Author Q&A Gary Hall

I am a writer from Salford in Greater Manchester UK. I graduated from Salford University in 2009 with a degree in English and Creative Writing. I did some articles for an amateur Photography and Film Magazine. However I have not worked on any work since as I settled into the negative mindset of no one would like my work. Recently I decided the one way to guarantee that is not to write anything. I decided to join the Orton Meetup group and start to put my work on their site and read my work on their read out sessions. As such I am half way into my current work in progress.

1.Have you always wanted to write?

I always wanted to write as I like to imagine a lot and I get inspired by books, films and art to write poetry or books or come up with concepts in my head.

2. Tell me about your current work

I am currently writing a dystopian tale about how censorship is causing the rise of a horrible fascist regime. I based it upon my dislike for the current cancel culture climate. As to me discussion and debate has always brought about better outcomes. The systematic changes to the world wont happen by banning stuff for firing people we don’t like. What works is changing their mind and altering the system to be more fair. That is the centre of my book’s premise. Also to my mind as a minority its important that those not of that minority represent them in a human way and that has not always been thcase and I wanted to address that in my book.

3. How do you handle criticism?

Criticism if delivered fairly is a good thing as it helps you improve as a person. If you as a writer can’t take criticism then you may be in the wrong field. You are in a creative field some people will love what you do some people will not. I think you can learn more from a bad review than from a good one as it may address shortcomings in your prose you were not aware of. I think it’s always good to look at any work as a building block to being a better writer.

4.How do you fit writing into your everyday life?

I write at the end of my work day I set myself a goal of 1k words per night. This is achievable most evenings after gym. I’m very driven so this is easy for me.

5. Tell me about your main character

My main character is a naive man with a strong driven personality and his flaws are he’s too single minded sometimes and too trusting. He has a deep relationship with his girlfriend. However his ambition to try and change something leads into a life of perl.

6. What do you do when you have writer’s block?

Writers block when I have it I watch media tele or film and see if anything from it influences me in my current story not plagiarism but maybe a plt point i could manipulate different to being my own. I think the best works pull from others to make their own.

You can find Gary on Twitter.

Author Q&A Gary Hall