This interview with Helen
Slavin was first published February 2006. To find out even more about the
author, you can visit our Helen Slavin page.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in
Lancashire in the North West of England and grew up there. I studied at the
University of Warwick in the Midlands and then moved further south again
when my husband got a job in Bath in Somerset, down in the South West.
What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start
writing?
Reading is the thing that got me started. I always loved
fairytales and myths especially. When I was in Class 2 of infant school I
used to write and rewrite versions of the fairytales we'd been told or
that I'd read about. It's fair to say I started writing as soon as I
could form enough letters. I had parents who always made sure there was pen and
paper to hand. I just wanted to be part of that, of the idea of opening
up these pieces of cardboard and finding somewhere else hidden inside.
Which writers have influenced you the most?
Louise Fitzhugh wrote “Harriet the Spy” and that's a book I still have on my desk. I can't kick the notebook habit that I started when I first read about Harriet wanting to be a writer. One of the first grown up books I read was “To Kill a Mocking Bird” and that set me off towards the South and I read Carson McCullers . I've always loved Charles Dickens and Emily Bronte. The list stretches towards infinity really. Alan Sillitoe was a big influence in my teens.
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 think it's in you, like a kernel. But to get to the kernel
there has to be some nut cracking (??) My parents were both teachers and our
family enjoyed a lot of music and art and theatre and books were always in the
house. My dad and grandfather both dabbled with writing. My mum was an
avid reader. It all rubs off on you and it reaches that kernel. If they'd
been brewing test tubes full of hydrochloric acid in the kitchen I might have
gone a different way. I might not have found writing.
There are a lot of courses teaching creative
writing nowadays, but do you think that good writing can be taught?
No. Learned from reading and writing for
yourself but not taught. Sorry. Do. Write. Pen. Bottom on chair. 'Tis the only
way.
Have you entered writing competitions? If so,
have you won any prizes?
I won second prize years ago in the HE Bates
short story competition and was delighted because I was presented with my prize
by HE Bates’ nephew and I've also met his son, Richard. There you are, another
influence, H E Bates. “Last Summer”, a children's book I wrote made the
regional final of a competition called 'The Wow Factor'. I received a very
encouraging letter too.
What kind of things do you write?
I've been a scriptwriter for TV for a long time. I used to
write for hospital soaps and soap soaps and Sunday night family dramas.
I've also written plays and stories for the radio. Radio was where I got my
first break. I've written film scripts too.
What, for you, is the best piece of prose that you have ever
written?
I should be really very clever and pompous and say
'Why, the next one.' Much as I love “The Extra
Large Medium”, I have to confess it is probably a short story I wrote about
fifteen years ago, for the radio called “Ginger Tash”. It's about someone
remembering their grandmother who smoked a pipe and had adventures, including
spending time disguised as a man named “Ginger Tash”. It has a lot of
emotional ties for me, the time and the place that I wrote it, circumstances,
all make it one of my favourites.
What are you working on now?
A new book. “Susan Hill Changed My Life”. Well, no,
that isn't going to be the title but having “The Extra Large Medium” finally
make it onto a bookshop shelf has given me a booster. I have spent a lot
of time writing what are known as 'treatments' and spec scripts for film and
television. Generally speaking these all pass straight through the gates of 'Development
Hell' where they are poked at and prodded and that's about all that happens.
It's a merry go round and it makes your head spin after a while.
It's been a tremendous relief to actually write something that's complete (well
nearly) and is all mine. Fingers crossed.
What is your writing day like?
It revolves
around the school run. Walk my kids to school. Walk home (which is excellent
thinking time, especially if you are stuck somewhere with your latest project)
I brew a pot of tea and then I tend to get going. If I'm stuck or I need
a break I head off and do my 'mum' stuff like popping to the supermarket.
Phoning my dad for a chat. More tea. A sea of tea. Then I'm back at the desk
again. Then it's more 'mum' stuff, cooking etc. I sometimes work in the
evenings too. When the kids were small I always worked in the evenings after my
husband got home from work. As for the 'computer vs pen and
paper' debate I use both depending on my mood. Sometimes it feels
more businesslike to be tapping away at a keyboard and other times it's the
feel of the paper and the pen. Also pen and paper is infinitely more
portable. On the beach. In the library. I have glasses as well so I
really feel I look the part now, forget contact lenses, that's what I say.
A new answer to writers' block.... buy some glasses, then you'll feel just
right. Even better, squint at people over the top of them. I'm rambling now.
Stop me.
Where would you like to be in 10 years time?
What a terrible question.
Only in the sense that I'm not keen on looking into the future. I'd still
just like to be me. I'd like to still be writing. Possibly living a bit nearer
to the sea. Apparently the way global warming is going I might not even have to
move house to achieve that last one.
Yes. I know. I split
an infinitive. And my dad is a retired English teacher.
What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?
Heavens. Should
I be lying on a couch for this? The smell of a new notebook. Also the
characters living in my head. You think that you control them and that you've
thought them up and then they veer off in strange directions and you have to
follow them. Thrills. Spills. Hm. Yes, definitely a couch job I think.
What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?
Trying to squeeze the right words out of my brain, down my
arm and out through the pen.
What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve
had from your audience?
When I was fourteen, I won a play competition at the Royal
Court Theatre in London. My play “Detention” was part of their Young Writers'
Festival 1981. (Oops, this should be in the other question!!) It was a
simple love story; girl gets into detention to spend some quality time with a
naughty boy she's got a crush on. I was there on the last night and
after everyone had gone I was about to head out, with my dad. A girl in
an Arran sweater, her hair in long plaits was just leaving. She turned back and
asked if I was one of the writers. I said yes. She asked 'Did you write “Detention”?'
so I pleaded guilty to that one too. 'I loved it,' she said, very simply,
very direct. Then she left. I've never forgotten her.
Do you write for a
particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?
I've spent a lot of years writing TV scripts where I've been
satisfying the audience (I hope). I'm currently enjoying getting back to
satisfying my creativity. It makes a welcome change.
Do you have a homepage? If so, what’s the URL?
I don't have a homepage.
I tend to see the computer as a bit of a magic typewriter, plus I haven't
needed one. Actually this is a simple yes or no question isn't it? No.
