This interview is with the phenomenal gr8oldgrumpy1 who a few of you may know from his full-length story Tripolitico which is on Project Fiction's Good Fiction list. He also is the writer of several very good short stories and his most recent full-length works include The Night Garden and Crimson Sun.
If you haven't yet read any of his work, I highly recommend that you do. You will be glad you stopped over to check it out.
So here are a few of his thoughts and some insights into the life of the writer.
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1. How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I've been writing since... since I can remember. Always science fiction or fantasy.
2. Tell us a bit about yourself. What do you like to do when you're not writing and what kind of things are you interested in?
At 37 I'm probably a lot older than most of the readers on Wattpad. I have a beautiful partner and two lovely children whom I adore. I live in Bristol, which is a historic city in the south west of England, and I'm a self-employed carpenter by trade, though I've also been an artist, a graphic designer, an interior decorator and a bank clerk (I become restless very easily). I'm also an amateur physicist and partway through a degree in Astrophysics which takes up a great deal of my spare time.
3. If you had to choose between science and writing, which would you choose and why?
This is an impossible (albeit interesting) question to answer since writing cannot exist without science and science cannot exist without writing. Then again, that may be the pedantic way out of answering the question! Ok. My choice would be science. The only thing that fascinates and entertains me more than science is the human condition.
4. What is Bristol, UK like and how does living there inspire you?
I grew up in Bristol and it is, in every sense of the word, my home. I like to think of myself as much a fixture here as Isenbard Kingdom Brunel's suspension bridge or the balloons that take flight annually from the greensward of Ashton Court!
5. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be either an artist, a writer or an astronomer. So far I've tried my hand at two of these and I'm working on the third.
6. What is your favorite song?
Of all time, Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits featuring the heart stopping vocals of Mark Knopfler. I defy anyone to listen to this track without being moved and inspired. My current favourite, however, is Use Somebody by Kings of Leon. It played on the radio when my partner was giving birth to my youngest, Cerin Marie, and it invokes powerful emotions.
7. Which of your stories is your favorite and why? Did it come out on paper the way you thought it would when you started writing?
Undoubtedly Transitor (serialised as Tripolitico on Wattpad). It was the easiest story to write and the most enjoyable. I set out to write a book I myself would happily pick up and read again and again and I think, in that, I succeeded.
8. Do you prefer writing short stories or novels? Why? What is the best thing about writing both kinds?
I'm not sure I have a preference. Both are very different. Short stories, for me, are explorations of ideas which could be expanded into a novel. Building deep characters, settings and plots requires elbow space and I find the short story milieu too restrictive, though the bones of a novel will invariably find life in the quickfire brainstorming arena of a short story.
To answer the latter part of this question, I think the best thing about writing short stories for me is the opportunity they give me to get an idea out of my head and down on paper in a short space of time. Writing novels is a long process and holding onto the same idea for a protracted period requires a commitment of both time and effort. Short stories don't demand this kind of commitment. To me, they are the difference between a sketch and an oil painting. The best thing about writing novels, of course, is the space to explore an idea or philosophy to its absolute limits. Transitor (Tripolitico), for example, is a study in duality, the contradictory nature of the universe, both a singular whole and a city of component parts at the same time, and the contradictory nature of the humble human being within which the ying and the yang are at perpetual odds. Virtually every aspect of Transitor explores this theme.
9. How do you go about getting inspiration for your characters? Do you plan them out before you start a story or let them develop as you write? Which of your characters has been the most surprising to you?
I never plan. Stories come to me in my head, complete and whole. I usually break the salient points of the story into bullet points to aid my memory, however, especially in the case of a novel. Character inspiration, I think, comes from experience and for me is an intuitive process. I like earthy, real-world characters, particularly where the setting is anything but earthy.
10. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer?
I'm an intolerable procrastinator and I have a terrible memory! I think a strength may be my understanding of language which allows me to express the ideas I have in my head and share them with others.
11. What is your writing style; are you planned and organized or do you just sit down and let it all come out as it would?
As I said above, I never plan. I try to play with language and maybe break a few literary rules along the way. The thing about rules is knowing when to break them and when to stick to them with rigid dedication!
12. What author has made the biggest impact on you in your life?
There are several. Arthur C Clarke, Alan Dean Foster, Isaac Asimov, Stephen Baxter, David Brin and Frank Herbert have all been inspirations.
13. What do you read when you are reading just for enjoyment?
At the moment I'm reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I've seen the films but never read the book. I also enjoy reading philosophy and political exposes.
14. Are there any stories that are published online that you consider to be among your favorites to read?
I'm afraid I don't have time to read stories online, though when I first joined Wattpad I tried my best. Unfortunately free time is not a luxury I enjoy on a regular basis. For this reason I read paper books, which are easier to dip into whenever I have a spare second.
15. Do you think that websites like Wattpad are making modern literature better or worse?
Hm. Interesting question. I think Wattpad gives young writers a great forum in which to share their ideas with their peers. When I was young there was no such forum. If you wrote you either wrote for yourself, your friends and your family or you tried to get yourself published in writing magazines like Third Alternative. Getting published was, of course, near impossible, so chances were your writing would only be seen by a limited audience, certainly not the potential hundreds of thousands of readers a good writer can reach through Wattpad.
16. What is one thing, in your opinion, that every writer can do to improve their writing?
Observe. Look around and take in as much as you can. Get out and experience life as much as you can. Visit other countries, other cultures and get chatting with as many different people as you can. Real life is the best inspiration available to a writer.
