Tuesday 1 July 2014

Pam Fudge interview for The Voice

INTERVIEW



The novelist Pam Fudge tells Robin Dynes about her writing methods
 

Which writer has influenced you most? How?
The writer who has influenced me the most is LaVyrle Spencer – and I know everyone will ask, ‘Who?’ She is an American author – now retired (sadly). I aspire to make my characters live and breathe as she does. If I write even half as well, then I’m more than very happy.

When writing your novels, do you keep a picture in your mind of your regular readers?
The majority of my readers, female, male, young, old, and in between, are people who will have something in common with my characters, and this is confirmed in the feedback I receive.

Do you work out the plot of your story before starting to write?
I don’t plot at all. I start with a scenario and usually just two characters, throw in a few ‘what ifs,’ and just go. Plotting doesn’t work for me. I like the surprise element, both for me and the reader!

Do you base your stories on real life experiences or are they totally fictitious?
I never write about my family or friends specifically.  My novels are all totally fictitious but as anyone will tell you, the one thing about family life – real or made up - is that it’s never dull.

You give a lot of talks about your books. Has this changed your perspective in any way?
I really enjoy giving talks but I wouldn’t say that doing this has changed my perspective in any way. It took me quite a long time and attempts at various other genres to decide on the one that best suited me and my style of writing. It was when I started writing what I wanted to read that I found success as a novelist.

What single piece of advice would you give someone starting out on a writing career now?
The single piece of advice I would give to someone starting out on a writing career now would be to join a good writing class or course. If I hadn’t enrolled in that first ‘Writing For Pleasure And Profit’ class tutored by Barbara Dynes I would still be talking about writing, instead of actually doing it.

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