Matter of Craft with Sussie Anie
In this installment of Matter of Craft, Sussie Anie, author of To Fill a Yellow House, discusses creating a sense of place, writing a quick first draft, unlikely friendships, following themes and writing in alternating points of view.
What was the initial spark of inspiration for this novel?
It is hard to specify a single initial spark - inspiration came from many directions and reflections over the years before I began writing To Fill a Yellow House. Perhaps the main inspiration to actually start shaping these thoughts into a story was the excitement of returning to London. After taking a year out to study Creative Writing and living in (the far quieter) Norwich, I saw the city where I had grown up with new eyes. I've always been interested in what it means and takes to create a sense of home amidst transience, although before To Fill a Yellow House, my writing was more speculative and abstract. Concerns about the changes sweeping through high streets were on my mind from a previous job, so I started writing a world set around a local high street. It was a challenge I set myself, but also a license I claimed, to write about London in the present and about people from different - but also overlapping - communities. Once Kwasi and Rupert's voices came to me, the story flowed quickly and coalesced into a first draft.
As far as the structure of this novel, we go back and forth between the boy and the shopkeeper. How did you know this was the right structure to tell this story? Did you begin writing it this way, or did you find the need to have two points of view in revision?
I began writing this way. The themes I wanted to explore were numerous and multifaceted, they shone in different ways from different perspectives, and I was curious about them all. Alternating points of view allowed me to give voice to different realities in a way that suited the story: it reflects the contrasting and often contradictory rhythms of city life. Contrast and harmony gave the novel energy, and writing from alternating perspectives felt honest, in that it allowed characters to disappear for spells of time, as people might do in real life, and to continue their wider stories out of sight and then return with something new, something to add to the story. I toyed with a few other perspectives in early drafts, and I'm still haunted by those voices, by their experience of the world, and of the events that unfold around the Chest. Writing the same setting from different points of view can be a useful way to explore a setting and create a stronger sense of place; even if not all of those perspectives make the final draft, writing them helped to make it.
What drew you to write a story about belonging and finding community? What about those themes felt timely to you?
I've always found these themes interesting, and timeless as much as timely. It's often said that we're social animals, and so many of us find safety, inspiration and meaning in relationships. I'm curious about how these themes interact with new technologies and the disruption this can bring; the high street is just one - very visible - site where that disruption is clear. I'm also interested in how technology distorts the experience of time and space, and also of place, not always in negative ways, including through social media and even through transport systems. What does it mean to be rooted in an area that is hollowed out by new technologies through which lives stream rather than stay? I'm also interested in how people shape, and claim power to shape, places, and how in return, places shape people. On a more personal note, it felt timely to write about as I was just settling back in to London life, reconnecting with friends and exploring new parts of the city.
As a short story writer, what were some of the challenges you faced when writing this novel? What do you love about the novel form in contrast to the short story form?
My short stories tend to be more abstract and playful. It can be hard to work out where they sit, so when my short story Maintenance was shortlisted for the White Review prize in 2020, that was exciting. Writing a novel required more planning, and more editing to manage the various themes and subplots. While this proved challenging at times, I do enjoy the chance to incorporate more perspectives in a novel than I might have room for in a short story, and to watch characters change and grow over a longer period of time, while my short stories tend to explore narrower themes, or centre on a specific premise.
Can you tell us about your writing journey thus far? Did you always want to be a writer? Was there a defining moment when you made that choice?
I have always felt like a writer, for as long as I can remember, but I wasn't sure how much of that I wanted to share, or how to find space to improve and share my writing. Journalling has been an important practice for me for years, as well as oral storytelling and improv with friends. I wrote songs, too as a teenager, as well as poetry. The moment I applied to a creative writing course - and decided to step back from my career to pursue it - was a kept turning point as it opened space for me to prioritise writing and reading.
How long did it take you to write To Fill a Yellow House? What did your writing routine look like?
I don't have a fixed writing routine. When I wrote To Fill a Yellow House, I was working full time and had a long commute which was great for reading back over what I'd written - I wrote during evenings and lunch breaks, on weekends and during holidays. Writing the first draft did not take long at all, only a few months, but this was before the pandemic, and I was refreshed and inspired after moving back to London. The editing process took longer, but it was important to let the story rest, and return to it after a break.
As a debut author, what advice do you have for other writers?
If possible, find a community of writers you can connect with. It is a long journey with ups and downs and lots of waiting, so makes a big difference to share it with others. Also, read as much as you can.
What are some other unlikely friendship stories/novels that you love?
I love Bernadine Evaristo's portraits of friendships in Girl, Woman, Other - especially between Shirley and Amma, who have very different dispositions but maintain a connection over several decades. It's remarkable how characters' lives interlink in this novel - in ways that are surprising and beautifully drawn.
Sussie Anie lives in London, where she was born and grew up. After graduating with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Warwick, she completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she was a recipient of the 2018-19 Kowitz Scholarship. Her writing has been published in Lolwe and was shortlisted for the White Review Short Story Prize 2020. To Fill a Yellow House is her debut novel.
