Rachel Joyce
Rachel Joyce
dialogue ear good influenced novel radio rhythm scene sort sure understanding
I'm sure that everything you do contributes to the sort of novel that you write. A lot of actors have an understanding of drama and a good ear for dialogue and also the rhythm of speech. Similarly, my 16 years in radio drama has influenced me. You only have 45 minutes, or 7,000 words, to tell a story, so every scene has to have a point.
again books connecting discovered itself might somewhere
This is what I have discovered - and it has been a gift in itself - that books live over and over again in different people's minds. That I might mean one thing as I write, but a reader's experiences will take it somewhere else. That is like a conversation, I think. It is a true connecting up.
heads
I think lots of ideas are sometimes in our heads without us quite, you know, knowing it.
pinch praise somebody takes
I think I'm somebody who takes praise with a very big - probably too big - pinch of salt.
felt
For me, writing is such an escape, and I felt very lucky to have this to run away to.
heads people
Actors go inside the heads of other people and are not afraid of the complicated places you can find yourself.
characters lives loud noticed people quite relief stories
The characters in my stories all have quite loud lives in my head. It's a relief to get them on the page. Often they come from people I've noticed or overheard - but that is only a part of them. It's only by writing that I discover who these people really are.
cancer eye fighting head numerous reduced spent
My father had spent years fighting cancer of the head and neck. He had numerous operations, and he was reduced and reduced and reduced. By the end, he had a growth so big under his eye that it hurt to look at him.
cup dad fixing minutes pop round walking within
My dad was always busy. You would pop round for a cup of tea, and within minutes you would see him walking past with a step-ladder. He was always fixing things.
dad eight found gone grueling hospital hours room shirt sitting walked wearing
I went to see Dad in hospital after he had gone through one particularly grueling operation. I walked into the room where he was recovering, and he was sitting up in a chair, wearing his shirt and tie. That was after eight hours of surgery. I found that so moving.
complete diary entirely gave hope kept until
Before I gave birth to Hope, I had a miscarriage. The pain was so enormous, I had to write myself out of it. I kept a diary and did not feel entirely complete until Hope was born.
drawn life moved people
I'm drawn to people who find themselves on the outside of things. I'm moved by that in real life.
written
I have written stories since I was a child.
funny ordinary
I find that very appealing: the blurring of the lines between what's funny and what's tragic. And what's ordinary and what's not - the big things in the small things.