It’s all very well having the ideas, but how does someone even get into writing? Well, if David is anything to go by, then there definitely isn’t a clear route to take, “I’ve been an outdoor instructor, a primary school teacher and even worked on a salmon farm... and now I’m writing!” These jobs don’t spell out ‘route to writing’ to me, but David says, “Looking back now, I was always writing. I’d spend evenings in front of the computer trying to get my ideas down.” So how did it lead to two published novels, I hear you ask? “I think it’s part persistence, part luck, part being in the right place at the right time, part getting my name out there.” That’s a lot of parts, but budding authors out there can take confidence from David’s own story. Anyone can become a writer, even fish farmers!
I asked David what it’s like being a writer and he had loads of amazing experiences to share, “It’s so much fun doing tours and meeting kids who love The Dead and getting creeped out by it. I’m in touch with people in Australia, the US, South Africa and Singapore who read my stuff!” David’s even been shortlisted for the Leeds Book Awards. “I feel proud of what I do. I’m not embarrassed.” It sounds like a lot of fun having a job you love. “Being a writer is everything you could hope for and a whole sack of other stuff too!”
There must be some tricky bits though, right? “I still find criticism hard.” David tells me, “It’s difficult when you’ve put your heart and soul into something, to be told it ain’t that good, but I’m not going to get anywhere if I get grumpy about it and don’t act on it.” So, is this David’s advice to wannabe writers of the future? “Definitely. Try and see criticism as a way of making your work infinitely better and not an attack.&rhttp://www.davidgatward.com/dquo;
Well there you have it, great advice from a real writer. It seems when you meet a writer, you realise how much you do know about them, just through the stories they’ve shared with us, the readers.
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