A few questions to start the New Year
- and my answers to them
I saw an end-of-year re-post from Jeannine Ouellette on her Substack, Writing in the Dark, in which she posed - and then answered - ten writing-related questions. Having seen similar things elsewhere, it struck me that it might be worth indulging in something similar, especially as the turn-of-the-year is a natural time for reflection.
Mind you, I’m ‘reflecting’ all the time and don’t do ‘New Year Resolutions’, so the premise is a little shallow on my part…but you might find my answers to the questions I have borrowed from Jeannine diverting. [You should check-out Writing in the Dark, by the way.]
1 - What are you currently working on?
I’m putting together the proof copy of the paperback version of 17 Alma Road (to be published mid-February).
I’m working on the final edits of my poetry/photography collection Grimsby Docks, again to be published (in hardback only) in February/March.
I’m continuing to draft the odd poem and short story; these may - or may not! - make it into something more cohesive during 2024. [Still awaiting the thunderbolt of an idea for a new novel!]
I’m also pulling together a collection of short stories written by authors from around the world - Pebbles on the Strand. Again this should be published in February (by Coverstory books).
And next month I start the short-listing process for the sixth anthology in my New Contexts international anthology series (short prose & poetry). Submissions close at the end of today!
2 - What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Never stop.
Never believe that you’re as good as you think you are.
Always believe that your next piece will be better than your last one.
Accept that often what you write will initially not be very good.
Embrace editing!
Try and find your ‘voice’; understand the kind of writer you want to be - and the kind of writer you are. They may not be the same…
And remember - no writing is wasted; you are on a never-ending apprenticeship.
3 - What are the best things about being a writer?
Infinity and freedom. You can write about what you want however you want to. There is no limit to the characters and places you create, the events or emotions you depict. There are no rules to which you must adhere. Writing can set you free.
There is nothing like seeing something you’ve written - it might only be a couple of sentences or a few lines in a poem - and being able to say “I did that!”
4 - How do you deal with writer’s block?
I don’t believe in writer’s block, so I don’t countenance it. There is too much to write about, and you’ll never have enough time to do so. I understand how people feel they might suffer from it, but I think it can be overcome.
Writer’s block is not an inability to write; it’s something else entirely.
5 - What books are on your reading list for 2024?
I don’t have a reading list. I tend to buy books based on what I see in bookshops, though I always have a ‘to read’ pile on my bedside table. I’ve just added Daniel Mason’s The Piano Tuner to this. (You can see all the books I’ve read since 2017 here.)
6 - Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
From a very brief scene in John Betjeman’s 1976 black-and-white television documentary about his life, Summoned by Bells. If you watch the programme and then read 17 Alma Road you might be able to join the dots…
7 - How do you get inspired to write?
Tricky one - especially if you’re the kind of person who likes to believe in ‘the magic of the Muse’. And I’m not.
I suppose my inspirations are:
A trigger: seeing or hearing something or someone that I find I have to write about. That’s one of the reasons cafés are so great: full of material (i.e. people) you can steal.
A blank page - seeing one and being compelled to smother it with words.
An existing project where I have reached the stage where I am compelled to see it over the line. I have no choice…
Sheer bloodymindedness. Sometimes you have to force yourself to sit down and pick up a pen or open the laptop. There’s nothing glamorous or inspirational about that!
Ultimately, for me writing is an addiction. Addicts don’t need inspiration, they just have to keep feeding the Beast…
On a not unrelated theme, I was recently interviewed on the ‘Between Authors Podcast’ hosted by Adrian Lopez from California. This is now available on YouTube.
Right or (write) there with you on these. Several things going on for me as a writer. What will come of them, I'm not sure, but yet I write and write. Short stories are on my mind most now. I have a novella manuscript I'm shopping. Poems now and then. Some have been published. Maybe a book of poems someday.
Reading is always a splash pattern...several books at a time...based on my own excavation of books and lists and posts, rarely bestsellers, some by the masters, others by obscure and brilliant writers who have never made a bestseller list, of which there are many. Best for the New Year.