Locator series author discusses what reading can teach us about the art of writing and the important role science fiction has played in his life.
Books are our friend, teacher, companion, and mirror rolled into one. Consider avid readers lucky, particularly those who have hardwired reading into their regular routine, because this habit always gives them a shift of perspective. It’s pretty much like exercise and food for the mind. Even as children, we should be presented reading as a precious gift, not as a chore or duty. As we read more books, we become more nuanced in life, in general, because we learn many things.
But then as Albert Einstein famously said, “There comes a point in your life when you need to stop reading other people’s books and write your own.” Such is the fate for Australian science fiction author William Girdwood. His love of sci-fi began at an early age when he was introduced to authors like Ray Bradbury, Arthur C Clark and Issac Asimov. For him, the latter’s Foundation series would be a great start for anyone who wants to write sci-fi but more importantly he recommends to “Just start reading. Devour the best sci-fi writers.”
William – or Bill as he is commonly known – does not recall growing in a bookish home and was not influenced to read or write, calling to mind his father being more interested in classical music. However, he’s become a firm believer that writers should naturally have a penchant for reading. “Otherwise, how do you gain the experiences of others to choose your genre? Reading is fundamental and therefore essential in my opinion,” he maintains.
This Vietnam war veteran, as it turns out, is not a ‘full-blooded’ sci-fi guy after all. Describing himself as creator and innovator, he was already writing poetry and music back in junior high school at the height of The Beatles’ popularity in 1963. At school he loved English. Composition was his favorite subject and thus, practised creative writing just for fun. Recalling his younger years, he says, “I imagined myself as a future John Lennon or Paul McCartney. Later, as an adult, my poems were basically Australian Bush Ballads. I started a group called the Live, Undiscovered Poets Society and for about six years, 10 to 12 of us gathered on a monthly basis presenting our poems. As group leader I chose the subjects and everyone prepared something.” The diversity of each poet’s work was amazing and prompted them to be the best they could be. Unfortunately, publishing poetry for him was a one-time deal, sounding dead set that “I don’t have any ambitions to publish [poetry] again. Maybe someday.”
Nowadays, he paints and sometimes sculpts so he has kept his creativity pretty much intact. Being retired from work means having more time to do some gardening, go the beach, take care of his dogs, and travel. “I keep busy just living every day. Recently, I composed the music and wrote the lyrics for a children’s song titled ‘The Tigress’ that was published in a book called Tiger Tales.”
Writing, however, is something he will never give up. With so many other demands of his time, he manages to fit writing despite being a self-confessed time-management junkie. “I’m terrible managing my time but I excel at procrastination. It’s easy to put things off when you don’t have to be somewhere or do something,” he says in jest.
Always seems impossible ‘til done
It took him 16 long years to finish Locator, which he began in 1996 and completed in 2012. Having been to war in Vietnam, owned surf shops in Perth, organized surfing contests and raised seven children, William knows what it’s like to persevere and savor victory. According to him, writing the book was a slow process with many, many rewrites and do-overs. Still, the final product was not what he wanted so – perhaps out of frustration – he chose to redo the entire book, add chapters and fill out his characters more. He welcomes the latest development and during our interview he happily announced, “My second book Krai’Tor is well under way as well as a sequel to Locator, so I guess that my future writing workbook is full and is firmly directed towards sci-fi.”
Convinced that the sci-fi genre has dominated a big chunk of both the literary and motion picture markets, he shares why he thinks so: “Sci-fi allows the reader to become part of different worlds and let their imagination go wherever it wants to. Some people need the films to allow this burst of imagination. I must admit that I love sci-fi motion pictures but I get a better involvement in reading a book. Books can get much more involved with character development. Films can only take one so far before budget restrictions pop up.”
Character development is one aspect of writing that he takes seriously. He makes sure to establish each character’s role in the story, carefully constructing their identity, world view and experiences to help readers connect with them. In Locator, he names “chapters involving intimacy between characters” the most difficult parts to write “because I am uncertain about the level, the depth, the detail I should delve into. I don’t want to offend any of my readers and I must remember who my readers are, what age groups, etc.” He is quick to underscore, however, one essential thing readers can learn from Kaalen Soor Yar, the book’s main character: “That he is human after all and although very advanced technologically, he is still fallible and makes mistakes,” he says.
He adds, “My imagination drives me. Do I have a style, some flow that can be categorized? I can’t answer that. Am I in the style of some of the authors I have mentioned? I don’t think so . Maybe some of my readers or my critics can make that judgment.”
Money ain’t a priority
Believe it or not, when it comes to motivation, money is not as important as you might think to many authors, particularly those belonging in the indie sector. Sure, they need to pay for the publishing of their works, promotion and the likes. But all that taken into account, it’s not profit that keeps these writers going above and beyond every day. It’s getting their stories out there for the world to read.
“Getting your work published is the ultimate goal and getting your work out there so people may buy it follows” is William’s advice to young, aspiring writers of this generation. “I doubt that you can do it on your own. Find a reputable publisher, like Stampa, and let them do the heavy work. The expense should be worth it.”
Everything takes time for this classical music lover, maintaining that “an instantaneous return is not to be expected but obviously something to look forward to.” Can you believe his first royalty cheque was for $18.60? He has truly come a long way from that greenhorn in the ‘60s to being the successful author of a sci-fi masterpiece.
Finding a reputable publishing partner is also an important part of the whole process when publishing your work independently. For William, he’s got Stampa to rely on, saying that “Stampa has kept me informed at every step and my contact has been so supportive. We’ll have to wait a bit for the ‘publishing partner for life’ but as I have two more books in the immediate pipeline, several songs I want to finish and maybe a collection of my poetry could be a next step.”
He further reveals, “This has been my second attempt with my book Locator, my first a bit of a blob so I am hoping this time we will find an audience and sell thousands of copies.”
Promoting Locator at this time of a pandemic can be real challenge, with the only feasible option being the media or the internet. Given a chance though, he would love to promote his book through meet-and-greet events. “COVID has put a dampener on that for the moment but I will get out there as soon as I can. Sitting at a table covered with your books in a shopping center or writers conference would be so rewarding. Meeting people and discussing your work would be amazing,” he says.
FAST TALK WITH WILLIAM
Stampa: In your opinion, are novelists born or made?
William: One will see a notice in the obituaries that “William Girdwood” a writer, etc., etc. has passed away but never in the birth notices that “A boy, William Girdwood, author, poet, etc., was born today” so I guess that means that we are made, influenced by our life experiences and whom we choose to join us for the journey.
S: American sci-fi writer Frederik Pohl said: “A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.” What do you think he meant by this? Do you agree?
W: It’s relatively easy for us to imagine future worlds and technologies but the when is difficult to predict. Take Arthur C Clark’s 2001: A Space Oddessy for example. We never got there in reality. I believe that some writers don’t see their worlds far enough into the future to be more accurate.
S: When did you begin writing in a serious way, and what motivated that?
W: You know, once you get an idea stuck in your head you just have to go with it. I was more interested in films because I thought that my stories (in my head) were better than what was coming out of Hollywood. As I said , Locator was put down into words around 2010.
S: What do you do when you feel creatively stuck?
W: Read a book. It doesn’t matter what genre. However, I loved David Baldacci, Vince Flynn, Lee Child and Clive Cussler.
S: What are some of the authors/books that have influenced your work?
W: I simply read every sci-fi book by any author I could get my hands on and I was greatly interested in the Foundation series and the Dragons of Pern books.
S: What’s next for William Girdwood?
W: Well, I must complete the Krai’Tor book as a priority as I have promised it to Stampa for 2021. Then we’ll see. I hope you enjoy reading Locator.