Interview: Debbi Voisey, Author of Only About Love

 

In the third of this series of interviews with Fairlight authors, I have the pleasure of talking to Debbi Voisey. Debbi’s novella Only About Love will be published on 5^th August, the same day as my own, in the Fairlight Moderns list of literary novellas.

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Loree:  I’m really looking forward to reading Only About Love when it comes out in August. I believe it’s described as a ‘novella in flash’ – which sounds really intriguing. I wonder if you could say something about your involvement with flash fiction, and what it is about the form that attracts you.

Debbi:  Thanks, and I am so chuffed we are sharing a publication day. I can’t wait to read Missing Words.

I started writing flash fiction when I was trying to avoid working on a novel! I love it for its immediacy. It allows you to get your thoughts out, and for people to read them, far more quickly than when writing a novel. It also really helps you to be economic with words and to tighten your prose.

Only About Love was born when I realised I had a lot of connected flashes, written while my father was ill and when he died. A couple of them (including the title story) won competitions and were published, so this inspired me to expand and turn them into a novella in flash. It’s a form that is being increasingly recognised and enjoyed, and is basically a way of telling a longer story in flash-sized bites where each chapter can be read as a stand-alone story without any of the others, but when read together form a logical arc. It appealed to me because you don’t have to link each chapter together in a traditional way. Because they are flashes, each chapter is satisfying in itself, and previous and subsequent ones can kind of ‘float’ around it, almost in a dream-like way that you can dictate rather than be bound by the usual rules and expectations.

Loree:  Flash fiction is often described as being just one step removed from poetry. Is that something you’ve found? Do you write poetry as well?

Debbi:  There is the argument that flash fiction is akin to a prose poem, and I have to say I get confused by the two. I always say I can’t write poetry, but some of my poet friends disagree. I don’t understand it, is probably more truthful. I have dabbled in it, but rarely, if ever, let people see it. Having said that, I just entered the Bridport Prize with a poem – totally on a whim and with, surprisingly, no alcohol involved!

Loree:  I’ve tried writing flash fiction a few times, but even though my background is in teaching and writing short stories, and my instincts are to be specific and succinct with language, I’ve found flash to be a particularly challenging form. What advice can you give me? Apart from the length, are there any key differences between short stories and flash that I’m overlooking?

Debbi:  You definitely have to approach it with a different mindset and technique. I always tell my students to view the story they want to see through a narrow lens. Imagine you are looking through a keyhole and can only see the centre of the action. You don’t have to describe anything that is not the central, to-the-point story. So no explanation, or back story, unless it is CRUCIAL for the reader to know it. Another way of looking at is like you are walking through a train carriage. Some drama may have kicked off before you entered so you didn’t see the start of it, and you will leave through the other side before it gets resolved, but if that scene is dramatic enough, you will be thinking about it long after and will tell your friends. That is flash fiction.

Loree:  I love that train carriage analogy. That’s a wonderful way to encapsulate what you’re doing.

Fairlight Books have been great, haven’t they! I’ve found all of the team, there, to be incredibly supportive. Very few publishers accept novellas, which is a real shame considering the number of novellas that must be written on MA programmes each year, so the Fairlight Moderns series was a real godsend to me. What has your experience of publishing Only About Love been like?

Debbi:  Like you, I think it has been a fantastic experience. Everyone is so efficient and communicative, and so friendly. Not once have I regretted handing over Only About Love, because they have proved it is in the best hands. From the very first time they said they loved it, through their sensitive handling of the edits (which were minor and no trouble to do really) and onwards to their enthusiasm and go-getting marketing and trumpet blowing, they have been wonderful.

Loree:  Many of the people I see posting in writing groups on social media seem to be fixated on the financial aspect of publishing and have chosen to go down the self-publishing route in the belief it will be more profitable. Self-publishing, today, has become much more acceptable than it was, say, a decade ago. I’ve thought about it myself a time or two, but it was always my wish to have the validation of a traditional publisher. It’s a sort of stamp of approval. How important was it to you to be published by a traditional publisher such as Fairlight Books, and what would you say the merits are of traditional publishing?

Debbi:  I know that self-publishing can be very rewarding, and very lucrative, for some people, if it is done correctly and with tireless enthusiasm for self-promotion. Writers like Mel Sherratt – who writes crime fiction – for example, have made a great career out of self-publishing (Mel is a “hybrid” author now, who also has several traditionally published novels). The danger, though, is that impatience will send an author down the self-publishing route before their work is ready, and I have seen many novels out there that have been published raw and unedited, and that had been apparent in their quality. There is no substitute for scrupulous editing and attention to detail. A traditional publisher will do all that for you and will have the expertise you may not have. I think that’s why my preference has always been to pursue the traditional deal and not jump in with something and risk making mistakes. Once your book is out there, there’s no going back.

Loree:  I know you teach Creative Writing and have been leading online workshops during the pandemic. How does teaching help and/or hinder your own writing?

Debbi:  It’s kind of swings and roundabouts; I maybe sometimes neglect my own writing in favour of producing my next workshop, or editing someone’s manuscript (but then, aren’t we always looking for a way to procrastinate?), but on the flip side I get a great deal out of working with a wide range of writers of all levels. At one end you have the beginners who are wide-eyed and excited and who embrace the advice, and you see them grow and improve, and then you have the experienced writers who feed off you and you off them. We are all always learning, and I have been greatly inspired by my own workshops and what often comes from them.

Loree:  Creative types are often highly self-critical, and it can be difficult to see your own work objectively. Do you workshop your writing with other writers, or do you depend solely on your own judgement to know when something does or doesn’t work?

Debbi:  I am a member of a local writing group – City Voices Stoke – who used to meet every two weeks in our local library. Now we do it on Zoom. We always start our meetings by talking about any writing we have done, and then share our works in progress and offer advice for edits etc. That is always a useful thing to do, but apart from that, I tend to rely on myself. I am not sure if that is the wisest decision, but I’ve done okay so far.

Loree:  There’s a mythology about writing that suggests writers were born with a ‘gift’, and I’ve often had students talk in romantic terms about ‘inspiration’ and waiting for ‘the muse’. In my experience, writing involves hard graft. What are your thoughts?

Debbi:  I totally agree with you. Someone asked this question on Twitter the other day – is writing talent or technique and hard work. Well, I think it is both and you need to get the two in harmony. I get frustrated when people who consider themselves ‘story-tellers’ write stuff that is just not good, but they won’t accept it. Yes, have those stories in your mind because imagination and drive are wonderful things, but you really need to learn how to craft words into beautiful sentences (or at least palatable, half-decent ones) and that takes time, practise, and patience with yourself and with those who want to help you. My writing has changed so much over the span of my writing life, and I am sure yours has too, Loree.

Loree:  Without a doubt. I think we all go through that eager, puppy stage of writing when the only thing we want is for our stories to be praised and adored. But to develop and become competent at the craft of writing, we have to acknowledge when a story isn’t working and figure out how to fix it - or indeed, to judge whether it’s worth fixing. It takes time to acquire the tools of the trade and the skill to use them.

Stephen King famously wrote in On Writing that ‘Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.’ How disciplined are you as a writer? What’s your writing routine like?

Debbi:  Not as good as it should be. It comes in bursts. I journal every day, so that is a way of channelling my thoughts, but as for actual deliberate prose writing, that comes sporadically. I keep a notebook handy for when titles come to me (I have a thing for nicking titles, so be warned, if I hear you say something I think is a good title, I WILL steal it!), but I do recognise that I need to start planning more formal writing sessions into my working week.

Loree:  Steal away! I’d be honoured. As a writer, do you have any particular obsessions – perhaps a specific theme that pops up in different stories, or ideas that you continue to explore?

Debbi:  This is a standing joke with my local writing group. I write lots of stories about losing babies, or about abuse, although I have never been pregnant, nor (thankfully) suffered any form of abuse. I just find that those subjects are always bubbling under my surface. I am obviously a bit bleak secretly.

Loree:  You’ve got a great website! I love it. There’s so much content and information. Clearly, I need to up my game! Do you enjoy blogging?

Debbi:  Thank you! Yes, I do enjoy it although you wouldn’t guess because I think the last time I updated my blog was about a year ago. I just find time management so hard these days but am determined to get better and have plans afoot, with some exciting project to talk about soon on my website. I just need to figure out the logistics of it. Once I am all organised, I plan to blog regularly again.

Loree:  The past eighteen months have been a challenge for a lot of people. How have you managed? Has Covid affected your writing at all?

Debbi:  To be honest, Covid has been an unexpected positive for my writing workshops. I have welcomed more customers from far-flung places, along with my local regulars, so it’s been really great in that respect. I will continue doing my workshops like this going forward.

As for my own writing, the only thing Covid has done is to creep into a couple of stories because it exists, but I wouldn’t say I have dwelled on it or worried about it too much, and it has had no detrimental effect.

Loree:  Every writer has their own process. Some will plot their story, meticulously, scene-by-scene or chapter-by-chapter before beginning to write, while others start with a character and an inciting incident and let the story develop from there – discovering where the character takes them as they write. Likewise, some writers edit as they write the first draft, while others describe how the words spill out in a torrent, and they don’t stop to edit until the story is complete. Could you say a bit about your own process, particularly with regards to redrafting?

Debbi:  I am a pantster, rather than a plotter, or at least I have been so far with my novels. I start with an image in my mind, which compels me enough to scribble it down on paper and then move to my computer to expand, but I don’t know how it is going to progress or end up. I do edit as I go along. I have never written a first draft and not worried about what is in it, although I know people do.

However, over the last few years I have started to move towards the concept of plotting.

Loree:  I’m very similar, actually. The first novel I wrote, the one I’m editing now, was very much a journey of discovery. I knew the beginning and the end when I started, but had no idea of the route I would take between the two points. But with the second novel, I’ve done much more plotting. What’s your next project? Are you working on anything at the moment?

Debbi:  I am working on a novel with a high concept premise, so I am planning it in more logical detail than I ever have before. I really need to make sure I put all my ducks in a row and basically know what I am talking about before I start. I need to know cause and effect of my premise before I can start to bring the characters in and show how it affects them. So, I have bought myself a corkboard/whiteboard combo and have lots of index cards and sticky notes. I will let you know how it goes!

Loree:  It sounds exciting! New projects are always a thrill.

What’s the worst piece of writing advice you’ve ever had?

Debbi:  ‘Write what you know.’ Some people take this far too literally. Whilst it’s true that injecting your experience on an emotional level can be great for your writing, you can’t always just write about the experiences you’ve had. If you did, your stories would get very boring very quickly. Being a writer means you can empathise and put yourself into someone else’s shoes, and use that emotion you feel to transfer to any number of situations (just as I do in my losing babies/abuse stories). If you only write about what you know, your stories will dry up. If you expand your mind and step inside someone else, the number of stories you can write is infinite.

Loree:  That’s so true. I think we’ve all been given that advice at one time or another. I think the trick for me has been getting to know what I don’t know, then writing about it. Do you have any advice of your own that you’d like to pass on to aspiring writers?

Debbi:  I am going to lift this directly from my Q&A with Fairlight: Don’t let lack of ‘technique’ hold you back. Initially, the important thing is to get some words onto a page. Don’t be put off by all the advice out there about how to structure it. That is important, but not quite yet. If you waited until you were good at something, then you’d never do anything. We all have to put up dodgy shelves before we learn how to make them level.

Loree:  Finally, I’m asking everyone in this series of interviews if they ride a bike. It’s a bit of an obsession of mine. Do you?

Debbi:  I can, but I don’t. I prefer to walk, and since I have never owned a car, I have done plenty of that.

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More information about Debbie Voisey’s forthcoming novella, Only AboutLove, can be found by visiting the Fairlight Books website. 

For reviews of Only About Love, check out GoodReads. 

Only About Love can be pre-ordered, now, at your local bookshop or from the online retailer of your choice.