GALLEY BEGGAR PRESS SHORT STORY PRIZE 2024/25
Ten questions with GBP Short Story Prize author Garrie Fletcher
(1) CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR GBP SHORT STORY PRIZE LONGLISTING, GARRIE. CAN YOU OFFER OUR READERS A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO ‘COUNTING BACKWARDS’, AND WHAT YOUR STORY IS ABOUT?
‘Counting Backwards’ follows the narrator’s fumbled attempts to communicate their attraction to a student nurse based at the busy special school in Birmingham they work at while trying to encourage a determined, young pupil to talk.
(2) AND CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ITS INSPIRATION, AND THE WRITING OF IT?
The Throwing Muses song of the same name popped into my head one day when I was having a shower and as I sang along to the chorus, I started thinking about the time I worked as a teaching assistant in one of Birmingham’s largest special schools. I wanted to capture the feel of the place, the incredible kids I worked with and the camaraderie that existed between the staff. I felt it important to have a backwards theme somewhere as these children, in less enlightened times, would have been labelled backwards, and I liked the idea of a countdown, but I needed something to hang it all off. Communication is the most important part of working with children like Tyson and it struck me that someone trying to ascertain another’s feelings and make their own clear would be at the mercy of communication. The story came quite quickly. It was the pruning and dividing it with the countdown that took a lot of time.
(3) I READ ‘COUNTING BACKWARDS’ AS A STORY IN PART ABOUT COMMUNICATION. FOR EXAMPLE, THE PROTAGONIST FANCIES A COLLEAGUE, BUT DOESN’T KNOW IF SHE FEELS THE SAME (IS SHE FLIRTING, ISN’T SHE; SHOULD HE ACT?). AND ON THE OTHER HAND, TYSON, WHOSE BEHAVIOUR (AND ITERATIONS) ARE THE SUBJECT OF DEBATE – AND WHOSE INTELLIGENCE IS QUITE POSSIBLY SERIOUSLY UNDERESTIMATED. DO YOU THINK THIS IS TRUE – AND CAN YOU SAY A BIT MORE ABOUT IT?
Yes, you got me. I worked as a SEND teacher for 17 years and the core of everything I did was communication. In my current role I’m a union rep and many cases I deal with are due to lack of communication. A lack of communication can have disastrous consequences. ‘Counting Backwards’ focuses on that but also the square pegs that education tries to cram into round holes. Tyson is that square peg. He is a lot brighter than Kulvinder and the narrator appreciate and that’s due to the fact they are forcing him to interact with them in their typical ‘normal’ way rather than focusing on what he needs. This is alluded to in the story, especially at the end. I think ultimately, it’s a love story. Unrequited love for the narrator towards Kathleen and the genuine affection from the narrator to Tyson, who is a great kid.
(4) TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THE STRUCTURE – THE COUNTING BACKWARDS, AND ALSO YOUR SNAPSHOT APPROACH.
The structure is heavily influenced by how someone like Tyson would have his days ordered. Tyson would have a Makaton timetable, a series of symbols that represent various activities, and, as I mention in the story, he would experience time as blocks of activity rather than times of the day, so it was important to me that the story reflected it, hence the snapshots. The countdown links in with the pressure on Tyson to count to ten, but also adds to the tension of the narrator’s desire towards Kathleen and the fact that her time at the school is running out – blatantly stolen from Ridley Scott’s Alien.
(5) OK! ON TO YOUR WRITING MORE GENERALLY. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING? DO YOU HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE? ARE YOU WORKING ON SOMETHING AT THE MOMENT?
I’ve been writing, on and off, since around 2012. I say on and off because I can find it hard to focus at times, a bit of undiagnosed ADHD simmering away. I try to write something every day but have learnt to go easy on myself when I don’t. I’ve tried writing in the evening and in the morning and can flit between the two. Now, I’m getting up around 5 in the morning to work on my novel before work. I’m also working on a short story collection which needs a bit of tweaking but isn’t far off.
(6) WHAT’S THE BEST WRITING TIP YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED, AND WHAT’S THE WORST?
Write what you know has been both the worst and the best writing tip I’ve received. The worst because it stops you from tackling characters and situations you know nothing about. Writing is all about discovery and this advice curtails that. Anything can be researched to a level where you can write about it believably. My novel has a leader of a far-right organisation in it, something I know nothing about, honest. If I’d taken the, write what you know advice, I’d have never experience the thrill I’ve had writing such a vile, despicable character. For me, writing what you know is about working to your strengths. Any decent writer should know people and you can’t have a story without people – or things like people.
(7) HABITS, TOO. WHAT’S A BAD WRITING HABIT YOU HAVE – AND GIVE US ONE THAT’S PROVED FAIRLY USEFUL.
Not writing is a terrible habit I’ve had in the past; it really hampers the writing. Then there’s the worrying about not writing which fuels my anxiety around not writing, making it harder to write. Also, being overcritical can really hinder getting anything down on the page, so I’m more likely now to just write and leave worrying about if it’s any good to when I review it later. I try not to focus on a word count, although it is very satisfying to bash out a thousand plus words in an hour. I’ve found walking to be great when stuck in a creative cul-de-sac. I make a point of going for walks regularly but especially if I’m stuck on a character or a scene. The mechanical repetition of walking and the changing environment helps to push the problem into my subconscious. I enjoy a lovely walk while my subconscious does all the heavy lifting, and a solution often pops into my head.
(8) CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT SOME AUTHORS YOU ADMIRE, AS WELL AS SOME THAT YOU ARE INFLUENCED BY?
I admire Kit de Waal who is not only a very talented writer but is also a powerful advocate for working-class writing and Birmingham writers. In my work with Floodgate Press, Kit has been incredibly supportive with time and money, and I don’t know where she finds the energy to do all she does. I love Kevin Bonniface’s writing. His collection, Sports and Social, was the best collection I read last year. If you haven’t read it, you really should. Kevin and Alan Beard both write the type of stories I want to read and, Alan especially, helped me realise I could and should write stories about working-class characters. Then it’s all the great Irish writers we currently have such as Donal Ryan and Kevin Barry etc. but first and foremost, for me, is Wendy Erskine whose work is sublime. I love Wendy’s use of language, her eye for detail and ear for dialogue – I’m very much looking forward to her novel that is out this year.
(9) AND WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT?
I’m in between books. I just finished reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey. I enjoyed the writing immensely but felt adrift at the end — a bit like eating an exquisite meal but being left hungry. I’m about to start Donal Ryan’s, a slanting of the sun, which I’m really looking forward to. I’m not sure why I haven’t read it sooner.
(10) “THE HORROR OF THE BLANK PAGE.” DO YOU FEEL THAT HORROR? AND HOW WOULD YOU ADVISE OTHER WRITERS TO GET BEYOND IT?
It’s something we all face at some point and can be crippling if you let it. Just type, scribble, scrawl, chisel, hack, smudge, whatever. Get something down on the page. Break through that fear. You may spend an hour producing 470 words of shite, but 30 of them could be genius, or at least half decent. You’ve got to put the spade work in to uncover the gold.
GARRIE FLETCHER is a working-class writer based In Birmingham. He writes short stories, scripts, shopping lists etc. and has been published by Dostoyevsky Wannabe, Unthank Books, Prole, MIR Online, Derwent Press, Mantle Lane Press and 3AM Magazine. Garrie co-founded Floodgate Press and is a regular at spoken word nights in Birmingham. He worked in SEND Education for 20 years and currently trains civil servants. He has created and delivered writing workshops for children and adults in various settings including prisons and mental health organisations and is still working on that first novel. He writes about the gaps between lives, the pauses between stations, the static hiss of the city and the thick knuckles of the earth.