Gary Holdaway is a young writer from the UK with big ideas, and an even
bigger passion for words. Being a multi-genre author of both novels and short
fiction, Gary set up GDH Media to both enhance his own creativity, and help all
who wish to create a career out of words. I asked him a few questions and offered him a writing prompt with which to entertain us with. Read to find out what he shared with me.
Why or what got you into
writing?
The
easiest ones always seem the longest stories, don’t they? All I can say is I
can’t remember a time where writing wasn’t a big part of my life. One of my
earliest memories comes from when I was somewhere between five and seven years
old. I was a huge Jurassic park fan, and by that I mean I had T-shirts,
hoodies, books, videos, and a PlayStation game. I lived and breathed dinosaurs.
I remember lying flat on my tummy on the living room floor—a position that is
still weirdly comfortable for me, if a little achy around the ribs—sketching
out the cover for my first completed short story: Jurassic Park 3: Dino Crisis.
I wish I still had it, but like most things, it didn’t seem important at the
time.
From
there I developed a love of animation and comic books, and started writing short
stories surrounding my favourite characters. As a teen I joined a bunch of high
quality role playing sites that were pretty strict with their writing
standards, and even went on to run a few of my own alongside a writers
community I built called Writer’s Block. Alongside my early adulthood came
depression, anxiety, and a wave of debilitating issues that made me
apprehensive of leaving the house. Due to that limiting my ability to get out
to work, I started to write for content sites and run some freelancing on the
side to earn enough to pay my bills.
Have you a routine to
your writing day?
I’m
just back after a couple years break from writing seriously. My depression took
a steep downward step, and my wife and I were going through separation. During
that period my writing schedule consisted of writing everything as notes on my
phone when I woke up in the morning, and then various bits throughout the day.
Ten minutes here and there. It was mainly free writing. Typing out opinions on
certain matters, inspirational passages, small waves of insight and wisdom, and
the occasional intro to short stories and novels. Words are a part of me, no
matter how I try, I can’t escape them in some form or another. This was enough
to keep me sane, and as a result have hundreds of pages worth of notes to play
with whenever I’m at a loss for what to write!
That
said, I am putting a routine together that I’m slowly adapting to. Right now,
due to the nature of my family business, I’m writing between one and two
thousand words every day, usually after working the day job. That’s not okay
for me though. I feel like I’m having to keep myself zipped up all day just to
splurge all the words and ideas out at once when I finally get a chance.
Instead, I’m opting to rise extra early each morning, to get my two thousand
words in every day. Currently I’m at the stage of trying to get to bed earlier
each night, and get up earlier each morning. I’m cutting back around quarter of
an hour each week. Once I’m comfortable at around 5:00am each morning, all my
writing will be moved to that period of time. I’ll use my evenings to make some
posts on my blog, sketch, and relax with the family.
Is there a writer you
admire more than others?
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| Photo Courtesy of theintellegencer.com |
Some of
you will call this a cliché, others will agree. My idol, my favourite author,
my writing inspiration, is none other than the great Stephen King. I mean, the
man is a writing machine, and he wastes no time decorating story with fluff.
He’s the same in life as he is as a narrator. No crap, unpretentious, simple.
He gets up in the morning, takes his coffee, and churns out two thousand words.
He will stay at his desk until those words are written, and that’s that.
Not every one of his novels are as great as some others, but his work
ethic, technique, and style are great. A lot of my own writing style has been
influenced by his work. Which I’d say is mainly reflected in my lean toward character
driven stories, over plot driven. Well that, and my unapologetic honesty in my
work. Narrators are neutral, but characters aren’t, and it’s that simple
Have you a tip for other
writers that you think is important knowing?
I
actually have a few, which is why I’ve launched the *GDHMedia* blog recently, not only as a creative outlet to
publicise fun little flash fictions, but as a place to share everything I can
about the writing process. I believe there are a lot of could-be-great writers
out there that just need the right advice. If the truth is known, nobody needs
to know what an adjective, noun, and verb are. Most readers don’t, do they? The
major thing holding writers back from mastering their craft, is the surrounding
body of elitists that like to make others feel stupid. Cut the crap, and make
it simple. The things we need to master to write great stories are character,
pace, dialogue, and style—and believe me, they’re beasts in their own right.
What
I’m saying here is, don’t doubt yourself or feel inferior to those with
literature degrees because some stiff post-grad working a desk likes to make
out like telling a good story is the most complex process in the world, because
he’s never quite mastered it himself. We need to loosen up, drop the pretence,
and tell the story. It’s really not all that complex once you understand all
the parts. It’s like making a proper good English cuppa, ‘Never put the milk in
first, let the tea brew a little first, and go easy on the sugar’.
What is your current WIP
about?
I’m
actually working on a creative non-fiction piece. A personal essay circulating
around the first day I admitted to myself I needed help with my depression, and
headed to the doctor with my wife and mother. It’s filled with cynicism, dark
insights, and some of the unapologetic truth I mentioned earlier. So far it’s
turning out really good, but it’s hard to write. Anyway, that’s no fun, so I’ll
let you into something I’ve been developing in my mind for a while.
It’s a
dark, gritty, Demi-god story, that circulates around the life of a young adult
male, who knows with every fibre in his
body that he’s meant for something more. He thinks and feels differently to
everybody else, has his own ideas for ‘fixing’ things that doesn’t seem to fit
into any political spectrum, and feels trapped in his own skin. Trapped on this
earth, where nobody quite gets the point. The Gods that have chosen him are the
old Gods of the Norse pantheon, and they aren’t particularly pleasant. When
they come, their power and presence is suffocating. They’re frightening,
strong, and not all that helpful in pointing him in the right direction. They
seem to pop up in his dreams, haunt him at random times, and torture him in
many ways. It’s like if anything bad can happen, it will happen to him.
Not the
typical Demi-god adventure you’d expect, right? Well now all I have to do is
write it!
Writing Prompt:
He
waited for her answer, but she didn’t look happy.
“Before
you do this, tell me you don’t still love me.”
The
length of silence that stretched between them wasn’t quite what he expected,
and now he was aware of all the eyes on him. How many were there anyway? It
looked at least a hundred—damn good turnout. Maybe this was a bad idea. Turning
up like this, today of all days. Talk about cutting it fine. And the way he
just spat it out. Fuck.
Whispers
echoed through the church, judgemental,
amused, and everything in between. Typical David, acting before thinking,
always on the wrong page. The gossipers started to gossip. The outragers’
became outraged. Aunt Jill shook her head in disapproval. Robert’s eyes were
fixed on his with a look of sheer anger. Well that, plus a little humour, with
just a dash of... sympathy? David couldn’t complain, that amused sympathy was
likely the only reason he hadn’t already taken a punch in the eye.
David
could shake off the rest, but the look in her eyes. His Sarah. The Sarah he
spent half of his life with, now disconnected from him. Disgusted.
“No
David, how many times? This is my wedding for God’s sake.”
***
If you wish to connect or chat with Gary you will find him at the following links:
