When the writing is going rubbish and I can’t afford lilies, I pretend I’ve won some mega literary award. With lots of nodding and polite, ‘Thank you, thank you.’ I sit on the sofa and conjure up an interviewer. You can have anyone you want, but it’s best not to pick someone you’ve got the hots for - you’ll go all silly and juvenile – believe me. I then ask myself ‘writerly’ questions. If you feel ridiculous, then look on it as a rehearsal for some future event. Your favourite tipple will help foster the appropriate atmosphere, but don’t get too carried away – drunks never interview well – remember Oliver Reed on Parkinson? Here are eight questions to get you started.
When do you write?
Where do you write?
Why do you write?
Pen or computer?
Silence or music?
How do you start a book?
And finish?
Do you have any writing rituals or superstitions?
Onward and upward.
Silja Swaby, half Jamaican, half Finnish, is a marine biologist and author. Funded by Arts Council England, she has won competitions, and been placed in prizes and awards. She is working on a series of futuristic thrillers, featuring a female biologist whose quiet academic life takes a drastic turn. Silja has taken creative writing courses at Cambridge University and more recently Yale University, USA.
Silja tutors writers, gives workshops, and provides a critique service. She is happily unmarried and lives in deepest Somerset, UK.
Silja Swaby is pronounced Sil-yah Sway-bee.
Silja tutors writers, gives workshops, and provides a critique service. She is happily unmarried and lives in deepest Somerset, UK.
Silja Swaby is pronounced Sil-yah Sway-bee.
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