How not to do an Interview!

As a regular reader of the NYT Book Review I usually look forward to their weekly column ‘By the Book’ but this week’s contribution raised my eyebrows. Unfortunately, to me at least, it was a classic example of what not to do in an author interview. The author this week was Philippa Gregory (a link to column can be found here) and in some ways my post today is a follow up to the one I did about Hilary Mantel (who appeared to look down on female historical writers such as Gregory!). Gregory’s interview is full of such gems as:

  • “What I don’t read is historical fiction in the period I am writing. Firstly, the characters as described by anyone else drive me mad…”
  • “Why does anyone write sloppy genre novels? The typing alone is so exhausting – surely if you’re going to undertake 150,000 words, you might as well have something interesting to say?”
  • “Why do people write crime novels with blindingly obvious murderers?”
  • “Choosing to write a genre novel is like fencing the universe because your are afraid of space.”

The upshot of Gregory’s tone is that she is far above those mere mortals who write ‘genre’ novels. What bothers me the most about her town is the unprofessionalism that seems to be on display. When giving an interview, I think that all writers (and especially those who enjoy popular acclaim) should be mindful of the image they present. There is no need to denigrate ‘genre’ writers (or any other writers for that matter) and there is certainly no need to show disdain for their craft. By the Book is normally a column that displays the quirks of an author and their book tastes, it doesn’t usually involve book snobbery or an attitude that, quite frankly, turns me off reading an author’s work….but this one did.

My takeaway from this? A few pointers on how to do a professional interview…

  • Don’t use the interview to denigrate other writers, genres, or work. You can most certainly reveal your preferences, but negativity isn’t needed.
  • Don’t make statements such as ‘why does anyone write sloppy genre novels?’. No writer I’ve ever met has sat down to write 150,000 words of absolute crap. We all sit down to write the best book we can, and who is Gregory to judge the merits of that in such wide ranging terms? Genre novels are not by their very nature ‘sloppy’ – and many so-called literary books can be excruciating to read:)
  • Be aware of the tone you are conveying and avoid anything that smacks of pretentiousness or snobbery.
  • Publishing doesn’t need to be shark-infested waters where, to succeed, you have to lunge and bite other writers in order to succeed. Most writers I’ve met are nothing but supportive and humbled by the own success. This interview suggests that Gregory feels herself far superior to other mere mortals writing historical or genre fiction (was that really the image she wanted to convey?)

So TKZers what is your take on the interview? If you were invited by the NYT to be interviewed for ‘By the Book’, how would you want to appear?

28 thoughts on “How not to do an Interview!

  1. Claire,

    Thank you for this great article. I was equally horrified with the answers from Philippa Gregory. I missed reading this article in the NYT Review section. You are exactly right–wrong attitude from Gregory. It is a terrific example for every author about how NOT to do an interview–and potentially reap the whirlwind with your readers.

    Terry

  2. Wow! There goes my theory that all writers, who are naturally also readers, love to encourage and support other writers. Fortunately (and somewhat ironically as well), I am not a fan of Gregory’s. Her writing has never appealed to me. I’m not criticizing it as bad, it’s just not “my cup of tea.” It doesn’t speak to me for the reasons I enjoy reading. This interview really doesn’t warm me up to her either.

    • I have to confess I’ve not read her work, but I was really blown away by the negativity. You can easily tone down your criticism and say something like genre novels ‘aren’t really my cup of tea’ – no one would have faulted her for that – but the attitude in this interview goes far beyond that!

      • And I have to confess that after reading this interview, I will not be reading her work.

        Too many great books being published every day to waste my time on someone who has contempt for those of us trying to do our little part to add to it.

  3. I read this a few days ago and got the same impression as you.
    The comment about ‘Like most people, I struggle to find books I want to read’ made me laugh. I struggle to find the time to read all the books I want to read. But then, I like genre fiction. (I think some genre writers are very, very good novelists. They’re just trying to achieve something different).

  4. “Choosing to write a genre novel is like fencing the universe because you are afraid of space.” <– Wow. Just …wow. How sad that she feels like she must bash other authors in order to feel superior. I'm with you. After reading this interview, I'd never buy her books. Ever. A similar thing happened at a conference when the guest speaker showed up drunk, crude, and full of herself. Now every time someone mentions her I cringe. I don't care how popular her books are, or that she's a household name. She's off my TBR list because I don't like her as a person. How we conduct ourselves in person or online matters.

  5. Well, at least it’s very comforting to know she has “chosen her biographer”. How about it, TKZers? Any of you “chosen your biographer” yet?

  6. I had the same reaction, Clare, but then I went back and re-read her comments, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt (in that such short interviews can sometimes lack context, and I interviewed a lot of authors in my former newspaper life). I sort of understand her “fencing in the universe” comment — it’s common from “literary” writers and it begs for stories that push the envelope. But no way can I defend it. The beauty of genres, especially crime fiction, is finding fresh ways to express yourself while working within the parameters — the fence if you will — of an established form. Would she denigrate ballet, opera or symphonic composition, all of which adhere to forms and honor their histories? No, she’s picking on genre writers because they are an easy target. Let’s see her try to write a really smoking detective novel first. If genre is such a slum, why are so many literary writers trying to pitch their tents there? And if crime fiction is so inferior, why did WH Auden famously say of Chandler, “his powerful but extremely depressing books should be read and judged, not as escape literature, but as works of art.”

    But I sorta kinda understand what she’s saying about BAD genre novels. I don’t want to waste my time with a mystery wherein I can sniff out the ending on page 40. That’s just lazy genre writing. And inflicting upon the reading world another 150K doorstop thriller or a sloppily plotted mystery does nothing to bring credit or credibility to our genre.

    But what I found weirdest about her take is that Gregory is, herself, a genre writer. She writes big thick historical novels about dysfunctional families. That the family is the Tudors of England and not the Ewings of Texas is sort of irrelevant. She writes popular fiction. Just for fun, I went to her website and read the reviews she has posted there. Lots of praise about “page turners” and “fast paced” and this quote: “A gripping story: Gregory’s style is lively and accessible.”

    I thought “accessible” was a dirty word among serious novelists. But then, what do I know. I write genre fiction.

    • We know she writes genre fiction, but she doesn’t think so. There are a lot of big-L Literary writers who do that, especially (in my limited experience – see my comment) in the UK. She thinks she is above genre. Literary fiction can be interesting, exciting, page-turning – because literary is a style, not a genre. But writers like her think their work is more important than ‘genre’ work could ever be, so OF COURSE they don’t write genre, like those others who write in the same vein they do.

      • Ha! Maybe that’s it, BJ….she doesn’t realize it’s genre. I guess I am just tired of these writers who feel the need to put down others to feel better about what they do. Still would like to see her try to write a good detective story.

  7. I got the idea from the first line of her first answer: Oh dear, New York Times, I am English. I don’t have a “nightstand.”

    She is an English literary writer, and that says a lot. While in North America, many literary writers seem to accept, acknowledge, and even admit to writing genre fiction, it seems English ones don’t. (Although Margaret Atwood at first claimed she didn’t write science fiction but speculative fiction, she came to understand that, no, she wrote science fiction, and that’s totally OKAY.)

    Of course, my source is somewhat biased. I write science fiction, so I read David Langford’s Ansible newsletter. In it, he has a section called “How others see us”. And so often, it’s a literary writer who is saying something like, “Oh, my book has science fictional elements, but it’s not science fiction. It’s Literary.”

    It shows the snobbery by such big-L literary writers – and their complete ignorance of the genre in which they are actually writing. Literary is NOT a genre, it’s a style. Every genre has literary authors – as I’ve been told, these are the authors who write sentences so beautiful you can’t help but notice and savour them (I’m not a big fan of literary writing myself, but I’m probably in the minority. I listen to people talk about literary writing, though. Agent Janet Reid has discussed literary style vs genre many times on her blog.)

    It may also be a fault of the UK press twisting words. I don’t know. I don’t read enough UK author interviews to know. But I can just hear a UK interviewer saying to a writer of literary genre fiction, “Now, in your own words, tell our readers why your work can’t possibly be genre fiction.”

    There is a lot of literary genre fiction out there. Genre is a milieu, an atmosphere, a set of ideas. It’s not a type of writing or a style. They are not mutually exclusive.

  8. To answer your question…I would want to 1) implicitly appear grateful that someone deemed me interesting enough to be a worthy interview subject and 2) acknowledge that I was aware that in addition to my hard work somehow the stars aligned in a manner which resulted in my being extremely fortunate.

    As for Ms. Gregory’s attitude toward genre writers…if she ever comes to Ohio I will happily treat her to a big foaming cup of F____ Y___. Those are my friends that she is talking about.

  9. That level of snobbiness must be cultivated for her pedestal. I especially liked this bit:
    “I have created a cozy space in the bookshelves that line the room — for my reading corner and for the one-legged rescue kestrel who lives with me while learning to fly free. She likes a classic hardback under her foot.”

    Can someone please tell me how the bird can tell it’s a “classic” hardback and not the latest Stephen King?

  10. Claire,
    Philippa Gregory writes historical romance which is of course genre fiction.

  11. I have read a few of her books and thought they were good. This interview and her haughtiness of other authors and writing, in general, were so off-putting that I will never read her again, not even for free. She is not “all that” and there are many wonderful genre readers to look forward to. I think she has forgotten that she is not wearing the crown she writes about.

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