Ginny Swart interview

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This Ginny Swart interview was first published in April 2006. To find out even more about the author, you can visit our
Ginny Swart page.

Where were you born and raised?

In East London, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa . We moved to King Williams Town and I went to boarding school in Queenstown.

What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?

I had my first ( and last) poem published in the local paper when I was 7 and won my first writing competition when I was 9. I've written stories all my life.

Which writers have influenced you the most?

Don’t know about influenced exactly, but I admire Barbara Kingsolver’s writing, J.D. Salinger, Marion Keyes, Amy Tan, Philippa
Gregory…it’s like saying what’s your favourite colour? Too many good books out there!

Where do you stand on the nature v. nurture debate? Were you born a writer, or were there factors in your environment that
enabled you to become a writer?

I’ve always loved writing and got a bigger thrill from having a story published in the school magazine than I did from hitting a ball over a net. And being at boarding school we had to write letters home and I embellished mine to make life sound more exciting. My Mom kept those letters and when I read them later, I realise I was a fiction writer from an early age!

There are a lot of courses teaching creative writing nowadays, but do you think that good writing can be taught?

Actually, no. Really, really good writing comes from somewhere deep inside and it’s either there or it’s not. IMO.

I’ve never done a writing course of any kind but I know I would have benefited from one that showed me what not to do when writing for magazines. I learnt the hard, slow way what works and what doesn’t. (I’m still learning that one) The first womag story I ever wrote had the heroine getting wildly drunk. Then I subbed this to "People’s Friend", home of the ideal -family- polite-children- happy- ending stories, without ever having seen a copy of the magazine!

So, ahem! I have just written a course especially for people who want to sell stories to woman’s magazines, find it on www.
sawriterscollege.co.za It is absolutely not a creative writing course but full of tips I wish I’d known to start with.

Have you entered writing competitions? If so, have you won any prizes?

I won the 2003 Real Writers UK prize from about 3000 international entries, which was a real high point for me. I spent most of the prize- money going over to the UK to collect it and meeting some of my writing mates from "The Wild Geese" on-line group.

Do you have any short stories or poems published online? (If so, please provide the URLs):

"The Carpet King", "Hidden Assets" and "Top Chef, Negotiable" are all on:

www.short-stories.co.uk

What kind of things do you write?

Light fiction, South African stories, murder, teenage stories… whatever comes to mind.

What, for you, is the best piece of prose that you have ever written?

I suppose "The Carpet King", because it won a prize. But I like all my South African stories and one called "Bedtime Story" which featured a little girl putting her annoying baby sister in the freezer.

What are you working on now?

I have about 5 short stories half-way written, two chapters of a book and a synopsis of a Mills and Boone which I have a gut feeling I am never going to get into.

What is your writing day like?

I switch my computer on at 7 am and it stays on all day. I write in between babysitting grandchildren, gardening, cooking, all the usual stuff.

Where would you like to be in 10 years time?

Right here, but with a book or two published.

What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?

The thrill of getting something right. And having it accepted. And seeing it in print! That never palls.

What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

Too many ideas, not enough time! And the guilt trip when I start making thinking about supper 5 minutes before feeding time because I was glued to the keyboard. And when I have a great idea but it doesn’t work out on paper, or rather, on-screen.

What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?

Before I actually had a story printed, I had three stories published on-line on www.short-stories.co.uk. The feedback I got from those was incredible and besides all the nice remarks, teachers wrote saying they’d read one or other of the stories out loud to their class, or set it as a project to be studied. A matron of a retirement home wrote that she’d printed one out and given it to all her residents.(That story was about an African cook in an old-age home) And last month a guy in Thailand ask permission to translate one of the stories into Thai. That felt good!

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

The best stories I’ve written were ones I just needed to write and I didn’t think about who would read them, or even if anybody ever would.
There are quite a few stories I’ve written for magazines which I’m happy with, but I wouldn’t say they give me as much satisfaction as pieces which I know will have a hard time finding a home. I seem to have a dark side, which needs to come out every now and then and womags don’t do dark, unhappy endings. Like putting a baby in a freezer.

Do you have a homepage? If so, what’s the URL?

http://ginnyswart.com/

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