Name: Suky Goodfellow
Age: 25
Hometown: Edinburgh. I feel a bit of a fraud answering that, as it’s only been 5 weeks since I signed the lease. I just turned up and I'm still waiting for someone to tell me it's allowed.
Occupation: Call centre employee, freelance illustrator and writer.
When/where do you write? In my room, at a desk, facing the window. Through the window there’s the tiny strip of garden that belongs to the flat. It contains a lurid green plastic bean bag, a tray of small plant pots half filled with plants, and some mystery items. I used to think the mystery items were a discarded satellite dish, but a slippage occurred and now they look completely different; there’s a round disc about the size of a satellite dish and two wheels – one has a long rusty nail sticking out of the middle – attached to metal rods. It’s an ongoing source of puzzlement.
Past the open-slatted fence of our strip of grass, I see the communal garden for all the flats that access a door on to it. Someone else’s washing hangs optimistically on the line; whether getting damper or dryer is anyone’s guess. Beyond the walled shared garden are the trees that hem in the public park. I spend a lot of time thinking how precious it is to have both a room of one’s own and a grassy public space to run out into when you feel restless, or when you realise your room smells of farts and damp clothing.
I usually write at night, when there’s nothing left to distract me but the prospect of sleep. I think of sleep as giving up on the day, though I know I should think of it as preparing for tomorrow.
Writing background: I studied English at the University of St Andrews, including a creative writing module. I’ve written for zines and I do performance poetry whenever the occasion arises. I also write blogs and “advertorials” about whatever people ask for.
I once wrote a 100,000 word novel in 6 months (since fallen into the twilight zone of endless re-edits), so I feel quite confident that I can face up to the NaNoWriMo challenge and succeed. I only need to increase my writing speed by two thirds. The other day I cooked a meal with the intention of saving two portions and ended up eating it all, so two thirds can’t be that much.
Why NaNoWriMo and why now? I made half an attempt last year – I even attended a meeting of the Cornwall NaNoWriMo group in a fit of enthusiasm. I managed 8,000 words of a spoof erotic novel based on Anna Karenina. However I had to give up when, a week into November, I was given the opportunity to create an exhibition for the Bush Theatre’s scratch night for upcoming performers, Bush Bounce. This year my schedule is more settled.
Genre: SF: Speculative Fiction. It won’t be our world, but there’s unlikely to be spaceships.
The novel I want to write (in one paragraph): Ana salvages an old book from the rubbish and tries to decipher what’s written there. The more she discovers, the more she makes enemies, including some of the world’s most powerful companies.
Meet my main character: Ana sorts rubbish for a living. She lives in an abandoned tram car and mainly eats mushy peas.
Have you done any planning? Scribbles of character traits, notes on the society. Most of which will probably be abandoned.
My perspective on NaNoWriMo is that it is rather like 24 Hour Comics day, except whereas that is a sprint, NaNoWriMo is the marathon. It should open up all the dusty, feared reaches of your imagination, from the sublime to the ridiculous. If I end up with mostly ridiculous, so be it.
Writing fears: Taking just that one day off, maybe two, and never catching up again. Wanting to start over mid-way through. Actually starting over mid-way through, then realising it was a terrible mistake.
Writing hopes and dreams: I think you’ve only really made it when a politician has made a reference to your novel in order to sound like they are clued in to contemporary culture.
For more on NaNoWriMo & to follow our other writers, please take a look here.
Follow Suky on Twitter at @SukyGoodfellow
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