Interview with:EH Walter [elyzab]
WRITING
 | What did you first read? How did you begin to write? Who were the first to read what you wrote? I read everything as a child and I still believe in trying to read across genres. The first things I remember writing were animal stories, I wrote this story about a family of mice and proudly showed it to my parents who informed me the mice would have lots more children than I'd written so I kind of lost heart with it. It was going to be my Animals of Farthing Wood I think. I don't show my family anything I write these days, and I no longer show friends. I try and trust myself. |
| What is your favorite genre? Can you provide a link to a site where we can read some of your work or learn something about it? I love historical fiction. C S Sansom is a big favourite of mine as he combines two of my passions - history and London. I got very excited when he set most of his last book in Portsmouth as that's where I'm from.
I suppose I think of myself as a historical writer really, there is a huge part of my memory filled with historical trivia.
http://walterwriter.blogspot.co.uk/
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/101386
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ehwalter
http://www.amazon.co.uk/EH-Walter/e/B006RKH1JU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 |
| What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write? I no longer tell people what I am going to write, I find if I have 'talk out the plot' I am no longer excited by it and cannot motivate myself to tell it again.
What I do now is write a brief over view of the whole novel and carry a notebook with me to capture moments of inspiration. When I sit down to write I give myself a word count to achieve. |
| What type of reading inspires you to write? Reading tends to depress me as a writer, either it is too good and I will never meet those standards or it is so heinous I can't understand how it got published in the first place. I love reading and enjoy it for its own sake. |
| What do you think are the basic ingredients of a story? Laughter, tears and characters you would want in your life. |
| What voice do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? I have always gravitated towards first person, I like the intimacy and the directness of it. I think it comes from my background as an actor, I become the character and tell the story. I have tried third person, but it's not so natural to me or as much fun! |
| What well known writers do you admire most? I admire C S Sansom, Christopher Brookmyre and Jasper Fforde. I love how they have really strong, unique voices and create their own distinct worlds. It's a shame there are no women in my top three and I do hope that will change some day.
I have met Jasper Fforde as I help plan the Fforde Ffiesta in Swindon every year and he's a very nice guy. His ffans are a great bunch who wholehearted throw themselves into his world. I think that's what SF and Fantasty fans are so great at. |
| What is required for a character to be believable? How do you create yours? I try and visualise that character, I 'become' them and rehearse dialogue in my head. I try and give each character something distinct - a twitch or manner of talking that is wholly their's. |
| Are you equally good at telling stories orally? I don't really tell stories orally, because then I don't want to write them down. I am pretty good at reading stories though, years as an actor help you gauge your 'audience'. |
| Deep down inside, who do you write for? Me! I write what I want to read! I sometimes finish a book and if I hate the ending I rewrite it for myself in my head and make a mental note not to do that myself (Hunger Games 3 anyone?). |
| Is writing a form of personal therapy? Are internal conflicts a creative force? In many ways. My teenage self left a lot of poetry as testament to this, these days I have a good circle of friends I can rant to instead or, failing that, I try to keep a diary and blog. |
| Does reader feed-back help you? If it's good! I had lots of good feedback for one book and then one bad one. That bad review stopped me writing for about a month. Honestly, why is it that we take the negatives to heart? |
| Do you participate in competitions? Have you received any awards? I rarely enter competitions. The only one I have entered I got second or third prize. It was the Ilkley Literature Festival and I entered a short story I had written as part of my MA. It was a retelling of a Biblical story from female viewpoint. That's definitely one of my 'things' - retelling things from female perspective. |
| Do you share rough drafts of your writings with someone whose opinion you trust? I used to but now I tend to finish them myself and stick them on line straight away! People can follow my writing in progress on Smashwords. |
| Do you believe you have already found "your voice" or is that something one is always searching for? I think your 'voice' evolves. I definitely had a defining moment when I did my MA and I'd written a short story featuring some rather graphic sex. I didn't know whether to submit it to group scrutiny, but I did and that freed me up. Now I feel confident enough to write whatever I deem appropriate. |
| What discipline do you impose on yourself regarding schedules, goals, etc.? The only discipline I have is to complete a new novel every November as part of Nanowrimo, it's the only way I finish. I am trying to recreate this myself with some success and I am going to try campnano this year to see if I can get another novel done in June. |
| Do you write on a computer? Do you print frequently? Do you correct on paper? What is your process? I type straight onto the screen, although I do carry a notebook to scribble ideas that invade my mind and insist on being written down immediately. At the moment I write on a net book and am desperately saving for a MacBookAir, I honestly can't describe the lust I feel for that machine! |
| What sites do you frequent on-line to share experiences or information? I use Twitter and Facebook to connect with readers. I often post things on my Facebook page where readers can suggest names for characters etc. at the moment readers are invited to submit themselves for a 'gang'. Grisly death may be inflicted on said characters. It's a bit of fun. A couple of friends have shared their names with characters who are fiercely building up their parts from the bit players they we're originally meant to be.
I also write a blog http://walterwriter.blogspot.co.uk/ |
| What has been your experience with publishers? I haven't had any experience with publishers! A friend in the USA is a very successful author through e publishing so I asked his advice and I haven't looked back. There is a wonderful freedom to e publishing. You know with a publisher you would be asked to make certain changes yet I get to decide what stays or gets cut and it's very liberating. |
| What are you working on now? I am working on Paranormal Investigations three. It's slow going as I'm still formulating a few subplots and my time has been very limited. Hopefully the end of June will see it finished, I'm a very quick writer once I get going and can finish a book in four to six weeks. |
| What do you recommend I do with all those things I wrote years ago but have never been able to bring myself to show anyone? Reread them. If it was a book in a store would you buy it? Would you change anything? When it's as you want it either send it off to a publisher and wait months or get it online at Smashwords and Amazon and let the reading public decide if they like it. |
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EH Walter
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