I was browsing and re-discovered an interview I did last year with a Canadian website (ok, ok, I googled my name. I had a ton of other things to do but somehow I just found my newly French polished nails tripping over the keyboard.)
Anyway....here's an extract especially for anyone thinking of jumping into a creative writing course in the new year. (Get in touch if you want to come to one of mine - London and Brighton. I don't have much to do with the admin side but I gather there has been a flurry of enrollments so sooner rather than later is my advice....)
You also work as a creative writing tutor. There is a lot of
debate as to whether writing is a natural ability or a skill that you
can learn. What’s your opinion on this? Do you think anyone has the
potential to be a successful author?
No one thinks it
odd that an artist should want to go to Art School. Or questions why a
musician thinks lessons would be a good idea…There is a craft to writing
that can be taught and natural talent can be nurtured and supported. I
don’t believe in the tough love method of teaching. That doesn’t mean I
pat everyone on the head and murmur very good, but I do believe in the
importance of encouragement.
Not everyone can be a successful
writer but nearly everyone can get real pleasure from writing with
imagination. In much the same way I love drawing but I will never have
an exhibition in Bond Street. I would just like to be good enough to go
on a learn-how-to-paint holiday without embarrassment…
I want
creative writing to be recognized for what it is: the ultimate
vocational skill. There is no job, no area of life, where using language
with greater precision, thought and effectiveness is not an asset. And
perhaps it really comes into its own when faced with the most daunting
blank page of all (the one that comes after the list of past jobs and
before the address of a referee) where you have to sell yourself to a
could-be, might-be employer. English language classes give you the
tools: creative writing show you how to use them.
There
are so many different types of writing courses out there; from short,
online tasters up to Masters degrees. What should aspiring writers take
into consideration when deciding what level and type of study is right /
most beneficial for them?
First, I think you need to be
realistic about the kind of learner you are – can you work on your own
or is the social interaction of a class important to you? There’s a big
drop out rate from online and correspondence courses – you have to very
committed to keep going but they work very well for some students.
Studying
for a Masters was important to me. I left school at 16 with a couple of
exams. My first degree (in history) was hard won. I studied part time
while working full time and bringing up a family so I getting another
qualification meant something. It also opened the door to teaching – a
career change that I hadn’t even considered ten years ago.
However,
if your priority is writing then I would whole heartily recommend adult
education. It’s flexible, has high standards and well qualified tutors.
I teach on several adult education classes and I love the mix of
students, their energy and ability.
What are the most common mistakes you see in the work of students hoping to be published?
1)
Too many words. Everything should be on a need to know basis. Does a
reader really need to be aware that a character was popular at school or
has blue eyes? The writer might need to know all that (and more) but
does the reader?
2) Too few words. Often a story takes places in a
vague vacuum. Everything happens somewhere and a couple of sentences
may be all that is needed to ground a story in urban America or rural
England or where ever, but without a sense of place there can be an
unsatisfying detached quality. The aim should be to allow the reader to
feel what it is like to be there: wherever there is…
3) Too
cardboard. If the characters don’t live for the writer they aren’t going
to live for anyone else. I once asked a student to tell me something
that their main character wouldn’t what anyone else to know. The reply:
that he’s a jerk. That answer told me straight away that the story would
be flat, lifeless…. Because a jerk doesn’t think he is a jerk.
And finally, can you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring writers in one sentence?
Write
a lot and read a lot and don’t be defeated when you get it wrong:
writing is an art not a science, so accept you’ll never stand back and
say hmmm, no one could express that better.
