Ask the Author: John Geraint
Answered Questions (2)
John Geraint
Great question, Ruthie, and thanks for asking. My biography is very, very similar to Jac's - same birthplace, same schools, year, same house where we grew up and many, many other things in common. And I think it's true to say that people who knew me back then would recognise me and some of my friends as well in what I've written. But, as I keep insisting 'The Great Welsh Auntie Novel' *is* a work of fiction. Neither Jac nor the 'Novelist' who's writing about him is 'me' (whoever I am), even though many of the lessons they're learning as the novel progresses are ones that I've struggled with, and still do. Does that help? I'm reluctant to answer your question with a percentage, because - in some aspects - the autobiographical element may be less than 10%; in others it could be closer to 90%. "It all comes down to what you believe in the end"! But thanks again for asking, and thank you, above all, for reading 'The Great Welsh Auntie Novel'.
John Geraint
Writer's block is problem that my fictional (anti-)hero, Jac encounters as soon as he begins to write his anti-novel-within-the-novel. Try as he might, he can't find his Great Arresting Opening Sentence...
'It couldn’t be that difficult – every story began somewhere, every book had one. And he already had the crucial first two words: ‘Tonypandy Square…’.
It was the third that was causing difficulty. And the ones beyond that...
He realised that he’d hit a problem experienced by many famous authors. Writer’s block. It was hard work, being a novelist. Undeterred, he embarked on a new tack. Instead of focusing so hard, so head-on, on his arresting Opening, he began to consider the Big Picture of his novel. The themes. The plot and subplots. The characters. The narrative twists and turns. The inciting incident (another thing he’d read about). But did an anti-novel have to have any of these elements? That was the question, and it was a real poser. His fountain pen was in his hand, ready for inspiration, poised above the white page; but it seemed more fruitful just to think. So that’s what he did, retreating into his imagination (as writers must), losing track of what was going on around him. His mind was on other things. What a fascinating process it was, this writing.'
But did his unique technique for dealing with writer's block actually work? You'll have to read the novel to find out!
'It couldn’t be that difficult – every story began somewhere, every book had one. And he already had the crucial first two words: ‘Tonypandy Square…’.
It was the third that was causing difficulty. And the ones beyond that...
He realised that he’d hit a problem experienced by many famous authors. Writer’s block. It was hard work, being a novelist. Undeterred, he embarked on a new tack. Instead of focusing so hard, so head-on, on his arresting Opening, he began to consider the Big Picture of his novel. The themes. The plot and subplots. The characters. The narrative twists and turns. The inciting incident (another thing he’d read about). But did an anti-novel have to have any of these elements? That was the question, and it was a real poser. His fountain pen was in his hand, ready for inspiration, poised above the white page; but it seemed more fruitful just to think. So that’s what he did, retreating into his imagination (as writers must), losing track of what was going on around him. His mind was on other things. What a fascinating process it was, this writing.'
But did his unique technique for dealing with writer's block actually work? You'll have to read the novel to find out!
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