The Writing Shed
The Art of Being a Writer
In conversation with Jill Waters, Hysteria 2021 winner
1×
0:00
Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -40:16
-40:16

Jill was the short story category winner with The Day of Glorious Silliness in Hysteria 2021 writing competition. Her winning entry was published in Hysteria 8. Jill is a retired special needs teacher who started writing to exercise her brain. She exercises her body by playing tennis and her patience by supporting Norwich City!

Listen to the interview

https://lindaph.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Jill-waters-interview.mp3

Key takeaways from this episode:

  1. Jill’s winning short story is a very uplifting piece but that’s not her usual style of writing

  2. She loves a snow day and her story was inspired by a photograph of her grandchildren in the snow

  3. Themes and prompts are an enjoyable way to be inspired

  4. Her work as a special needs teacher has influenced her work over the years

  5. She believes that dementia and autism are very similar in the way people perceive the world and is writing a novel with this theme

  6. The genre that Jill is now writing in first came to prominence with Mark Haddon and the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime

  7. Social media has a role to play in the rise of many mental health issues

  8. The creative process requires you to experience life, this is not something you can do at third hand through a mobile phone say.

  9. Without direct experience of life the brain finds it difficult to distinguish between what is and isn’t real life and can be tricked easily.

  10. Jill enjoys writing for writing’s sake because she enjoys the process.

Mentioned in this episode:

Meet Jill

Never miss a show

If you have any general questions or comments for Tracy or the show leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you.

The post In conversation with Jill Waters, Hysteria 2021 winner appeared first on Linda Parkinson-Hardman.

The Writing Shed
The Art of Being a Writer
An occasional podcast about writers and writing.
Listen on
Substack App
RSS Feed
Appears in episode
Linda Parkinson-Hardman