Interview with GatHeart
Hey, GatHeart, thanks so much for taking the time for this - its brilliant timing that this is going to go out in the last week of October, which is now otherwise known as DrabbletoberFest thanks to your amazing challenge. I hope you’re feeling really proud of the challenge you started, as it has been an incredible six weeks or so, with loads of new people pressing publish for the first time!
GH
Thank you! Honestly, I’m shocked and humbled at the outpouring of responses. There have been over 70 new stories and 10 new writers since I posted the DrabbletOberfest challenge on Sept. 8th, and it’s been great to have new Heybourne stories to read every day.
LH
Tell us how your love of Sanditon began?
GH
Sure, I love period drama and JA, both the books and TV/Film adaptations, so I watched S1 during the pandemic when we were all stuck at home, but I got frustrated and bored with it as I really disliked Sidney Parker and couldn't get into it. Their romance didn’t resonate for me, and seemed super toxic. Years later, I had forgotten about the show, but I saw S2 was available and read that Theo James had left and decided to give it another shot, as I did like Charlotte’s character. I went absolutely feral for Heybourne and the S2 storylines, and binged S3 in a day as soon as it was released.
LH
It's hardly a surprise that that is so resonant with everyone else I’ve interviewed so far, and my own experience - I guess that is why we’re on this side of the fandom, as it were.
So what drew you to start writing Heybourne?
GH
It comes down to two things: firstly, Sanditon is a perfectly imperfect show. The chemistry of Heybourne is amazing, the characters are great, but there are so many things that annoyed me with the continuity issues and messy storylines in S2-3 that I attribute to shooting very quickly, on a tight budget, during the pandemic, and quite frankly, laziness. How old is Leo? How long was Charlotte a governess for? What is the timeline of Colbourne’s backstory given Augusta and Leo’s mothers are twins? How many love triangles did we really need? Who is to say!?
LH
Ha! You’re so right.
In short, I love the characters and female protagonists, but Charlotte lost all her spunk, spirit, and fire in S3 in ways that drove me crazy. I wanted to fix it, so I started writing ‘Conversations with Friends’ and got hooked.
LH
I remember finding ‘Conversations with Friends’ and practically air punching, I was so glad to see the women getting to play more of a part and talk about the real stuff. I loved it: and I so agree with you about Charlotte’s fire, I think Rose must have read the script for S3 and been like ‘Really?!’ It's what got me to start writing in earnest, I wanted to see our spunky protagonist take on the challenges of her life.
GH
Thanks! You know it’s interesting, I don’t know if RW had an issue with the S3 script, but Charlotte’s character just wilted under this sense of duty and her grief and heartbreak. It killed me to watch her resign herself to misery. While CH does mature in some ways, she becomes so withdrawn and reserved, which is the opposite of the outspoken nature we saw from her early on. This is a woman who poured her heart out to a total stranger at a party in S1, then in S3 she won’t tell her best friend that Colbourne confessed his love for five whole days?! She doesn’t tell the sister who sleeps next to her that she kissed her boss? Shenanigans! So I wrote CwF because women talk, and I wanted more of that. I've also read other stories where CH gets an inheritance, and thought it would be a nice way to wrap up Sidney’s story, even though I hate him. Also I really enjoyed ‘An Independent Heart’ by JayeReid1, and am of the mind that when you give a woman money, you give her power. I wanted an empowered CH who could freely make her own choices, and an AC who had done his own emotional work through journaling, and they have to build a trusting relationship together on more equal footing.
So I started writing these wild AU ideas while I was on vacation last year, haphazardly and out of order, and the response and reception was so lovely. Which leads me to my other reason for writing Heybourne: the fandom. There are lots of other fandoms that are either so enormous or unnecessarily cruel or too inactive that it doesn’t feel like a safe space to be creative.
LH
Yes, Aries614 and I were saying that we would never have pressed ‘publish’ if we were writing in other fandoms that are less supportive. Do you write in other fandoms?
No, but I read a few others, all period drama-related (Outlander, P&P, My Lady Jane). I used to read Bridgerton but that show jumped the shark for me in S3. That is how I know that Heybourne is my favourite!
LH
Have you written before creating Heybourne fic?
GH
No! I haven’t written a creative story since high school! At work, I do a lot of business writing, which I have learned a lot from, and the skills do come into use in fic land. I’m a creative person by trade, but I only really started writing over a year ago, although I’ve always journaled and told stories.
LH
It seems amazing to me that someone who writes as much as you do now has only just rediscovered writing!
GH
Yes, I cannot decide if I’m prolific or insane, maybe both? Ha! There is a method to my madness, and many hacks I use to write quickly. I live in New York and commute by train, so often I’m typing random scene ideas or dialogue on my phone without proper grammar, then on weekends or evenings I will play with fitting all the little puzzle pieces together, expand stub ideas with ChatGPT, and run it through Grammarly to clean it up. I’m also a kinetic learner, I learn by doing and actively seek feedback and critique to get better.
LH
What is the easiest part of writing? The hardest?
Same answer for both: comedy! I love writing drama, angst, history, and romance, but my stories always need to include a wink and a nod joke because that is what I like to read and what I most enjoy writing. Comedy is about surprise, exaggeration, timing, and context, and there is so much scope for doing this with JA's work because she was ultimately a satirist who wrote romance.
The challenge for me is knowing when to stop or edit, as I have a tendency to be over-the-top, both in real life and in writing. I like being funny, but I sometimes look back at things I've written and say to myself “you can be serious sometimes, you know?” Don't beat the dead horse joke forever. Always leave the people wanting more. It's advice I still struggle with.
LH
There are lots of scenes I remember from Misadventures which made me chuckle, mainly with Phillip’s family as I recall. But you did the poignant scenes well too.
So how do you go about planning your stories?
GH
I am not as good at planning as I’d like, but usually, I get an idea that I mull over for a while, and will sketch out a rough outline, then I start adding chapter focuses, one line sentences for key scene ideas. For example, when I wrote ‘The Misadventures of Miss Markham’, I planned and wrote in 3-4 chapter arcs that fit into a longer 'hero's journey’ outline, which defines the key moments within the narrative. Of course, a lot of ideas come once I start writing, and this changes things. I planned on ‘Misadventures’ being 25 chapters, and it ended up being 45 chapters!
LH
I love the idea of the Hero’s Journey helping you with narrative arcs - can you say a bit more about that?
GH
The classic version includes 17 stages, which Joseph Campbell popularised in his book ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces,’ which essentially argues that all mythology or quests follow the same basic template. The first Star Wars movie is a perfect example. Romance stories are slightly different because you have both a hero and heroine, so they both need to get on the same page and have their own arcs (think P+P). The basic format is a call to adventure, the first conflict and rejection of the relationship, eventual acceptance of the quest, many trials and tribulations, followed by a crisis and rebirth on the road back to each other. This leads to the dark moment for one or both characters, until a sacrifice is made that leads to atonement and declaration. Naturally, all romance must end with a HEA, while the hero’s journey is marked by a return home, now transformed.
When I wrote CwF I could just follow the show plotlines, but for ‘Misadventures’ I had nothing to follow, and wanted it to read as one coherent narrative arc, so I used many of these elements in planning the larger story. This was important for me as I write out of order as inspiration strikes. Of course, I got a little wild with it at the end, because I kept having more chapter ideas I wanted to add to the universe. Oops!
LH
I know most of the people I’ve chatted with hear the characters chatting to them - how do the characters form in your mind?
GH
It depends! For supporting characters, I boil them down to a caricature of who we saw in the show, mostly for comedy. My Sam is a high-functioning drunk and occasionally a good lawyer. My Lady Denham is an elderly, Regency-era Karen. Tom Parker is an entrepreneurial maniac.
But for my central characters, I try to go deep, give them all kinds of nuanced layers of humanity, flaws, vulnerabilities, and winning traits. I want them to experience real growth. I want readers to root for them. That's part of why I love Colbourne so much; there are few men that can take themselves on and make real, lasting change, especially after being stuck in his own way for so long. Augusta was another multi-layered one: a teenage know-it-all, smart but not wise, lonely yet dislikes most people, beautiful yet insecure, horny yet prudish, a romantic softie and also kinda bitchy. Love her. Much of my inspiration for Augusta came from myself at that age, and I wrote ‘Misadventures’ because I wanted a coming-of-age romance similar to what we saw for Charlotte, which would also serve as a S4\5 for Sanditon, and give us more Heybourne. Plus it allowed me to write more fluffy, happy Heybourne since most of the dramatic focus was on Augusta.
LH
I liked that about Misadventures, it certainly gave us Heybourne but it was refreshing to have the other focus. And until you said that about Augusta, I hadn’t realised how similar I was at that age!! I’ll have to go back and re-read it with my eyes open to that alarming fact!
GH
Exactly! Weren’t we all jerks at 18/19? Writing original characters is much trickier in fanfic, because the audience has no frame of reference. I've learned that if there is an existing character who can suit the narrative purpose or archetype, it's much easier to recast them. In ‘Misadventures,’ everyone initially assumed that I meant to pair Augusta/Stringer because I introduced them first, and it had been done in so many other fics. But they never made sense to me as a couple based on what we know about them. This led to me investing a lot of energy to craft Beth Heywood as Charlotte’s practical and perceptive younger sister, Augusta’s BFF, and an ideal helpmate for sweetie pie Stringer. For Augusta, I created the arrogant yet charming Phillip Harding who could match her sharp wit, and be an intellectual equal who could give her the kind of society life she wanted. These characters became very dear to me because a lot of the Harding family banter is loosely based on my family. Because their relationships and misunderstandings formed the love triangle/rectangle that drove much of the action, it was worth the copious word count.
Once I understand who the characters are, and how they relate to each other, they will chatter away in my head. Like a crazy person, I will hear all the voices, especially when I’m taking a walk. Usually I can remember enough to write it down later.
LH
I love that the Harding family bantz is based on your family, that’s brilliant!
And based on what I love from reading your work I can imagine the answer to the next question, but, what research do you do for your stories?
GH
SO MUCH! I really enjoy research and learning new things. I will go on Wikipedia or Google Maps deep dives, mostly to sort out who or what existed at this point in time. I've used a lot of poetry sites, JA blogs, book quotes, and Regency slang blogs, but ChatGPT has also become the biggest time saver. I don't always do a ton of world-building or setting the scene, but when I was writing the travelogue portion of ‘Misadventures’ I needed lots of reference pictures for any place I hadn't personally visited in order to describe it. Also, many story ideas come from research, so if I did this upfront, my planning would’ve been better. Alas, I am not wise yet.
LH
So far of everyone I’ve interviewed, I’m definitely the most rigid when it comes to plotting and planning things out, so you are definitely in the majority on this one. And I agree that research brings up so many different avenues to explore plot-wise.
And so interesting to think how ChatGPT can help a writer develop their descriptive writing. I've been using it a bit, to help me think about how to write about things like clothing - my first attempt at describing a dress was a complete disaster. Amanda, the queen of this, had to rescue me…
GH
Yes, ChatGPT is a wonderful thesaurus and definitely can provide ideas to expand your writing, but beware the AI crutch of everything sounding synthetic i.e. the same.
LH
I appreciate that you have mainly situated your writing in S4/5 territory, but what’s the scene from the show that you go back to again and again?
That cliff scene where Alexander confesses his love to Charlotte but is ultimately rejected is probably something I've seen more times than I care to admit. SO MUCH ANGST!
LH
What are you most proud of having written?
GH
I’m self-critical so it’s hard for me to like anything in its entirety, but there are certain chapters that I'm proud of. The “Miseducation of Charlotte Heywood” chapter of CwF is one of those, the proposal chapter of ‘Misadventures’, and I'm fond of the Rome, Florence, and Regatta chapters. There’s a few drabbles and short stories that I like. I'm far too impatient and easily bored to be a perfectionist. Sometimes, I just need a thing to be done. However, there are always bits where I look back and think “damn, I wish I had been more patient and done that differently.” See my previous note about trying to be funny all the time ;)
Ha! I love the Trevi Fountain scene, it is my favourite place in Rome so it was just brilliant to have the scenes set there. It's so easy to be self-critical but, like you, I think it's usually best to move on to new things and try and learn from it and improve your writing for next time.
What scene by another writer (fanfic, screenwriter, or any writer actually!) are you most jealous of and wish you’d written?
GH
That is a tricky question! There are some scenes from other Heybourne writers that I can't believe I didn't write, especially the funny, bawdy ones, but in general the things that I am envious of are the things I wish I could do. I wish I could write modern romance smut like Emily Henry, or screenplay dialogue like Tarantino, or pop music hooks like Taylor Swift, or direct period dark comedies like Yargos Lanthimos. That gives a good sense of my varied tastes and sensibilities, and I like blending references.
LH
That is an eclectic mix! I know you’re not on social media but there’s a strong contingent of us that like to play with #TaylorDoesSanditon sometimes..
So, what is the essence of good writing, for you? What do you always hope people experience in yours?
GH
I don’t feel I have the authority to speak as a writer, because I’m still learning. But as an avid reader, you've got to hook me with strong characters. I will overlook errors and plot holes if I’m invested in the characters, their journey, and understand their motivations. Second, you've got to have a compelling narrative, even for nonfiction, there has to be a clear structure. You can wing it in a Drabble or short story, but it’s so hard and risky with the long ones.
Lastly, know your audience! What do they know or expect? Be concise. Say less when you can, and try to avoid overly explaining or overly simplifying. People will get it and appreciate it more when they do. Or conversely, make it so supremely stupid that it’s funny. Software like Grammarly can help with common errors and avoid repetitive or unengaging language.
LH
That’s a good tip.
GH
For my writing, I focus on my POV and the conversation I'm having with my readers. Write what you want to write; you don’t need to be like anybody else. Be creative! The #DrabbletOberfest is a great example of this because so many writers old and new got involved and shared very different perspectives around the prompts. I loved it! My writing will often have some biting humour and wit in between the romance or angst, much of which is highly impertinent (after all, I am Georgiana at Heart!).
Ultimately, anyone can be creative; I'm lucky that I get to do so for a living, albeit not as a writer. Some are better at it than others, but everyone can improve with encouragement, critique, and practice. And unlike many other things in life, it’s never too late to start.
LH
I love this - thank you so much for taking the time to chat to me! I know you’re not on social media but I’m now hosting these on a blog so hopefully if people have questions and comments we can loop you in.
GH
Comments
Post a Comment