Introducing… Steve Clarkson! – Miss Write

One thing to remember is that there’s no regular path into journalism. No formula for success. Sure, some people study Journalism or Media Studies at university (Sheffield, City College London and Sunderland are institutions to consider for this), but bear in mind there are more media students than media jobs. I know a girl who writes for Huffington Post — she has a degree in English Literature. Then there’s this other guy who never even went to university — and just focused on acquiring experience over the years — and he now writes for The Independent. Take a look at online forums and see how others are developing their journalism skills and experience. Wannabe Hacks is an excellent resource that provides a much better understanding of where to go next.

Journalism is a very competitive industry. You’ll need to persevere and draw on everything you have to stand out from the thousands and thousands of people you’re competing with on every step of the ladder. It’s worth it, though. In the end, you either succeed or give up.

The media have been, err… in the news quite a bit lately. How do you think this has affected trust in the printed daily word?

It’s been in the news because it concerns the news makers. I think that the Leveson Inquiry, however important the issues it has raised are, is something the media obsesses about more than the people who actually read the papers. I think ordinary people were pretty shocked when the Milly Dowler story first broke, and when News of the World got shut down, but now the dust has settled I really don’t think trust in the tabloids has been affected all that much. Most people already knew not to believe everything the papers say.

So true – there’s even a Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat reference there! Potiphar: “Don’t believe everything you read, dear!”

Where do you find your inspiration for your prose?

Ordinary people, mundane routines, the drudgery of work, small talk, hope, tragedy, comedy, prejudice, envy, innocence, cups of tea, whisky, insomnia, awkward moments, heartache, euphoria…

You review a lot of albums on your blog. What is your all-time favourite album?

That’s a tough one. How about I tell you my favourite album to write to, which is Everybody Digs Bill Evans. It just makes me pretend I’m a writer living in a dingey flat in 1950s New York, rather than a writer a dingey flat in 2010’s East Yorkshire.

If you were off sick one day, what crappy daytime TV would you watch now you’ve gone off Jeremy Kyle?

Did I actually say I’d gone off Jeremy Kyle in that piece? (I have.) I got the feeling – Lou.  I watch property shows if I get time during the day, so probably something like Homes under the Hammer or Escape to the Country — even if they remind me that I’ll not have a mortgage for a long, long time…

Did meeting Westlife bring out the inner boy band fan inside you?! I was kinda jealous… 

I certainly got off the phone (yes, it was just a phone interview) more of a fan than I was before. They were nice lads, and surprisingly honest. It took ages to transcribe it from my dictaphone, though, because of their accents and how quickly they spoke!

In your recent blog post ‘The Next Big Thing Blog Hop’  you mention you’re writing a collection of short stories and poems. Is there a theme in mind or is it a general Steve Clarkson collection?

I’m trying not to think about things on that scale at the moment. I just take each story as it comes. They each tend to start with a line or an image appearing in my head. Looking back at what I’ve written so far, I think the throughline is one of a generation lost, anxious, and confused. Cheery stuff.

What do you think are the best ways which indie writers like ourselves can gain more exposure for our work?

This is something I don’t have much authority on. Although I’ve been writing creatively for some time, I feel quite new to this game. At the moment I’m just Tweeting links to short stories on my blog and hoping for a few hits, but I do think that authors who’ve gone it alone benefit hugely from interacting with each other. It’s clearly a changing industry, and pooling our knowledge of marketing techniques, writing competitions, literary agents on the prowl etc. etc. will be instrumental in any publishing success we can ever hope to enjoy.