#BrokenAsides with Neil Laurenson

When did you first feel like a writer? 

When I was 9 years old. I wrote a story called ‘Clare and John’, which involved sticking eight exercise books together. 

What’s the most interesting thing that has inspired your writing and what was the result? 

I bumped into Syd Barrett (founding member of Pink Floyd) while I was at university, and I wrote a book about that and various other episodes based on my first year of ‘study’. 

Paint us a picture: what does your writing process look like? 

If I like a word, phrase, or theme, I’ll make a note of it in my diary so I can use it in a poem. I’ll write a draft, usually by hand, then type it up and make edits. A few weeks later, I’ll discover a spelling error or badly-chosen word and wonder why I bother. 

Do you write in coffee shops at night or only on an old type-writer? 

No. I write at home, or when I’m on a bus or train. I wish that I had the time and money to spend nights writing in coffee shops, though I suspect that feeling smug as I scan my surroundings would take precedence over actually writing anything. 

Describe your ideal reader: who would your work speak to? 

I’m not selective. My Tory-voting grandparents or the most tedious hipster – it doesn’t matter to me. If you can read and like the occasional pun, you’re fine. 

Who’s an author you’ve changed your mind about and why? 

Morrissey. Please, please let me avoid explaining why. A wonderful poet gone rotten.  

If you could interview any other writer/artist, who would it be and why? 

I can’t decide between Brian Bilston and John Hegley. They’re so funny and inventive, and I’m very jealous. 

What motivates you to keep writing? 

I like making people laugh – preferably intentionally – so the thought of provoking an instant physical reaction plus sporadic applause keeps me going. Sometimes it’s just because I like a word or a rhyme, or I need to preserve a memory or articulate a strong feeling. If you took my pens, paper, and laptop away, I’m not sure how I’d cope. I’d have to write a poem about it – scratch it into a tree or something. 

How do you deal with writer’s block or being overwhelmed by the writing process? 

If the words aren’t coming, I don’t force them out. I have two jobs and two kids – I don’t have the luxury of pacing around the house until inspiration hits, sadly.  

Where would you like to see yourself in a decade? 

I’d like to sit in coffee shops and write/feel smug all day in a country that isn’t being taken apart by a cartoonishly vicious government. 

What has your work taught you about yourself? 

That I’m unlikely to win the Booker Prize.