What Are You Working On?
Writers on their works in progress
Sarah Salway
Novelist
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Sarah Salway (website) is the author of two novels, The ABCs of Love (published in the US by Ballantine, and in the UK as Something Beginning With by Bloomsbury) and the forthcoming Tell Me Everything (from the same publishers) in November. She is also the author of a forthcoming short story collection, Leading the Dance, from Bluechrome, and is co-author of Messages, an experimental collaboration with the poet, Lynne Rees, from the same publisher. A former freelance journalist, she teaches in the creative writing programme at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. |
The novel I'm working on now is provisionally entitled The Seduction Committee, and it's about two old men who meet at the end of their lives in a care home. Although they would never normally be friends in "real life," they form a relationship through the project they undertake, which is to plan the seduction of one of the nurses by one of their nephews. It is their (albeit second-hand) last chance to form a perfect relationship, although the relationship that turns out to be the strongest is the one they have between themselves.
I think what led me to the idea was when my mother was very ill, my father moved with her to a nursing home so they could stay together. However he was very fit and healthy, and really struggled with the life there. So I started writing fragments almost as a way of trying to see if I could find a way he might be able to cope. Then some of the stories he told were very funny, which not many people really imagine. Visiting them was extraordinary -- I felt a mixture of guilt and sorry for my mum, but also a feeling of privilege to be with these amazing people, both residents and staff. I'll never forget my father pointing to one hunched-up woman and saying she used to be a ballet dancer. I suppose I wanted to show this side of old people -- that most of them still had lots of "juice" inside, because I sometimes forget that.
I also wanted to write about the regrets some men might have of never putting themselves and their emotions first. George, one of my main characters, has never really let himself love anyone -- I like the fact I can allow him to love his friend, Alfie.
Although the story is based very loosely on the fact my parents were in a care home, it definitely isn't their story and I'm not sure I could do that. My parents had a real love story. Once when they were in separate hospitals, they used to get us (their kids) to deliver love poems and letters to each other -- and they were both over seventy at that time. I guess an experience like that has made me a romantic at heart, and I wanted to try to write about how the need and desire for love never quite fades.
What's been hard to learn or figure out? What challenges are you overcoming?
I started off writing lots and lots of short, very image driven fragments, and now I'm trying to tie them together. It's a new way of working for me, and at the moment I'm not sure if it'll succeed, to be honest! I've written about 15,000 words in total, but lots more in note form, probably about 35,000. I have written the end of the novel, however, and I'd really like to keep that. I've found that works for me -- having an end in mind from the very beginning, and the challenge then is getting there.
I think my main challenge is working out how these fragments I've written fit together. I'm banging my head against a wall at the moment. Re-reading my manuscript I can see it's a bit jolty at times and I never really let myself linger, or breathe in a way I would want with a novel of mine. I'm wondering now whether I shouldn't forget about the fragments, and write from scratch -- hoping that my unconscious will let some of the images float up when they're needed! At the moment they are trapping me and I'm not letting my characters do anything that would surprise me.
I'm also struggling with Julian, the character of the nephew at the centre of the seduction. I realised recently that I really don't like him very much, whereas I love my old men, George and Alfie. In fact, I only reluctantly write about Julian but I'm going to have to get over this for the book to work, as he's a central character! I'm planning to do some freewriting around him over the next week -- maybe even give him a short story of his own to prove to me he is worth putting in the book, and all the trouble the old men go to for him!
You said that you were writing in fragments that you then tried to tie together, and that this was a new way of writing for you. How is this different from the way you wrote your previous novels, and why did you change your method for this book?
Funnily enough, although Something Beginning With is a fragmented book (following the alphabet format) I wrote it much of it as a piece of continuous prose and had the linear narrative of the main character firmly in mind. However, The Seduction Committee came out of a series of writing prompts I set myself -- first of all, one scene, and then another which had one of the characters in it, etc etc -- and after about five, I realised I had something with real energy that I wanted to explore further. I certainly didn't start the prompts with the concept of writing a novel in mind, although I did want to explore the situation.
What has been the most rewarding part of working on this project?
One of my goals at the start was to write something that moved readers, and although I haven't shown it to many people, those that I have report that they've both laughed and cried. It's lovely to hear that.
I also did some research about the Second World War and the extraordinary stories you don't often hear about, and that's been fascinating. I just can't imagine what it must have been like to fight in such a war and then be expected to slot back into civilian life. And the bravery of everyone involved ... that's been humbling. I'm very anti-war, so I would really love to do justice to the effect it has on society.
It's been nice to write something from a male perspective too -- I'm right on the edge every time I do, wondering if I've got it authentic, but reports suggest I'm doing OK at the moment.
When do you expect (or hope) to finish, and what's next for the project? Do you have a book contract, or prospects?
I have a contract for The Seduction Committee from Ballantines, and would hope to have it finished by November, ideally before my second novel comes out.
I am also working on something that couldn't be more different, a short novel-in-verse about a shopaholic mum. It comes from a quote I read in a book from an "anonymous male" which was basically a threat to take the children away because of the mum's shopping bills. I found that chilling -- and it made me wonder why that mother shopped, and what emotional needs of hers weren't being addressed.
Links
Salway's author's page on the Bloomsbury UK site.
See more What Are You Working On? interviews.
published 1 May 06 on Too Beautiful. email copyright 2006 Mark Pritchard, Bernal Heights, San Francisco