First some basics:
Introduce yourself to
everyone. Who is Betty Doyle? What is she? What makes her tick?
I’m
18 years old, I’m a natural blonde and I’m from near-ish Liverpool in North
West England. I never really appreciated where I come from until I went to
London and realized how horrible it is, and since then Liverpool has been
creeping into my poems and stories. I’m very proud to be British - I mean, I’m
not a diehard fan of the Queen or anything but I think the UK is a bit of an
underdog and gets a bit of a hard time. Pretty much everyone I know goes nuts
for America, I guess because you’re all shiny and new, but I think people
forget how great Britain is. My favourite Beatle is George.
I’m
a published, performing, and award-winning poet and writer. I can officially
say that now! A poetry anthology I contributed to won an award and I’m telling
everyone it was me. I’m also nearly a published ARTIST (a piece of my work plus
a poem is due to be published in Belgium, can you believe, by my good friend
Lorien), I run about six blogs, I play Sims 2 a lot, I play ukulele, and my
favourite drink is vodka coke. If you could be a professional Tweeter, I so
would be one.
A
lot of things annoy me - if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know! One thing
that really stands out for me though is attitudes towards writing. I’m pretty
much ALWAYS the youngest person at poetry readings, or being published, and I’m
a girl too, so I’m definitely underestimated as a writer. I do think sexism
exists in writing, I think a lot of people switch off for women writers because
they expect it to be a massive gush of emotions. And whenever I tell people I
want to be a writer, they always suggest ‘what about an English teacher? what
about a journalist?’ Being a writer isn’t a ‘real’ job.
How did you get
started in writing? In other words, what inspired you? One day you weren’t a
writer and the next, you were—what changed?
I
wish it was as straight-cut as that! I don’t want to be horribly cliche, but
I’ve been writing since I was a very little kid. I’ve always felt like a
writer, but I guess I didn’t really ‘become’ a writer until I was 17. I read
poetry aloud at a local arts festival and then a month later I was published in
your first issue, and it was pretty overwhelming, it was like ‘hey, I’ve been
waiting ‘round 17 years for this and it all comes at once?!’ But I feel as
though I really became a writer when I got involved with English PEN’s ‘Poems
for Pussy Riot’ project. I really connected with the Pussy Riot case because
they were basically being punished for free speech and, as a writer, that’s
something I value above everything else. When they were imprisoned, English PEN
set up this project, and I contributed this small poem I didn’t really like,
called ‘Women of the Year’. I originally wrote it about Lana Del Rey’s naked
photo shoot in GQ magazine, but then scrapped it and wrote it about Pussy Riot
and feminism. The poem was included in the anthology and translated into
Russian, and it was turned into an actual physical book, and it’s now won an
award, with all the proceeds going to Pussy Riot’s legal fund. ‘Women of the
Year’, I think, has been a great springboard for me. I sent the poem off as
part of a portfolio of creative writing for a university place, and they called
me a ‘political poet’, which made me ridiculously happy. I then read ‘Women of
the Year’, and some other poems, at a Pussy Riot event in Liverpool, where I
was the youngest person there by about ten years, and everyone kept coming up
to me and asking for my name and congratulating me. It was crazy.
Now to get a little
deeper:
You’ve only had
fiction featured in Some Weird Sin, but you also write poetry. Which do
you prefer? Which do you tend to write more? Do you find there to be vast
differences in theme, tone, style, etc. between your prose and poetry?
At
the moment, I prefer and write more fiction. I still write poetry - a lot of
poetry - but I went through a five-month slump of not writing a poem at all.
I’d just written ‘Women of the Year’, which had a huge impact on my life, and
everything I wrote afterwards seemed horrible. I felt very pressured, and a
little intimidated. So I started to write short stories, to calm my nerves a
little. You can relax a bit more in a short story, because you can ramble a
bit. I think poems are so much shorter, you have to pack a great big punch
straight away.
I
tend to write poems when I’m very angry, very sad, or very in love. I have to
feel extreme emotions to execute my best poems, whereas I can write short
stories about almost anything. Writing fiction is my way of relaxing, but
keeping my creativity in shape.
As
for themes and tones and content, personally, I don’t find much difference
between my prose and poetry. It may be really vain, but I prefer writing about
myself, my emotions, my passions and upsets, real life experiences, in both
prose and poetry. I think it makes my writing far more realistic. I think my
style is pretty similar too. I love abstract imagery, and I like to overload
the senses - sometimes I can be inspired by minute details like colours, or the
way the air tastes, or different light. I do a lot of Art so I’m big on colours
and light.
I
find poetry harder to get published, though. Fiction is a little more safe. A
lot of people have a lot of staunch opinions on poetry and if you don’t fit
into that, you’re out. Whereas you can appreciate good fiction, regardless of
whether it’s your favourite style or not. People tend to get a bit totalitarian
over poetry. A lot of people hate rhyme, they hate free verse, they hate short
words or colloquial language. Poetry has evolved now, I think sometimes the
most simple poems, most plain in language, can be the most effective.
As you know, the theme
for the next issue is ‘Pay Homage’. To you, what does that mean? To whom or
what do you pay homage?
Paying
homage to me, personally, means honouring someone or something that has helped
you, or inspired you. My short story in the ‘Pay Homage’ issue is for an
Iranian artist called Kymia Nawabi, whose work really inspired me when I was
going through a horrible time, when I was overwhelmed and exhausted.
Because
so much of my work is about my own life and my relationships, I like to think I
pay homage to a lot of people quite regularly. I write poems for my friends all
the time. Sometimes, I just borrow someone’s name for a story, and they really
like that.
Similar to last
question, but getting more specific. Who or what inspires you the most in
regards to your writing? In what ways? Do you find yourself writing about the
same things or using common themes?
I
read a lot, I think it’s a great technique in order to become a better writer,
so other people’s work inspires me a lot. There are three main writers whose
work grabbed me and shook me -Sylvia Plath, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Angela
Carter. All three use amazing imagery, which I try to inject into my own
writing. Angela Carter was also a fantastic feminist, and that shows in her
work, and has definitely influenced my own writing.
Relationships,
I think, inspire me the most in regards to my writing. Not just romantic
relationships, but the relationships between family members, friends, even
enemies. I write about that the most, in both prose and poetry. I find myself
using common themes a lot, too. As I’ve said, I prefer writing about my own
life, what’s happened to me, what I sense, etc, and I like to tell the same
story from different angles. Mental illness, feminism and female empowerment,
sex and violence and death, and love, are the most common themes in my writing.
Who are your favourite
writers? How have they influenced you not just in your writing, but in your
life?
My
favourite writers are: Sylvia Plath, Jeffrey Eugenides, Angela Carter, Oscar
Wilde, Anne Sexton, J.D.Salinger, and my friend Kaya Purchase-Ward.
I
think Sylvia Plath was the first writer I discovered and really fell for. It
sounds so stereotypical, but I was probably 13 or 14, going through that
awkward adolescent stage where you think nobody understands you, and I read
‘The Bell Jar’, and was sucked straight into it. I found Jeffrey Eugenides
through Amazon’s ‘Recommended for You’ - his imagery is amazing , and he’s
alive, which a big plus for a famous writer. Anne Sexton was a confessional
poet and friends with Sylvia Plath, so I discovered her through Wikipedia. And
everybody’s read J.D.Salinger - show me a person who didn’t read ‘The Catcher
in the Rye’ when they were about 15? I was disappointed with ‘The Catcher in
the Rye’, my expectations were built up by other people bashing on about how
great it is - but his short stories are some of my favourites.
 |
| Betty works on a poem with Kate Nash |
I
think Angela Carter has influenced me most in my life because she was a
feminist, and that’s a big part of who I am. She wrote a collection of short
fiction called ‘The Bloody Chamber’, where she put a feminist twist on old
fairy tales: the ‘damsel in distress’ saves herself, the girl isn’t eaten by
the wolf but has sex with him, etc. I like anybody who forefronts girls and
makes them feel strong. Sylvia Plath was also a feminist, and you can see a
power struggle between the sexes a lot through her poetry, and in her journals:
she doesn’t just want to be a housewife, but she feels society is pressuring
her into that role. Reading her journals was a real eye-opening experience for
me. I’ve always idolized her and always felt inferior, wishing my writing could
at least echo hers, but never reaching the mark: and then I read her journals,
and realized she was just ‘a normal girl’, if you like, who got rejected too,
and had all sorts of worries, and felt inferior herself. I think it gave me a
bit more confidence as a writer, particularly a female writer.
What is the biggest
and best journey you have ever taken in your life? You may interpret this
question however you wish.
Oh
gosh...I think the best journey I’ve ever taken in my life is when I decided I
wanted to be a writer. I’ve always been writing something or other, but in March
2011, I met Kate Nash at her after school girls club, which she set up to
encourage girls to get into music and songwriting. She asked me to read her one
of my poems, so I read a poem called ‘Warpaint’, which uses metaphors of Jesus,
Cerberus, Judas, and Mary Magdalene to talk about a failed friendship, and she
told me how good I was and how I should go for it.
Then
in the summer of 2012, my friend Eleanor heard about a local arts festival and
made me sign up to read my poetry aloud, which was the first time I’ve ever
done anything like that. I started to send my work off to magazines - including
you! Sometimes I got published, most of the time I got rejected. I kept reading
my poetry aloud, and then the ‘Poems for Pussy Riot’ anthology won an award, and
Manchester Met University called me a ‘political poet’.
I
haven’t been a ‘writer’ for as long as other people: I haven’t been published
that much, I’ve been rejected a lot, and I’ve entered poetry competitions where
I’ve lost - badly. But, I think, deciding to be a writer and go for it is one
of the coolest things I’ve ever done.
Just for fun:
If you could only
listen to one album and only one album for the rest of eternity, which album
would it be and why? If you could force your worst enemy to listen to one album
and only one album for the rest of eternity, which album would it be and why?
My
album would have to be ‘Girl Talk’ by Kate Nash. Kate’s a feminist, and a great
ambassador for women’s rights, and she definitely tries to empower girls. Not
to mention she’s a brilliant songwriter. She went through a really bad year and
poured her soul out onto the record, and it’s one of my favourites of all time.
Kate doesn’t pretend to be somebody else, she’s isn’t some diva, she isn’t
distant, and you can tell her songs really mean something to her. She’s a truly
great inspiration for girls everywhere. Favourite songs? Conventional Girl,
Free My Pussy, Underestimate the Girl
I’d
probably make my enemy listen to ‘Girl Talk’ too, so it’d remind them of me and
really bug them.
What is your favourite
color and why?
I wear blue a lot, but I think my favourite colours are orange and
silver. Orange is just such a happy colour. And silver is so fun. It’s too hard
to pick! I definitely hate green. Why do people wear green?
Other than writing,
what would you say are some of your favourite hobbies and pastimes?
I
like blogging (which is basically writing!), I like Sims 2 and L.A.Noire, I
like drawing and making art, I like singing and playing the ukulele,I like
painting my nails, and I like baking. Sometimes when I’m really bored, I put
black lipstick and sunglasses on and sing dramatically in front of my mirror,
holding the hair dryer under my face so my hair goes big and puffy. I love Twitter.
I don’t really go out much, but I like going to see my friend’s bands in tiny,
crappy music clubs across Liverpool, where you can buy quite cheap vodka cokes.
And some final words:
Between the two issues
of Some Weird Sin, which piece has been your absolute favourite? What
one thing would you like to tell the author of that piece?
I
can’t pick one piece! I liked Issue 2 the best, and my favourite pieces from
that are: Genius Bar by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz; and Snowflakes and Golf Balls
from Heaven by Kellyn Yoder. I loved Genius Bar because you start
reading and you’re like ‘huh a cute little poem about iPhones?’, and then the
last two stanzas hit you and leave you standing there a bit breathless. I wish
I’d written that poem. I remember reading it with my best friend Zoe, and we were
both blown away at the ending, and it was a lovely moment to share with your
friend. And I loved Kellyn’s fiction. The last paragraph was fantastic, because
I related so much to it. I’d just like to thank them both for writing beautiful
pieces and sharing them with us.
Finally, what advice
can you give to all of the other young writers out there who are reading this?
Or, perhaps, what is some advice that has been given to you along the way which
you have held dearly?
Hm...one
piece of advice I was given and have always adhered to is NEVER. THROW.
ANYTHING. AWAY. EVER. You may start something and think ‘oh gosh, this is a
load of crap’, but keep it. I keep everything I write, good or bad. Sometimes
you’ll look over a bad poem you hate and one line will jump out, and you’ll use
it for something great.
I’d say read a lot, too. I’m not saying if you read five books an hour you’ll be the best writer in the world - but I think reading helps. Read a lot of different pieces on a lot of different topics in a lot of different styles, it’ll help you grow as a writer.
Make
sure you write at least a little bit of something every day.
Don’t
be afraid to write about utterly mundane things that have happened to you.
And
don’t think you won’t be good enough just because you’re a young writer. Don’t
be scared to read at festivals or open mic nights, or send your work to
publishers, or put in on a blog or Tumblr. I mean, it is scary at first,
because your writing is so personal to you, but don’t be scared if you’re the
youngest person there. You should not be intimidated because of your age, it
does not determine whether you’re a good writer or not.
Follow Betty on Twitter: @TheGrrrlGang
