Eleanor Thom discusses the influences behind her writing
© Chris Dooks
Eleanor Thom has recently had her debut fiction novel, The Tin-Kin, published by Duckworth. A chapter of novel won the 2006 New Writing Ventures Award for fiction. The title refers to a travelling community and how a young woman discovers her family’s secret connection to this community. Eleanor is currently Honorary Writer in Residence for the French Department at Glasgow University.
What inspired you to become a writer?
It was a secret ambition for a long time. As a child, and particularly as a teenager, I struggled with shyness, and only told those closest to me about my ambitions. There were other things I enjoyed doing, like music and learning languages, and for a while I wanted to be a musician, and then an interpreter.
I gained confidence in my twenties, I suppose we all do, and in early 2005 I showed a friend a short story I had written. I had never shared my writing before, so this was an important step.
My friend was doing a Masters degree in creative writing, and she was hugely encouraging. I decided it was time to declare my mad plans to the world and go for it.
Publication is not the be all and end all of writing. The process itself is enjoyable and worthwhile. But for me being a shy person, publication is incredibly rewarding.
Who has influenced you most in your life?
I have always had a great relationship with my parents. They have worked very hard for what they have, but along the way they have laughed and enjoyed every minute of it. They are such positive, generous people.
My mum is kind, diligent and passionate in her work, and as a result she is well respected and has lots of friends. I watched her and knew that if I could become half the woman and mother she is, I’d be doing well.
Have you ever had a writing mentor?
After my friend read my short story, on her recommendation I applied to do a Masters in creative writing at Glasgow University, and I was offered a place. On the course I made some of the closest friends I’ve ever had, and we all supported each other and still do.
I also had a wonderful tutor, Professor Willy Maley. He got to know my style of writing and recommended writers he thought I would enjoy. Most of all he gave me courage and energy, and inspired a kind of fearlessness about submitting my work.
Did you face much rejection initially? How did you deal with it?
There were plenty rejection letters, and when they arrived I would put on some fast music and do a dance so it didn’t get to me. But then I won the New Writing Ventures competition in 2006, and because of that I found an agent, and a year later, a publisher. My tutor certainly pointed me in the right direction.
I experienced the same hurdles that writers always face, rejection letters and needing more confidence. I was really very lucky that things happened quickly for me.
Were there any moments during your writing when you felt like giving up?
Before I started the course at Glasgow University, I visited the city for a weekend with my dad. We went to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate after finding me a place to live.
For some reason, just before the starter arrived, my dad decided to advise me that I would need a plan B, because becoming a writer was difficult. Very good advice, but the moment was the wrong one.
Being shy, I always felt people assumed I was boring or stupid, and I hated that. It all boiled up in that moment in the Chinese restaurant. I got angry and cried into my prawn crackers. I wasn’t angry with my dad. I just really wanted to show everyone.
Dad was pleased with my reaction. He said to forget the plan B and told me to hold on to my raw determination. I never felt like giving up, but whenever I was finding things hard I looked back to that conversation and the anger would drive me on.
Do you have any particular writing methods?
Plot is the aspect of writing that I find the hardest, so ideally I know what I am going to write, and if I believe in the strength of the ideas going into a chapter, the writing can then be intense but also relaxed. Intense because when things are going really well I can write for five or six hours, literally without speaking, moving, eating, or drinking.
This often happens at night, when the street outside my window is peaceful. But the experience is also relaxing. The state of mind feels a little like reading or listening to a piece of music. I am not particularly conscious of time passing or where I am.
It is possibly a mild state of self-hypnosis. Actually it’s quite dangerous. A few months ago I nearly burnt down the flat!
What inspired the story of The Tin-Kin? Is it at all biographical?
No, The Tin-Kin is not autobiographical at all. It is fiction inspired by our family stories, but most of it is imagined or taken from research. Nevertheless, it began with curiosity about the family background, and with myself and a cousin researching our family tree.
Why do you think our families’ pasts fascinate us so much?
It’s only in recent years, thanks to the internet, that we have gained easy access to historical documents like census records and births, deaths and marriage certificates. For most people in the UK it is now fairly simple to find out the names, occupations and addresses of ancestors going back for two, three centuries.
Each of us has eight great-grandparents, sixteen great-great grandparents, thirty-two great-great-great grandparents, and so on. And we carry genes of these people alive inside of us.
Pairs of men and women, their marriages, their love stories or unhappy unions, children born in or out of wedlock, but born all the same, brought to life. If at any point in our family history, one ancestor was swapped for someone else, we wouldn’t be here at all. We wouldn’t be alive. That is remarkable. It’s as awesome as a universe full of stars.
Science is also showing us so much more about genes, and the debate still goes on about nature or nurture. I think it’s a balance of the two.
Take my shyness, for example. I have no idea where it came from. I can think of no reason why I should be shy, no event in my past or aspect of how I was brought up. Neither of my parents are shy, so perhaps I inherited it from further back. Those people have a bearing on me.
I think people love learning about their family histories because it demonstrates how unique, precious and precarious every single life is. My boyfriend put it better than anyone when he said he described birth as “miracles for atheists.” I couldn’t agree more.
The Tin-Kin
For further details visit www.eleanorthom.com
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