Guest for the day

Fiona Robyn's novel The Letters is published this month. Hello, Fiona! Congratulations!

You have three novels coming out soon, and The Letters is the first to be published. Is The Letters your first novel? If not, how many others have you got stashed on the shelf that you regard as learning exercises?

The first novel I wrote, Thaw, will actually be the last to come out (in Feb 2010). I wrote The Letters third. And no - I have shelf-fuls of poems that never made it into the world but no spare novels!

If someone asked you to describe the type of fiction you write, what would you say?

I am usually tempted to be poncy and I say 'literary fiction', but nobody seems to know what that means, so then I say something like 'stories which often have something to do with secrets.'

What are you trying to achieve in your novels?

My main aim is to be true to my central character, and 'tell their story' with accuracy. If I do this well, I hope readers will be able to see my characters as 'real' (which they are to me), and get swept up in their stories. I also hope my readers will enjoy my use of language along the way.

How much of your own life do you use in your novels? I know that all writers use material from their own lives – it is inescapable. What I mean is how much of the things that have happened to you personally, and the dilemmas you yourself have faced, do you use as material for your novels?

I do slip in details from my life here and there - my character might listen to some music that's very important to me, or I might set a scene in a coffee shop I've visited. In terms of the broader themes, I'd say that these absolutely come from me too, but they come from a subconscious level so I don't really know what I'm writing about until I've finished the story. As an example, I think The Letters is partly about us being able to accept each other as we are, which is an important concept to me in my own life.

When you begin to write a novel, what comes first – theme, plot or character? Or is it something else?

Definitely the character. My main character (Violet for The Letters) appears in my head in a vague way, and I spend the following months 'getting to know them' - trying to work out what kind of job they'd do, what their parents are like, what kind of relationships they have. The story comes through the character.

Do you plot your novels before you begin to write them? If not, can you explain your method to us?

I do have a vague idea of what's going to happen by the time I start writing my first draft - for The Letters I knew Violet would divorce and move to the coast, and I knew who'd be sending herthe letters written from a mother and baby home in 1959... but I often get surprises along the way. Things will happen to my characters that I didn't expect. This has been especially true of the novel I'm working on at the moment - someone died when I was least expecting them to!

What type of writing (in fiction) do you enjoy the most? E.g. description, action, dialogue...

I feel least confident about getting dialogue right, and so maybe I enjoy that least. I do admire people who write plays. I enjoy writing description the most - especially little details - a caterpillar inching along the wall, the buttons on a character's cardigan. I also enjoy writing the scenes where something important is happening. I know I'm getting close when I read them back and they make me happy for my characters or they make me cry!

What aspect of writing a novel do you find the most difficult?

I find writing first drafts very painful, and will do almost anything to avoid it. Once I've got the first 100000 words down, even though they are TERRIBLE, it gets a little easier.

Why did you write The Letters in the present tense?

There are three strands to the book that alternate - Violet's story (in the present tense), the letters she receives from the mother and baby home, and Violet's past (told in the past tense). I am always drawn to the present tense - I think it's a habit from writing poems for so many years! I like the immediacy of it, and I know some people think it can slow things down too much, but I like that.

Which of the three novels soon to be published – The Letters, The Blue Handbag, and Thaw – is your favourite, and why?

That's like asking me which of my three children is my favourite! I like the darkness in Thaw. I like the plants in The Blue Handbag, and the mystery. And I like the humour in The Letters, and the ending.

Which novel - written by someone else - do you wish that you had written?

I feel pretty happy about only being able to write the novels I can write, and I'll leave the ones I can't write to other people! I greatly admire all kinds of people's writing - Lorrie Moore, Richard Ford, Annie Dillard, John Irving, I could go on and on...