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Fiction-Net:
Are you writing novel no. 3 at the
moment?
Claire
Calman: Yes, and of course, by the
time you're on number three, it's all
plain sailing… er, not. I have been
finding it really hard. I think when I
start a book, I don't realise the full
scope of what I'm trying to do - and if I
did, I never would even pick up my pen in
the first place - it's only as I get into
it and start to understand more about the
characters and why they are the way the
are that it dawns on me how high the
mountain is that I have to climb. It's
daunting and the worst thing is,
ultimately, you're all alone in it; you
can get bits of help and input from other
people, but fundamentally all you have is
blank sheets of paper and the contents of
your own head. That said, it is still a
thousand times better than having to do a
real job. On a good day, or even a
not-entirely-crap day, I can't believe how
lucky I am to be able to earn a living
purely from using my
imagination.
Fiction-Net:
Your novels have a strong emotional
punch. Is this something you aim
for?
Claire
Calman: No, I aim to make them weak
and woolly and uninteresting… surely
every writer wants their books to be
emotionally strong? I think what makes the
difference is to write only about things
you really, really care about quite deeply
- if something matters to you, it's easier
to make it matter for the reader. I'm not
a writer who plans a lot; the story stems
from the characters and grows and changes
as I write, and I don't map it all out at
the beginning. I can usually see some
fragments, scenes, pictures in my mind, so
I'll think 'Yes, I know Bella and her
mother have a major confrontation' but I
won't know how it'll happen until I write
it.
Fiction-Net:
What made you decide to use the 'he
said/she said' approach for Lessons? Was
it something you'd been wanting to do for
some time?
Claire
Calman: I think I'd always wanted to
write about the subject of a fragmented
family, but without consciously realising
it - my own parents split when I was two -
and I wanted to look at the unexpected
positive effects it can also have. At the
very beginning, I was sure I needed to
tell it from husband, wife and child's
view, so it started as a three-hander,
then Nat, the teenage son showed up and
then became absolutely crucial to the
story. I think I first became intrigued by
the idea of a multiple-viewpoint tale when
I read 'As I Lay Dying' by William
Faulkner, written in 1930 and decades
before its time. It's very interesting and
challenging to write a story that way -
and immensely hard to pull off.
Fiction-Net:
And how did you find writing from a
man's point of view?
Claire
Calman: He was my starting point and I
felt completely at home in his shoes from
the beginning. I checked vocabulary and
male perspectives with a couple of men,
but mostly I just tried to use my
imagination. I wanted to create a portrait
of a man who is fundamentally good, kind
and loving and decent, but also flawed and
very human, with insecurities and
self-doubts and prone to making mistakes
and messing things up - the way we all do,
and that's about being human, whether
you're a man or a woman.
Fiction-Net:
Do you have plans for a web
presence?
Claire
Calman: Only if you want to help me -
I'm not exactly the world's greatest
technophile. Also, to be honest, I cannot
imagine anyone being remotely interested
enough to want to check out a website
about me or my books. I do feel there's
something slightly shrine-ish about it. I
love the fact that anyone would shell out
real money to buy one of my books then
take the time to read it - I can think of
no greater accolade - but is there the
need for more than that? I don't think
so.
Fiction-Net:
And are you a 'net addict
yourself?
Claire
Calman: No. I'm an e-addict,
definitely. I resisted for ages until
friends nagged at me to get hooked up.
E-mailing friends, especially other
writers, is the pinnacle of work
avoidance, and you can even feel as if
you're sort of working because you're at
your laptop and talking about
writing…My favourite e-mail
correspondent is Canadian-based writer
William Kowalski [author of Eddie's
Bastard, a wonderful book]. I check
out Amazon quite often, but I don't use
the net for research. All the research I
do has to involve talking to real people -
and it's a great excuse to get away from
my desk.
Fiction-Net:
Do you have a favourite character from
Lessons For A Sunday Father?
Claire
Calman: Well, it's Scott, of course -
I love him because he messes up and he's
so hopeless about communicating but he so
wants to do things well, he tries really
hard and he is a good father. I feel very
tender and protective about him, even
though he's also a cheating, lying
bastard… In fact, when I was writing
the book, I found my sympathies switching
frequently. I'm very fond of Rosie because
I identify strongly with a child having to
grow up quickly, and I also feel a lot for
Nat - being a teenage boy is no picnic, I
imagine, and especially hard if you're
suddenly pitched into a situation like the
one in Lessons, poor sod. Your review
stated that you didn't like Nat and I
found myself feeling quite aggrieved, as
if he was actually my son. Gail was the
hardest character to write and I needed to
make her quite strong so she wouldn't just
be a passive victim - opinion on her is
divided, but male readers are usually not
very keen on her.
Fiction-Net:
Were you tempted to allow Scott and
Gail to get back together or were they
always doomed?
Claire
Calman: As I say, I don't plan much in
advance - I deliberately decided not to
predetermine the outcome, so I could let
the story be led by the characters as they
developed. The only thing I was pretty
sure about was that the emotional crux
would rest on the relationship between
Scott and the children rather than between
Scott and his wife. But, no, I never make
things doomed from the start.
Fiction-Net:
Finally, do you have any advice for
would-be authors trying to get
published?
Claire
Calman: Don't do it, there are far too
many books cluttering up the shelves
already and it leaves less space for mine.
(Is that the kind of advice you
meant?)
Oh,
well - all right then. Main advice is:
Write about something you really care
about.
Practical
advice: Try to get an agent rather than
sending an unsolicited manuscript to a
publisher where it will languish in the
'slush pile'. When sending stuff to an
agent, I advise sending only about 3
chapters plus a really strong covering
letter.
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