Sarah Hall
Sarah Hall
hope human reader somebody surprise work
You always hope you'll surprise somebody with the work. If you write something human and appealing, the perfect reader could be anyone.
asked explain label people reader work
You are often asked to explain your work, as if the reader isn't able to work it out. And people always try and label you by your work.
amount certain hard listening maturity mean nerve short simply stories work
Short stories are often strong meat. Reading them, even listening to them, can be challenging, by which I do not mean hard work, simply that a certain amount of nerve and maturity is required.
promoting quite required terms work writers
Quite a lot is required of writers these days in terms of, if not promoting the work, then being a representative of the work. It's a difficult thing, really.
harder metaphors readily work
Language description and metaphors seem readily available. The things I have to work harder at are plot, pacing, and form.
advertising work
I don't think practitioners should necessarily be advertising their work.
work
My work is of me; it's not me. I want it to be far more extraordinary than I am.
born county growing including lake lived perhaps raised shaped variety
Over the years, I've lived in a variety of places, including America, but I was born and raised in the Lake District, in Cumbria. Growing up in that rural, sodden, mountainous county has shaped my brain, perhaps even my temperament.
course novel studied
I studied the short story as part of my creative writing course at university but then set off as a novelist. Generally, there is a sense that even if you want to write short stories, you need to do a novel first.
fish reason stands
It all stands to reason. You've got to fish where the fish are.
anywhere brought child fighting girls mesmerized north remember
I was brought up in the north of England, which is probably no rougher than anywhere else, but I remember as a child being kind of mesmerized by girls fighting on the playground.
finding narrative piece tend
I tend to research as I write so that the narrative can take priority, which is important for a piece of fiction, I think, finding out facts as and when I need to.
broader trying
We're trying to tell a broader Frick story than what we tell in Clayton.
characters competing possibly
Wonderful characters rotate around and through bookshops on a daily basis, competing with and possibly even triumphing over fiction when it comes to entertainment, strangeness and inspiration.