Author Visit: Chris Bradford

On Wednesday, September 29th 2015, the students of Sha Tin College had the privilege of being visited by Chris Bradford, an award-winning author. Bradford is widely known for his ‘Young Samurai’ and the ‘Bodyguard’ series. He prepared a highly engaging talk for the lower and middle school students.

Bradford was quite well-rounded. He became a martial artist at the age of 8, and was initially a musician and a part time music teacher at a rock school. However, after receiving a chance to write a book about song writing, his passion for writing grew, which led to the publication of his first novel, The Young Samurai.

Chris Bradford interacts with the audience. Photo: Joshua Lee

Bradford employs a technique he calls ‘method writing’ in his books, where he immerses himself in his character’s perspectives. He also physically carries out some of the action scenes in order to create a realistic effect in his writing. In his talk for the middle school students, Bradford invited them to embark on a journey to become professional bodyguards. The ‘training’ included a brief introduction to his ‘Bodyguard’ book series, then followed by a presentation which instructed the students on what to do if they were in the position of a bodyguard. Bradford also interacted frequently with the audience, calling up eager students to demonstrate some techniques that a bodyguard has to acquire. Other activities were reading book extracts, a Q&A session, and a book signing event.

In the interview session, Bradford discussed his book writing process.

When asked about how his background as a martial artist and musician affected his writing, he told the audience about how there is always a reason for every fight scene, and how budding martial artists would “know the moves” upon reading them.

Bradford further explained the difficulties of writing and a few of the surprising things he has learnt through his writing. “One of the most surprising things I learnt during my writing career was how hard is it to write, and it doesn’t get any easier,” said Bradford. “[Stories are] a bit like songs.”

Chris Bradford also offered some advice to budding writers in the crowd. “Just be aware, it is very difficult. The first draft is never any good, accept it, it’s gonna take a lot of re-writes, don’t be worried that the first one isn’t perfect,” he said. “The more you read, the easier it is to write.”

Thank you Chris Bradford for the meaningful advice and the unique experience for students!

Rachel Sung (10X1) and Melody Leung (10X1)