Ask the Author: John J. Gaynard
Answered Questions (7)
John J. Gaynard
There is one big mystery: what happened to me during the first few months of my life. I'm thinking of writing a book based on the little I know, but feel restrained by the fact that there are still people alive (who could tell me, but haven't) who might be hurt.
John J. Gaynard
I've always been interested in psychology and the geniuses and charlatans who practice it. A review I read in the New York Review of Books about how psychologists and behavioral science consultants worked with the CIA to develop 'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques', based on 'learned helplessness' in Guantanamo and on CIA black sites rolled around in my mind until I could connect it with a Parisian artist who had lost his mind and then suddenly recovered it.
John J. Gaynard
There are periods when I don't feel inspired to write, and then comes a trigger moment, when I read a book or an article that stirs a memory or makes me indignant about a situation. I'm not much of an autobiographical writer, but situations I've experienced in French West Africa or France often inspire me to invent a set of characters that I can put into the situation and see how they handle it.
John J. Gaynard
At the moment, I'm wondering whether I should write my next novel in English or French. I've got the feeling that after decades of mostly speaking French I may become a totally different author by writing in it. I'm playing around with a couple of ideas, and I'm writing a lot of Marguerite Duras to help me make my mind up.
John J. Gaynard
Find a subject that you can enjoy writing about and where the research comes easily to you.
John J. Gaynard
Being totally absorbed in a story for days, weeks and months during which time I live with characters to be developed and situations to be resolved. I also enjoy the act of revision, hunting down every little thing in the text that troubles me until I can finally attain peace of mind and then move on to something else.
John J. Gaynard
The way I begin a novel or story is to throw a character into a difficult situation and then imagine how he or she handles it. Usually one difficulty leads to another and the character paints him or herself into a series of corners, from which I have to help decide an escape route. My periods of blockage usually happen when I can't find the escape route, and they are usually resolved when an idea comes to me at three o'clock in the morning or in the shower or when I'm taking a long walk. While I'm waiting for the answer to come I read seven or eight hours a day.
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