Charlie Williams – The Interview

by Melanie Gow on May 18, 2010

What made you realise you are a writer?

I still don’t really think of myself as a writer. I love writing and it is the most important endeavour in my life outside supporting my family but I don’t really define myself as a writer. If I consider someone like Martin Amis or Jacqueline Wilson, they are writers. But I am not. Why is that? I have had four books published and write - or think about what I am writing – every day of my life. So is it down to level of success? Number of books published? Literary celebrity? I don’t think so. Even if I were as successful as Amis or Wilson, I don’t think I would call myself a writer even then. I guess I’m of the outlook that the work is what’s important, not the creator. Only when I stop writing for good – when they prize the pen out of my cold, dead hand – that’s when people can say “OK, he was a writer”.

Which book are you currently reading?

I’m reading an 80s horror novel my Graham Masterton called TENGU. The horror genre went a bit crazy in the 80s and the market was flooded with a lot of rubbish, but people forget that there was some good writing in there. Masterton was a bit hit and miss but he was/is a real craftsman. If you write novels, it’s good to remind yourself that it is a workmanlike process as well as an act of artistic inspiration, or whatever, and reading some proper storytellers gives you that. His books are also full of old legends come to life, and I love all that.

And who are your greatest influences?

It’s hard to know who my influences are but Jim Thompson, Thomas Hardy, Magnus Mills, Fredric Brown and Philip K. Dick are probably in there somewhere. But you can just as easily be influenced by someone you hate. If I pick up a book and get the feeling that author is posturing or trying to fool the reader with pyrotechnics, it sets me more firmly on the righteous path of telling the story (but you can have some pyrotechnics if they are not gratuitous).

What achievement in your life are you most proud of?

I was going to say my two kids. I look at them sometimes and think, where did those talented guys come from? But they are their own people and not really my achievements. So I’m going to say the fact that I completed my last novel. That moment is always a feeling that surpasses the previous ones. And when I complete another one, that will surpass it.

If you were stranded on a desert island with three fictional characters, who would you like to be there with and why ?

I tend to like fictional characters who have something slightly wrong with them, and they probably wouldn’t be the best in a shared survival sitation. But I remember reading ROBINSON CRUSOE as a kid and thinking he’s quite resourceful. The father from Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD – there’s a guy who never gives up. But I guess you’d need his son too, to give him something to keeep going for. No, I’ll leave his son out and tell the father that if he wants to see him again, he’d better get his arse in gear. The third character will instead be Dr Carpenter from Alistair MacLean’s ICE STATION ZEBRA – another resourceful military type who gets things done. Then I could just lie on the beach and wait until the raft is ready.

What was the first book you ever bought with your own money?

I think it was William Peter Blatty’s THE EXORCIST, from Paperback Parade in Worcester. They shouldn’t have sold it me really because I was about about nine. I may have bought a couple of WORZEL GUMMIDGE books before that.

What phrase do you find is the most played in your head?

Probably “ah, fuck it”.

I noticed that with the comparison to Jenson Button you got yourself some very vociferous Korean fans, or are they debating the point you made about why you write in the first person?

Is it Korean? Either way, that is my most popular blog post with 90-something responses so far, all no doubt analysing different approaches to narrative style. Personally I love writing first person. I love getting into the narrator’s head and not only telling the story but slipping some other stuff in. Before I started writing myself, I always used to read novels in the first person and think that the author is missing a trick by having the narrator tell it straight and stick to the surface story only. I thought, if I was that narrator I would consider it the opportunity of a lifetime. You can talk about your own stuff, hide parts of the story that don’t reflect well on you and go on massive digressions that you consider of interest. To an author, all of this is extra story-telling ammunition. I like using different levels, telling one story on one level but refuting it on another – with the reader able to discern the truth somewhere between the two. Hopefully that’s what those Korean guys are talking about.

Readings, seeing your book in shops, or on your own bookshelf at home, which has left the most lasting memories?

Definitely readings because they can be nerve-wracking and always different. I did one at the Big Chill music festival in 2004. They had a big tent off to the side where they were doing “other media” events, a couple of which were literary readings. But the punters had sussed this out and decided to use it as a huge crash-out area where they could catch up on some sleep, undisturbed by the non-music going on up on stage. That was an interesting challenge. I did a reading at the Green Man festival with Robert Lewis and John Williams, and only one person turned up. Three authors to one audience member! We asked her if it was OK to abandon the event but no, she wanted a reading. So we just read the first page of each of our books and then just had a laugh. If you get a book published, you should always take any opportunities to do these readings because it is something you would never otherwsie get to do. Whether you like it or not, it’s a memory.

You have been called “possibly the best British writer working today”, in your obituary will you prefer to be remembered as “the ideal adult humourist” or “an astute modern commentator”

Let’s just leaven that by adding that I’ve probably been called the worst British writer working today too. Some people get your books and others don’t, and it’s great when they do. You know, I can’t decide if I value commentary over humour. Both are kind of unconscious and not always obvious at first glance. Can I have both in my obit?

I will have my people make a note of that. Now, the short film ARK which you wrote showed at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, so screenplays, short stories, comics, or books, which driving seat do you fall into most naturally, and why do you think that is?

Definitely novels. When I started writing it was short stories, but I always approached them as ways to gear up for novels. I just love the form, the space to move around and play. Any kind of creative writing is about pacing and building up momentum to reach some kind of crisis and resolution, and I can do that best in about three hundred pages. Any less and I don’t feel I am exploring the characters enough. Any more and I am probably dragging on.

Please explain who is this man, Royston Blake, claiming you are a fictional character? He has been a guest blogger on your site, what does he do and what should we all do about him

Ha, Blakey is the fictional character, not I. He is the hero of DEADFOLK, FAGS AND LAGER and KING OF THE ROAD, and has a huge ego and faltering sense of reality at times. I have written a fourth Royston Blake book but the publisher decided that series wasn’t selling enough, so it has been blocked. And I want it to be unblocked, because I love writing that character. So I set up a Facebook campaign called FREE THE MANGEL ONE to gather support for this series. I figured Blakey should get out there and earn his keep, hence various guest blogs and other things, trying to make people aware of him and the campaign. I guess he got confused as to who is real and who isn’t. Or maybe it’s me who is confused?

Sledge Hammer, Law and Order or Spencer For Hire, which would you like to be on the writing team for?

Ah, you know it’s going to be SLEDGE HAMMER. I couldn’t get enough of that show. I love heroes who are basically good at heart but are complete liabilities in every area, accidentally shooting people and getting innocent people locked up and always maintaining their own self-image of righteousness and advanced intelligence.

Would you really like a prize just for men or do you think the playing field should be levelled by being “based on bribes, ass kissing and flagrant bias on the judges part” as one of your friends, Jennifer Jordan, suggests?

I don’t agree that bribes are taking place but awards are all bollocks, aren’t they? The Booker or the Orange or whatever are intrinsically flawed because they filter out huge swathes of literature (eg genre, humour, commercial) which could well be where the best book lies for that year. BTW, I don’t really want a prize just for men. I was merely pointing out, by reverse logic, that it is a bit strange to give awards to one sex only. They might as well do it by age group.

There are a few Charlie Williams’ out there, a pioneering comedian, fiction writer with two middle names Walter and Stansby, 3 members of parliament, an academic, athlete, caricaturist, composer, footballer, journalist and motorcyclist, even a priest and that’s just the UK, how do hope to be best listed on a disambiguation page on Wiki?

Well, all the Charlie Williamses could join together and become Charlie Williams Inc. Then you wouldn’t know which individual is scoring the goals, cracking the jokes, writing the symphonies or even taking confession. And we could all share the proceeds.

How did you get involved in the Book Swap night?

I was casting around for bloggers who would let me (or Royston Blake) do a guest post to plug the Facebook campaign and Scott Pack invited me onto his blog. I mentioned that I like his book swap idea and he invited me down. Easy!

What do you hope to achieve with the evening?

Most of all I hope to get a good book swap out of it. I’m going to bring something rare and unusual (though not necessarily of much resale value) so I’m looking for the same, but different, obviously. Also I hope to have some fun and a few laughs. I watch Newsnight Review and I always think “You know what show needs? A few more laughs”. (I do love Tom Paulin though.) And if anyone is inspired to read one of my books as a result, what a bonus.

Can you give one good reason to come along?

Well, I will have a really good book to swap. Also the mere fact that this is a book-related event makes it special. Plenty of people read books and the literature pages of newspapers but it is good to have get-togethers like this where books are the shared interest. And this is an inspired format. Especially the cake.