Page 97 - The Gonzaga Record 1985
P. 97
still do. I love stories with a strong plot. Some people say my stories are
'psychological' and don't contain a plot. However, people who fully understand my
stories realise that the 'psychology' of the character forms the plot.
Q. Which of your stories do you personally prefer?
A. Now that's a hard question. I've written hundreds. I suppose you always like
the stories your working on. You're inclined, as times goes by, to be more critical of
your earlier stories. I have changed a lot of my work which some people don't do.
Sean 6 Faoliin says that you can't do it. In some preface or another he said that
writers have no right to change or touch old work. The person who wrote that piece
then, was a different person, altogether.
For years, people have been coming to me or writing to me (from Germany,
France, Japan - everywhere) and asking me about my work; and I feel that if
you're considered to be such a good craftsman then you ought to be allowed to
correct your mistakes. For example, if there's a new anthology coming out, I
always read over my work and I might change it a little bit, but they're not big
changes, you know. It's surprising sometimes when I see the mistakes I've made.
Stories that have won prizes. For example, I might suddenly realise that the people
in my story are sitting around the table, all in different positions. Or somebody
walks outside the door and the next minute he goes out again. I mean we haven't
even seen him come in yet!
Q. Did you know directly from your earlier years that you wanted to be a writer or
was. it something that hit you quite suddenly?
A. Well, I never intended to write. Never, never, never, never, never intended to
write! In fact, I'd even go so far as to say, that not only did I never intend to write,
but that I was absolutely determined that I would never write. I was a widow for
twenty-five years, then I married someone I was originally going to marry before
my first marriage. Both he and my first husband kept on urging me to write - I
don't know why. I think it was because I used to write to them when they were
away, you know-on holiday time. I suppose it was because I wrote interesting
letters. I know that a good letter writer often becomes a good novelist but not a
short story-writer. But I would say this though, I think letter writing is a
tremendous help to a writer. To write to somebody about everything interesting is
very helpful. Not conscious letters; not 'show-off' letters.
Q. On that point, did you ever excel in English, in your childhood years?
A. (laughs) Yes, I was very good at English. My essays used to be read out in class.
I was lucky to have very good teachers. But I neglected other things. I was very
good at French and English, but I was hopeless at maths. I lived for getting an
essay. I literally sat waiting for the next essay to come, dying to know what the title
would be, and do you know, my daughter, Caroline Walsh that became a journalist
afterwards? She came home to me after a leaving certificate exam and asked me
what an essay was. She never wrote an essay in her life. That was extraordinary.
But of course once I started writing by chance, it shortly became an addiction.
Q. What advice would you give to budding young English writers?
A. Don't rush into things! Write as much as you can-write as much as you like.
89
'psychological' and don't contain a plot. However, people who fully understand my
stories realise that the 'psychology' of the character forms the plot.
Q. Which of your stories do you personally prefer?
A. Now that's a hard question. I've written hundreds. I suppose you always like
the stories your working on. You're inclined, as times goes by, to be more critical of
your earlier stories. I have changed a lot of my work which some people don't do.
Sean 6 Faoliin says that you can't do it. In some preface or another he said that
writers have no right to change or touch old work. The person who wrote that piece
then, was a different person, altogether.
For years, people have been coming to me or writing to me (from Germany,
France, Japan - everywhere) and asking me about my work; and I feel that if
you're considered to be such a good craftsman then you ought to be allowed to
correct your mistakes. For example, if there's a new anthology coming out, I
always read over my work and I might change it a little bit, but they're not big
changes, you know. It's surprising sometimes when I see the mistakes I've made.
Stories that have won prizes. For example, I might suddenly realise that the people
in my story are sitting around the table, all in different positions. Or somebody
walks outside the door and the next minute he goes out again. I mean we haven't
even seen him come in yet!
Q. Did you know directly from your earlier years that you wanted to be a writer or
was. it something that hit you quite suddenly?
A. Well, I never intended to write. Never, never, never, never, never intended to
write! In fact, I'd even go so far as to say, that not only did I never intend to write,
but that I was absolutely determined that I would never write. I was a widow for
twenty-five years, then I married someone I was originally going to marry before
my first marriage. Both he and my first husband kept on urging me to write - I
don't know why. I think it was because I used to write to them when they were
away, you know-on holiday time. I suppose it was because I wrote interesting
letters. I know that a good letter writer often becomes a good novelist but not a
short story-writer. But I would say this though, I think letter writing is a
tremendous help to a writer. To write to somebody about everything interesting is
very helpful. Not conscious letters; not 'show-off' letters.
Q. On that point, did you ever excel in English, in your childhood years?
A. (laughs) Yes, I was very good at English. My essays used to be read out in class.
I was lucky to have very good teachers. But I neglected other things. I was very
good at French and English, but I was hopeless at maths. I lived for getting an
essay. I literally sat waiting for the next essay to come, dying to know what the title
would be, and do you know, my daughter, Caroline Walsh that became a journalist
afterwards? She came home to me after a leaving certificate exam and asked me
what an essay was. She never wrote an essay in her life. That was extraordinary.
But of course once I started writing by chance, it shortly became an addiction.
Q. What advice would you give to budding young English writers?
A. Don't rush into things! Write as much as you can-write as much as you like.
89
