Q&A with Fiona Robyn discussion

Any questions about writing? Being a writer? Are you struggling with your own writing? I also work as a creativity coach (http://bit.ly/Hncs67) so I might be able to help... ask away!

Excellent question, Andrew, and I guess in a way it's like asking how long a piece of string is. In my experience I reach different people on different social media platforms, and so doing as many as you can is best! I think a more important question is HOW you promote... getting the right balance between engaging with people and bothering them... I try to do this by offering things for free http://bit.ly/yGooFa (an e-book, a short course etc) and slowly building up a mailing list of people who are interested in what we do. If you have any more specific questions do feel free to ask.

Yes, I think I still have a zillion questions too Andrew! Good luck...

Hi Ken - thanks for your question. A very hearty breakfast thank you!

Interesting questions. To answer the first, yes and no. I have had a particular experience of the world, and there are things I know nothing about (and don't realise that I know nothing about). These 'holes' are bound to show up in my novels. But I also don't see my characters as representing my view at all. My character Joe is very different from me and would have different opinions on most things!

I don't think I use 'antagonists' - it's more that my characters come against what is difficult in themselves, whether this is in other people or 'the world'. I think we're all interested in solving these problems (how to be intimate, how to deal with disappointment etc) as we all face them. The more I can enter into my character's world, the more convincing their struggles are, and the more the reader identifies with them.

Hello Angelica - thank you for your question, it's good to think about Ruth again. I think some of what goes through her head would probably be the same - worries about the day, thinking about what she wants for breakfast :) but there is a difference at the end of the book - more of an attitude to life than thoughts. One way of putting it would be that she has more faith.

I have dabbled in writing short stories, which are popular amongst my friends who tell me that I should enter them into competitions. One of them may be published in an anthology later this year. At least it is on the short list with the publisher.

But the biggest project that I would like to complete is a novel based on some experiances that I had during my military career. My big problem is changing the names of characters and places which are probably 80% based on real characters. I need to change them because this is fiction based on reality, as opposed to a wholly truthful account, but the warmth seems to go out of the characters as soon as I start changing their names. Perhaps it is just like that for me.

I am sure that there is a degree of reality in your characters and places. How do you overcome this problem? Or is it never a problem for you?

Morning Fiona! :-) Knowing about your small stone work, I wonder how much of that informs your fiction writing. Do you ever set about writing your fiction by collecting small stone moments, perhaps through your characters' eyes?

Thank you.

Lance - thank you for your question. It does work differently for me - my novels are based on my experience in some form, but the characters and stories appear as 'new' and so there's no need to disguise them. My friends sometimes say they recognise bits of me in my characters but that they're also 'their own person'. I wonder if it is possible to keep the names, and call it 'fictionalised' rather than fiction - just be honest about what you're writing? Otherwise you could write the whole thing using names and then just take them out at the end and put in some disguises. Do keep writing.

Hi Tammy, good to see you here :)
The fiction came before the small stones. And poetry came before the fiction. So I'm sure everything informs everything else, but in a very indirect and mysterious way. I wish I could use small stones elsewhere but that hasn't happened yet. I think I've always included little vivid details in my fiction writing, which you could see as a precursor to small stones... it's a lovely idea, and maybe one you could try? :)

I am much in awe at all you manage to accomplish. I met you through Small Stones. How do you manage this. A big question I realize, but how do you prioritize keeping up with others and your own work?

Hello Beryl - lovely to see you here, hope you're well! And thank you.
Sometimes I feel like I do far too much... but most of the time it feels fine. I've got all day :) As to the big question, the only way I can ever make myself write is to put time aside at the beginning of the day before I get engaged with anything else, especially if I'm working on a novel. I haven't done a huge amount of my own writing recently (unless you count blog posts, which I will!) as there have been other things to get on with - getting married, moving house etc... but I'm sure it will come back with time.
I use my diary a great deal and book in time for longer projects. I like to 'get things done' and am motivated by this. I don't spend huge amounts of time on any one thing - I'm not good at being a perfectionist. All advantages and disadvantages.
Finally, I love all the things I do, and so this makes it a pleasure and not a chore. Thanks for your question.

Yes, I agree. I fell in love with reading when I was young, and the words and pictures always felt magical. I used to make 'books' when I was little by stapling bits of paper together, but never got very far... I didn't dream of writing until I wrote a poem at 18, and the rest is history...