The
Short Review:
How long did it take you to write all the stories in your collection?
David
Gaffney:I wrote a few of the very short ones over a period
of 3 or 4 years, and the medium to longer ones were written between
2005 –2006. I work on several writing projects at the same
time so its hard to say… the quickest I’ve done is
a commission for radio three which was three weeks to do three stories
of about 250- 300 words each, and that kept me busy for the three
weeks. (though, I have got another job as well) I have to get the ideas
down first which takes a few days, then I write a story much longer
than it needs to be, so I can find out where it starts and where it
ends and then decide at which point in the narrative I am going to pick
it up and which point I am going to leave it….then I get out
the axe and edit.
TSR: Did you
have a collection in mind when you were writing them?
DG:
No. I tend to write in clusters, though, so
there will be groups of themes. For instance in the Aromabingo there
are I think 5 stories on the theme of ‘the little
things,’ which were commissioned by a magazine called Cent. I
am interested in doing a set of interlocking short stories, which can
be each be read on their own and together as a novel, and I have a sort
of plan for this, but havent written it yet. I Like Dan
Rhodes’ short shorts all the theme of love, and also the Jim
Crace collection of very short stories all about food.
TSR: How did
you choose which stories to include and in what order?
DG:
Me and my editor Jen of Salt press went
through everything I had, and selected from there. Jen at Salt is very
good at working out the running order- I sometimes wonder whether with
very short fiction people dip in and out randomly. It is possible to
organise my short fiction much more – I have several stories
set in offices, and several in shops, several about relationships, and
these could have been put together, but….I’m not
sure this structuring would add anything.
TSR: Do you
have a "reader" in mind when you write stories?
DG:
The reader I have in mind is kind of a general reader, but maybe young
and with an eye for things that are a bit weird. I think he wears a hat
and hums softly under his breath, which could be irritating. I think of
the pleasure I get when I read Magnus Mills for example and aim for
that….
TSR: Is there
anything you'd like to ask someone who has read your
collection,
anything at all?
DG:I’m
fascinated by the things people get from my stories – its
often a lot of stuff I never intended or never thought about. I guess
this is because when you write very short you leave a lot of gaps that
people fill in themselves. I’d like to ask which they like
and which they don’t care for too much, and maybe why
TSR: How does it feel knowing that people are buying your book?
DG:
I used to stand in Waterstones, where my books are current in the cult
fiction section, and when I saw someone pick up one of my books, I
would talk to them, and try and persuade them to buy it, maybe find out
a little about the customer, about their life, and why they might want
to buy some cookery book instead of my brilliant tome, but since the
restraining order, I have less contact with potential buyers in store,
and from 100 yards away across the street my binoculars don’t
really allow me to see the full picture. (But I know what’s
happening in there, don’t you forget it waterstones, if
you’re reading this.)
What’s odd about strangers reading your stories is that you
think back to where you were when you had the kernel of the idea for a
story and you remember writing it on a train or somewhere (I write
everything on trains) and its amazing to think that it’s now
out here in a shop and in someone else’s head
TSR: What are
you working on now?
DG:
I am rewriting the final draft of my novel, Never Never, which is out
in September on Tindal Street Press, I’m working on a set of
ultra short stories using the medium of powerpoint presentations, which
will be presented on 4 April at the Wigan Words literature festival,
I’m also writing a suite of mini-operas with classical
composer Ailis Ni Riain, the first of which will be on radio three in
March 2008.
