Ask the Author: Keith Bullock
Answered Questions (5)
Keith Bullock
The best thing about being a writer is living in the heads of so many characters.
The novels and short stories that I have written have transported me to a multitude of places that previously, I knew nothing about - and so vicariously, I've tramped the streets of New York and in lived in the palace of a South American dictator, I've experienced Environmental Armageddon and survived in a dystopian future, I've been trapped underground and seen Earth from Space. I have committed perfect murders and occupied a variety of virtual realities, to mention but a few of my travels.
Creative writing demands the authenticity of adequate research and therefore brings with it, its own reward. In conducting such enquiries one is inevitably enriched.
My next trip is booked already - I am my eighteen year-old grandmother, pregnant, widowed, alone and standing outside a Birmingham work-house awaiting her fate.
The novels and short stories that I have written have transported me to a multitude of places that previously, I knew nothing about - and so vicariously, I've tramped the streets of New York and in lived in the palace of a South American dictator, I've experienced Environmental Armageddon and survived in a dystopian future, I've been trapped underground and seen Earth from Space. I have committed perfect murders and occupied a variety of virtual realities, to mention but a few of my travels.
Creative writing demands the authenticity of adequate research and therefore brings with it, its own reward. In conducting such enquiries one is inevitably enriched.
My next trip is booked already - I am my eighteen year-old grandmother, pregnant, widowed, alone and standing outside a Birmingham work-house awaiting her fate.
Keith Bullock
It is a very exciting time for me right now. After retirement I was able to devote more time to my writing. I had already managed to participate in the 'BBC Book of the Future' and to write over eighty short stories, one of which: 'Second Honeymoon' was filmed and shown at the Cannes Festival; now however, several half finished projects have come together in short order.
'Winning Ticket' was published by Austin Macauley in October 2017 and currently I am working with them on the Proofs of my second novel: 'Beyond the Sad-faced Clown', with a publication date of April/May 2018.
The two books have a similar underlying theme: the issue of personal identity in a multi-cultural, philosophically relativistic world. They are very different however, in setting and subject matter. Within the pages of 'Winning Ticket', Rakesh Singh, an English-born Sikh must come to terms with his ancestry after committing a crime and suffering its consequences. Within 'Beyond the Sad-faced Clown' Nick and Rebecca, two children of the "Swinging Sixties" are all but overwhelmed by their two distinct, but equally troubled, backgrounds and in finding love together, face personal challenges that neither of them could ever have envisaged.
Waiting in the wings is: 'Twelve Christmas Crackers and a Boxing Day Treat' - a collection of thirteen adult Christmas Stories that I hope will prompt the reader to laughter and tears. I have missed the boat with them for this Festive Season, but I hope that they will be in publication for 2018.
Beyond that, I am working hard to complete a third novel: 'Circuit'. It is a crime novel - quite a departure from the first two - and it tells the tale of a man and wife who are set upon whilst out jogging in London. Neither of them have any memory of the event to assist the police and in the meantime, one of their perpetrators goes on to commit murder...
There is more than enough there to keep me out of mischief in the short term.
'Winning Ticket' was published by Austin Macauley in October 2017 and currently I am working with them on the Proofs of my second novel: 'Beyond the Sad-faced Clown', with a publication date of April/May 2018.
The two books have a similar underlying theme: the issue of personal identity in a multi-cultural, philosophically relativistic world. They are very different however, in setting and subject matter. Within the pages of 'Winning Ticket', Rakesh Singh, an English-born Sikh must come to terms with his ancestry after committing a crime and suffering its consequences. Within 'Beyond the Sad-faced Clown' Nick and Rebecca, two children of the "Swinging Sixties" are all but overwhelmed by their two distinct, but equally troubled, backgrounds and in finding love together, face personal challenges that neither of them could ever have envisaged.
Waiting in the wings is: 'Twelve Christmas Crackers and a Boxing Day Treat' - a collection of thirteen adult Christmas Stories that I hope will prompt the reader to laughter and tears. I have missed the boat with them for this Festive Season, but I hope that they will be in publication for 2018.
Beyond that, I am working hard to complete a third novel: 'Circuit'. It is a crime novel - quite a departure from the first two - and it tells the tale of a man and wife who are set upon whilst out jogging in London. Neither of them have any memory of the event to assist the police and in the meantime, one of their perpetrators goes on to commit murder...
There is more than enough there to keep me out of mischief in the short term.
Keith Bullock
We all like a good story and without a lively narrative that can hold interest and attention, it's unlikely that the reader will bother with more than a few pages... But is that everything? Most people have a good story within them and many say "I should write a novel," but few do.
If you want to be one of the few that do, then firstly it's important to recognise the time, the effort and the commitment that it's going to take. If you begin now, this time next year you might be half-way there, or you might not...
There is nothing mystical about writing a novel - it is a process rather than an activity. The process is multi-faceted, you will be bringing to it large chunks of your personal experience, your imaginative and interpretative skills, your emotional sensitivity and your skills as a wordsmith and a proof reader. You will be shaping, judging harshly, re-shaping and re-writing your words until you can sit back half contentedly, pass them on for critical appraisal and be ready to begin all over again, if necessary.
I once tried my hand at oil-painting and I was struck by the parallels and similarities that it shares with novel writing. One begins with a blank sheet or canvas - as content develops, constant change and revision is necessary. The insertion of a new subject or character has an effect upon the body of the work as a whole, in new, unexpected and subtle ways - often prompting further revision and change across the board. As content consolidates and takes on the semblance of a finished work, new questions arise: is my artistic integrity intact - does the work reflect honestly and transparently the best that I can do to merge form and content into an organic whole that expresses my creative intention?
I used the comparison with oil painting because I wanted to emphasise the earlier point made about "process" - if you see your novel-writing as a live, independent process, that makes its own demands upon your artistic integrity, you may not achieve greatness, but you will enjoy the purely personal pride and self-respect of the honest artist.
If you want to be one of the few that do, then firstly it's important to recognise the time, the effort and the commitment that it's going to take. If you begin now, this time next year you might be half-way there, or you might not...
There is nothing mystical about writing a novel - it is a process rather than an activity. The process is multi-faceted, you will be bringing to it large chunks of your personal experience, your imaginative and interpretative skills, your emotional sensitivity and your skills as a wordsmith and a proof reader. You will be shaping, judging harshly, re-shaping and re-writing your words until you can sit back half contentedly, pass them on for critical appraisal and be ready to begin all over again, if necessary.
I once tried my hand at oil-painting and I was struck by the parallels and similarities that it shares with novel writing. One begins with a blank sheet or canvas - as content develops, constant change and revision is necessary. The insertion of a new subject or character has an effect upon the body of the work as a whole, in new, unexpected and subtle ways - often prompting further revision and change across the board. As content consolidates and takes on the semblance of a finished work, new questions arise: is my artistic integrity intact - does the work reflect honestly and transparently the best that I can do to merge form and content into an organic whole that expresses my creative intention?
I used the comparison with oil painting because I wanted to emphasise the earlier point made about "process" - if you see your novel-writing as a live, independent process, that makes its own demands upon your artistic integrity, you may not achieve greatness, but you will enjoy the purely personal pride and self-respect of the honest artist.
Keith Bullock
Perhaps I should not be posting a reply because personally I don't suffer from writer's block, however, I find the question interesting. True - there are times when I cannot see in what direction a narrative is heading, or what twists and turns the story will take, but I don't associate this with the word "block" in the sense of what happens when one is entirely stuck for ideas, or mentally frozen, as can happen in the middle of a speech.
Writing a novel is a long process and long processes have many aspects that can be revisited, revised and enriched during a period when one is a little stuck for ideas. If I'm lost for an idea of what to write on the next page, I'll reread previous pages or chapters and try to improve upon them. I'll listen to my characters, put myself in their heads and ask my transposed self, what I would do next. I'll live with them and allow them to work upon my subconscious, until they finally inform me where they are heading.
Above all, I'll see the novel as a project in progress with many aspects to re-work and improve upon. As the process is therefore never entirely linear, for me, the question of writer's block never really arises.
Writing a novel is a long process and long processes have many aspects that can be revisited, revised and enriched during a period when one is a little stuck for ideas. If I'm lost for an idea of what to write on the next page, I'll reread previous pages or chapters and try to improve upon them. I'll listen to my characters, put myself in their heads and ask my transposed self, what I would do next. I'll live with them and allow them to work upon my subconscious, until they finally inform me where they are heading.
Above all, I'll see the novel as a project in progress with many aspects to re-work and improve upon. As the process is therefore never entirely linear, for me, the question of writer's block never really arises.
Keith Bullock
The question would be easier to apply to most, if not all, of my short stories where I usually begin with a single idea - a "What if..." that I then set out to answer through the narrative. I'm not sure that I go about writing a novel in the same way.
On the face of it, 'Winning Ticket' is a novel about a Dudley-born Sikh shopkeeper who steals the winning lottery ticket of a drunken, down-and- out customer. There was of course a trigger that set off my thoughts: it was the personal experience of being told by a rather shady-looking shopkeeper that my ticket was a none-winner, before he appeared to put it quickly behind the counter... it left me forever wondering! That was the catalyst that prompted me to sharpen my pencil, but I can't say that it was really the idea for the novel, or my principal reason for writing it.
In writing a novel, there is usually an underlying theme that I want to give expression to and therefore the "What ifs..." of the narrative are there as artefacts to realise the theme.
To be more specific - the underlying theme of 'Winning Ticket' is the question of Identity: Rakesh Singh is a second-generation Brit' with family roots in Idi Amin's Uganda, rather than India. He knows little of his Indian ancestry, culture and religion... Who is he? How does he address the puzzle of his identity in his adulthood in the English Black Country? Thus, the narrative ideas for the novel that set me writing - and their unfolding - are less about my motive for writing the book and more about expediting and illuminating the underlying theme of Identity.
On the face of it, 'Winning Ticket' is a novel about a Dudley-born Sikh shopkeeper who steals the winning lottery ticket of a drunken, down-and- out customer. There was of course a trigger that set off my thoughts: it was the personal experience of being told by a rather shady-looking shopkeeper that my ticket was a none-winner, before he appeared to put it quickly behind the counter... it left me forever wondering! That was the catalyst that prompted me to sharpen my pencil, but I can't say that it was really the idea for the novel, or my principal reason for writing it.
In writing a novel, there is usually an underlying theme that I want to give expression to and therefore the "What ifs..." of the narrative are there as artefacts to realise the theme.
To be more specific - the underlying theme of 'Winning Ticket' is the question of Identity: Rakesh Singh is a second-generation Brit' with family roots in Idi Amin's Uganda, rather than India. He knows little of his Indian ancestry, culture and religion... Who is he? How does he address the puzzle of his identity in his adulthood in the English Black Country? Thus, the narrative ideas for the novel that set me writing - and their unfolding - are less about my motive for writing the book and more about expediting and illuminating the underlying theme of Identity.
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