In conversation with – Bronwen Griffiths

Was there an incident or story behind this story? A specific inspiration?

The story was partly inspired by a German film called ‘Cherry Blossoms’ (2008) which I watched after meeting someone who meant a lot to me but, like the blossoms, only had a fleeting part in my life. 

Older characters are harder to find in fiction and poetry despite the richness of possibilities. You’ve shown how compelling an older protagonist can be. Do you have any thoughts on aging and writing in general?

I created an older character in my first novel, A Bird in the House, and I was thinking about her, and the fact that I myself am older now, when I wrote this piece.  Older women can often be overlooked, and that too fed into this piece of writing. I don’t have any grand-children, but I was imagining these two together, old and young, and how they might understand each other. 

 At what point did you consider yourself a writer, as opposed to someone who writes? And even very successful writers get a lot of nos and discouragement. How do you deal with rejections? Does it still sting a little?

I’ve been writing for many years now but I only felt I had become a ‘proper’ writer when my first novel came out in 2014.  This was published by a small independent press and when my second novel was rejected (I later self-published it) I did suffer a loss of confidence. With flash fiction there is more opportunity to publish and I have had a reasonable amount of success in getting my flash stories published, but rejections do sting, some more than others. I have got better at dealing with rejections over time and my advice to other writers is the usual one – keep going, keep trying to do better, get peer support and take advice – but at the same time don’t lose what makes you unique. I write a lot of what might be called ‘political’ stuff, and that’s me, I’m not going to stop doing that, and that won’t be for everything. Write what moves you, not what you think you ought to write.

I’m terrible at comparing myself with other writers and believing I don’t come up to their high standards and it’s true, I’m not ever going to be a Booker prize winner, but I know I have written some good things and that’s important to remember – for all writers.  It’s easy to get caught up in the cycle of ‘I’m only as good as my last publication/win’ but there will be fallow times. It’s important to go with that and not get too discouraged. 

Describe your writing process. Are you a planner or a pantser, do you prefer to write in quiet or amid noise, do you write most effectively when you are working through a pain or sorrow or when calm and happy? Do you start with wisps or fragments or have a general sense of whole structure before going in?

I’m not much of a planner when it comes to writing and I don’t have a particular process. Some stories might come to me in a flash, others take months, or even years. I edit a lot, and if a story I think is worthwhile gets rejected, I always take another look at it and I will edit it again, and again. 

I often have more than one project on the go at once. I get bored working on one thing. I have just completed the millionth (!) draft of a novel I hope to publish later this year. I wrote it ages ago and re-wrote it last year. I’m also working on a memoir about my teenage years, growing up in the Midlands in the late 60s and early 70s. At the moment I dislike almost everything about the memoir but I know this is part of the process, and most of us creatives go through that – the book is either great, or a disaster, whereas in reality it’s probably something in between.

What do you wish someone would have told you once?

I suppose that what no one tells you when you are younger, just how much hard work there is in writing, and how much it is possible to veer from love to hate of your work. Or maybe that’s just me! And the truth is, no matter how brilliant the writing, not everyone will love it. I’ve read prize-winning books which have been recommended but I’ve been indifferent to, and then sometimes I’ll adore a book, and a friend won’t like it at all. 

Where do you look for inspiration?

I always keep a notebook with me, so that I can jot down ideas, or things I’ve seen. There are times when inspiration leaves me completely and I think I’ll never write again but then I’ll see something on television, or I’ll attend a workshop in person or online and that will spark me off. Writing can be quite lonely and perhaps rather self-centred, so it’s good to link up with other writers. If I’m not inspired I’ll do something else. I like creating collages and taking photos. 

Writing is a form of witnessing. To write well you need to pay attention. Whether that is to a bird in the hedge, or the grass waving in the wind, or a dead fox on the road. And really isn’t that what life is about? The more we pay attention, the more we listen, the more we can enjoy our short time on this planet earth. 

There’s a lot of talk about reading for pleasure, with many not able or willing to do that. What has reading given you? If you were in a public service announcement for reading for fun, what would you say?

I read a lot. I have always loved reading. Cereal packets, newspapers, the Moomin books (I re-read at least one of those every year), books in translation, non-fiction, contemporary fiction, poetry. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, romance or fantasy, but I do sometimes read those kind of books, and I think it’s important not to be snobbish about reading. Read what you enjoy, but stretch yourself sometimes and read something you might not normally read.