From the Orange Prize Readers' Day, Saturday 9 May 2009.
Session 2: Clare Allen and Catherine O'Flynn: 'When you get published everyone buys you notebooks for Christmas!'
Kate Mosse: Where did you find the inspiartion for your books?
Catherine: For 'What Was Lost' the inspiration was very much the place - the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, as I worked there. That place drove me to write, it fascinated me, got under my skin...this coupled with a story I heard about a girl being seen on the CCTV but never seen again and never found.
Clare: With 'Poppy Shakespeare' I knew what I wanted to write about and then the writer announced herself, I remember the morning she arrived. She dictated the whole thing, I was driven by that character; I felt she existed.
Kate: You both took a big risk for your debut novels in that both of you had narrators readers couldn't trust - a child and a patient on a psychiatric ward..
Catherine: The character of Kate, that 10 year old's voice wasn't hard for me to find, but I didn't want it to become quiet or twee. I wanted to create a three dimensional character, not a victim or an innocent which is how children are often portrayed, I wanted her to be a vivid character.
Kate to Clare: With Poppy Shakespeare, there is a sense of grief but it is also hilariously funny, can you talk about the use of humour in the book?
Clare: I love situations where you aren't sure whether to laugh or cry! For me humour is for dealing with tradegy and loss; on a psychiatric ward it is how people cope and show their humanity in a very controlled environment - in that situation humour is all you have got.
Kate: Has winning literary prizes changed the way you view yourselves as writers?
Catherine: When something good happens I always think something awful must be lurking around the corner! It can be intimidating bit also incredibly encouraging, it made me think 'I should stick to this'!
Clare: Winning the Orange Short Story Prize was wonderful in that in helped me find an agent. But with the attention and the chaos that comes with winning a prize, it can be hard to focus back on that second novel.
Catherine: You have to wait for the dust to settle. I was lucky as I wasn't committed to writing a second novel so I could decide when to do that. I waited until something interesting came along, something that bothered me, something that I wanted to explore and get to the bottom of.
Clare: To try and regain my focus, I searched the internet for strategies. The best one I found was the one that said 'only write for 30 minutes a day' - following that guarantees that I write for at least 2 hours!
Kate: Re: the reactions to your work from overseas, was that surprising as your books are so firmly rooted in their locations?
Catherine: It is very surprising to realise that people beyond those you know, or in my case ten people who worked in HMV, have read your book...but I think that there are places like Green Oaks Shopping Centre all over the world.
Clare: It made me aware of how much readers brings to your book....I offered them a way into the world of a psychiatric ward but it was up to them what they did with it.
Kate: Have you found that you have been called upon as a spokesperson on mental health issues, rather than a novelist?
Clare: I can understand the need for that and yes that has happened a lot, but my need is to be a writer. I find it hard to comment on mental health because I am not an expert.
Question from the audience: When did you feel that you had 'got' your story?
Clare: When the main character arrived. I felt that this was someone I wanted to spend time with. I remember singing in the car for the whole journey, the day that happened!
Catherine: I'd been thinking about how to write my story for 2-3 years and I was happy when I felt I'd finally worked it out but this was quickly followed by a deluge of negative thoughts:
'Oh no I have to write this now'......'What if I never finish it?'.......'What if it becomes another failed project?'
Question from the audience: How do you write, what physical processes do you use?
Catherine: I write mainly on a computer, but I also write in notebooks. Once you've been published everybody buys you a notebook, I got millions for Christmas and I keep starting off in a new one and then I find I have lots of notes all over the place in lots of different notebooks - I am not very systematic!
Clare: If I reach a critical part of the story I'll write by hand - this stops me getting distracted by the internet, but when I am writing in a new voice I will use the computer so I can separate the character from my handwriting.
Kate: Writers use many different ways of writing and there is no trick - the 'right' laptop won't help!
by Karen
Session 2: Clare Allen and Catherine O'Flynn: 'When you get published everyone buys you notebooks for Christmas!'
Kate Mosse: Where did you find the inspiartion for your books?
Catherine: For 'What Was Lost' the inspiration was very much the place - the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, as I worked there. That place drove me to write, it fascinated me, got under my skin...this coupled with a story I heard about a girl being seen on the CCTV but never seen again and never found.
Clare: With 'Poppy Shakespeare' I knew what I wanted to write about and then the writer announced herself, I remember the morning she arrived. She dictated the whole thing, I was driven by that character; I felt she existed.
Kate: You both took a big risk for your debut novels in that both of you had narrators readers couldn't trust - a child and a patient on a psychiatric ward..
Catherine: The character of Kate, that 10 year old's voice wasn't hard for me to find, but I didn't want it to become quiet or twee. I wanted to create a three dimensional character, not a victim or an innocent which is how children are often portrayed, I wanted her to be a vivid character.
Kate to Clare: With Poppy Shakespeare, there is a sense of grief but it is also hilariously funny, can you talk about the use of humour in the book?
Clare: I love situations where you aren't sure whether to laugh or cry! For me humour is for dealing with tradegy and loss; on a psychiatric ward it is how people cope and show their humanity in a very controlled environment - in that situation humour is all you have got.
Kate: Has winning literary prizes changed the way you view yourselves as writers?
Catherine: When something good happens I always think something awful must be lurking around the corner! It can be intimidating bit also incredibly encouraging, it made me think 'I should stick to this'!
Clare: Winning the Orange Short Story Prize was wonderful in that in helped me find an agent. But with the attention and the chaos that comes with winning a prize, it can be hard to focus back on that second novel.
Catherine: You have to wait for the dust to settle. I was lucky as I wasn't committed to writing a second novel so I could decide when to do that. I waited until something interesting came along, something that bothered me, something that I wanted to explore and get to the bottom of.
Clare: To try and regain my focus, I searched the internet for strategies. The best one I found was the one that said 'only write for 30 minutes a day' - following that guarantees that I write for at least 2 hours!
Kate: Re: the reactions to your work from overseas, was that surprising as your books are so firmly rooted in their locations?
Catherine: It is very surprising to realise that people beyond those you know, or in my case ten people who worked in HMV, have read your book...but I think that there are places like Green Oaks Shopping Centre all over the world.
Clare: It made me aware of how much readers brings to your book....I offered them a way into the world of a psychiatric ward but it was up to them what they did with it.
Kate: Have you found that you have been called upon as a spokesperson on mental health issues, rather than a novelist?
Clare: I can understand the need for that and yes that has happened a lot, but my need is to be a writer. I find it hard to comment on mental health because I am not an expert.
Question from the audience: When did you feel that you had 'got' your story?
Clare: When the main character arrived. I felt that this was someone I wanted to spend time with. I remember singing in the car for the whole journey, the day that happened!
Catherine: I'd been thinking about how to write my story for 2-3 years and I was happy when I felt I'd finally worked it out but this was quickly followed by a deluge of negative thoughts:
'Oh no I have to write this now'......'What if I never finish it?'.......'What if it becomes another failed project?'
Question from the audience: How do you write, what physical processes do you use?
Catherine: I write mainly on a computer, but I also write in notebooks. Once you've been published everybody buys you a notebook, I got millions for Christmas and I keep starting off in a new one and then I find I have lots of notes all over the place in lots of different notebooks - I am not very systematic!
Clare: If I reach a critical part of the story I'll write by hand - this stops me getting distracted by the internet, but when I am writing in a new voice I will use the computer so I can separate the character from my handwriting.
Kate: Writers use many different ways of writing and there is no trick - the 'right' laptop won't help!
by Karen
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