different characters' perspectives, and go, oh, now I get to hear from this character again.

SEHAJLEEN: Yeah. OK. 'Nobody is blameless.' That's such a powerful line. Why was it important to you to blur the lines between right and wrong in this story, especially for our younger audience?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: I think, personally speaking for me, when I was younger, I think that I found it quite easy to categorise things into wrong or right, black and white. And the older we get, the more we start to realise that there are a lot of blurry lines. And I thought, how interesting if they all end up in conflict.

But every single character has played a part in this big event that happens in the novel. And if everybody's played a part, then no one can really say that their hands are clean, and they're all responsible for what happened. Some maybe more than others, but nobody can say, I had no part in that.

SEHAJLEEN: Oh, OK. Yeah. OK. The novel deals with moral dilemmas-- survival versus loyalty, group versus self. How did you balance writing action-packed scenes with those deeply introspective moments where characters confront their own choices?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: Using different voices definitely helped, so telling the story through different characters' perspectives helped a lot, because one of the characters, Olive, is a lot more introspective. And she's a lot quieter and more contemplative. So she was really great at telling the quieter moments in the stories and having a lot of that interior monologue happening and reflecting on what was happening.

Ted was more of a jokester. And his were more light-hearted. They were more fun to write. They weren't quite as deep. And then, occasionally, we heard from the other characters as well.

So it's just a matter of juggling the 2 voices and making sure your plot is still moving along as you go. And so having one character tell one part of the story, and the next character carries. It's like a relay. They're each carrying a different part of the story.

SEHAJLEEN: Technology is stripped away from the teens in the story. Do you think our constant connection to devices makes us less prepared for the real world, or even real connections?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: I feel that our-- and not just-- I don't mean this just about teenagers, but I mean this about adults as well. Our reliance and dependence on technology has actually taken us away from the natural world. I think we're seeing a lot more in terms of mental health struggles because we're not connecting with nature as much as we are really designed to do. We're designed to be getting out amongst it, feeling breezes on our faces.

And I feel when we're taken out of our natural environment, we do lose a lot of the basic skills which the characters in this story were exploring. So I think technology has some really good benefits to it, but limiting it and making sure it's balanced with lots of outdoor time and exploration and practical building skills is really important. And I didn't want the teens having technology. I wanted them just to get really back to bare basics.

SEHAJLEEN: Yeah. And your book really does do that in to the bush again. Yeah. I feel that disaster often reveals character. What surprised you most about where the characters ended up emotionally, and how did you process that as a writer?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: I think one of the things that surprised me the most, without giving away any spoilers, was when the characters had to confront-- they each had their own demons they had to confront. And the disaster that happened ended up playing a part in forcing them to confront each of their own demons.

And I think the way each character processed it differently, the way that Silas handled his, having to face his own demons, that did surprise me, because Silas wasn't a very readily likable character.

SEHAJLEEN: OK, yeah.

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: I found him the hardest one to like. And yet, a lot of what he spoke was the truth.

SEHAJLEEN: OK, yeah.

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: So where he ended up and how he resolved his own emotional dilemma, that surprised me, because I actually found when I was writing that moment, I felt something. I felt for him. I felt that was a really touching moment for him, even though he wasn't a particularly likable character.

SEHAJLEEN: Without spoiling anything, may I ask whether it was emotionally difficult to write about the catastrophic moment, and how did that go?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: Yeah, I found I had to really put myself into the position of those characters. And I had to imagine like, this has really happened. This catastrophic disaster has actually happened. And somebody is not going to be OK.

And I had to try and imagine in the aftermath, everybody's in shock. Often in shock, we go into robotic-- some of us go into robotic survival. It's called survival mode, where you just do what needs to be done until you are safe enough to then have a meltdown about it.

Others just go and become paralysed. And then, because we had injuries and things we were dealing with-- I was dealing with in the novel, I had to negotiate the injuries and what supplies are left, and which character is the one that's going to step up in this moment and really shine. And actually, that was probably the most enjoyable part about writing those catastrophic scenes, I was feeling really proud of the characters who got their moment to sit there, the quiet heroes that got to really step up and shine in those moments.

SEHAJLEEN: If you could give one of your characters a sentence of advice before they enter the challenge, what would it be, and do you think they would listen?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: Hmm. Ah, I think the character that I would give the advice to would have been to Silas. And I would have said to him, remember that this isn't everything. You don't-- this isn't-- you've got a long life ahead of you. You don't need to-- there are things more important than winning the competition. You don't need to break friendships over this. This is meant to be fun. Would he have listened? Absolutely not.

[laughter]

SEHAJLEEN: And finally, could you tell us about any new projects you're pursuing or that we can look forward to?

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: Yes. I'm currently just toying with the idea of another kind of adventure novel. But I haven't signed a contract for it yet. So I can't say too much about it.

SEHAJLEEN: Don't say-- Don't say anything, yeah.

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: But I'm toying with the idea of another adventure-stye novel. I'm really enjoying writing stories that have the landscape as a large character and source of conflict and drama.

SEHAJLEEN: Yeah. I'm also in my action reading phase as well again. I'll go through different phases. And right now, I'm reading action books again. Yeah.

HAYLEY LAWRENCE: Oh, that's good. Yeah, I go through phases.

SEHAJLEEN: Yeah. OK. Thank you so much for letting me interview you today, Miss Lawrence. It's been amazing talking with you. And I hope everyone watching out there enjoys reading your incredible novels as I did. And I hope they continue the Premier's Reading Challenge as well.