(Continued from home page)
Gladys Matar, Interview Questions

How much of your work is realistic?

I believe it’s around 80%…sometimes I give myself the right to use “natural substitutes” for man as in of my short stories where I chose a bird flying in an Arabic city sky (I did not say which on as all are alike sometimes) telling his own story about corruption and militarism.

Are your works based on someone you know or events in your life? 

Yes, many of them are! You might say my “radar” is on 24 hours a day! And I am very well trained by now to spot the sad and happy scenes in this life. One of my short stories was about an 11 year-old belonging to divorced “woman” who I met in Aleppo city in Syria: The child’s mother was a young woman working as a cleaning lady, in a retirement shelter where I used to go sometimes to help the old, retarded women as a volunteer. I saw the kid with her mother, and she was totally in fear, scared and introverted, in what I perceived as a shocking way. Her mother delayed their sorry tale in detail. I was 24 years-old and this was my first real contact with this  reclusive world.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Yes, words! .I am constantly running out of words! You may say that I fight words  fiercely. My inner world is always larger than the language at my disposal, so I have to come up with my own expressions sometimes.

Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?

I have been concerned with creating a new narrative technique but still have not managed it and it this which prevents me from completing my novel, “St. Paul.” I am unable to find a satisfactory approach to this character and the events in his life. 

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

Not really; I attend conferences many times a year, and my almost-annual travel to Los Angeles is something I can’t miss, for it provides me with the precise tools I need to proceed on my research, i.e. references. My lectures within my home country of Syria are few, perhaps 6 to 8 times a year.

What is the hardest part of writing?

When I am ready to “deliver” or “give birth” to a real piece of art, but my body is in pain for some reason.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

Read, read, read and read, then you will decide for yourself if this is the right path for you to take.

Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?

Simply I stop writing! I know immediately that is not the “right time” and I go for reading only, until I feel that the idea I want to write about is ready to show off! 

Who is your favorite author and why?

It is always “Gabriel García Márque” the Colombian writer, and Amin Maaloof, the French Lebanese novelist. 

How did you deal with rejection letters, negative comments, etc.?

Before I used to feel misunderstood big time. I was not mature enough to understand negative comments or criticisms. Now I feel that I am honored because I succeeded in avoiding myself being compromised. There is no way on earth to be praised by all and if you are that means you are not telling your truth but what everyone wants to hear. We can’t satisfy the whole world. If it seems that we do we are liars.  

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

Talent and tolerating life’s mistakes, as I feel writers should be in love with this world in order to be able to write about it.

How do you develop your plots and characters?  Do you use any set formula?

No, every book has a different formula that I follow. I use my flair, like when I cook: I don’t have containers in my kitchen to measure salt, pepper, etc. I use my own senses, my bare hands, sense of smell and taste.  

What were your feelings when your first novel was accepted/when you first saw the cover of the finished product? 

I cried. I wanted my dad to be there with me.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

Writers have to be very well versed in their own language as well as two other languages, and they should be able read three languages.

What do you feel is the most important viewpoint for an aspiring writer to have?

Arrogance prevents a writer from learning. Try and be simple, a good listener and a good reader. Be satisfied with yourself as a person and, most importantly, love the world you live in. Love allows us to be human beings, and a writer should be one.  

What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?

Being a  dedicated writer known across the Arab world; today I can just start from this point. I built up my own world and I still have too much to do ahead. But is a joyful battle where if I win then I am the looser, and if society does then I am the winner. 

If you could leave your readers with one legacy, what would you want it to be?

That I changed something, bettered my society or the standard of living for Arab women.

How long does it take you to write a book?

It depends, sometimes a year others a few months (or in the case of “St. Paul” twelve years).

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

When I am in the middle of writing a book there is no schedule: I have my computer on 24 hours a day, and I am on and off during the day and sometimes at night. I go like this until I am done with it. I feel kind a need to stay within the book’s “womb” until I am done with it. 

What would you say is your interesting writing peculiarity?

It is my comedy series for television or radio. When I write comedy it is totally me. I can play with my imagination to the maximum. I laugh as if I am not the writer but the reader, and out loud! 

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Go out with a friend and talk about art, fashion and books or travel, or to retire to some quiet place and do nothing or do everything.  

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in writing your books?

That I  can be, or am, both dishonest at will and honest; ugly and beautiful; interested and indifferent; believer and blasphemer; and more. That I can be many things: a young woman, or one mature, or many in one woman: mature, teenager, saint, prostitute, queen, servant, lover, insane, etc., etc. I did not know that I can be any woman I desire before beginning my career as a writer. 

Which is your favorite of the books you have written?  Why?

Velvet Revolution but I don’t really know why! Perhaps because I loved every single word in it, or because I stated my opinion about national solidarity in Syria; either could be the answer. 

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

Yes I do and they tend to comment on whatever photo of me they see. I am not kidding! They also say that I am different because I don’t write about sex much like other writers, that I focus on peoples’ personal problems. In my last book “Delaying The Sunset” I wrote about sex but from a historical viewpoint. I don’t see why we have to turn our contemporary novels into “pornographic” ones! I can’t allow modern media to corrupt my thinking.  

What do you think makes a good story?

Paramount is excellent communication. Any work of art, in order to be good, should be able to communicate effectively with the receiver. 

Do you think people are reading less than they have before?  Why or why not?

Yes they are, at least in the Arab world. The internet is placing in danger this great pastime, reading!  

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in any of your books?

Yes, in “Off Beat” I would like to place more weight on two or more chapters in the book. I may do that in 2010 and get this book republished in a new edition.  

If you were to change careers, what are the possibilities?

A movie director! (And keep that under your hat!) 

Of all your media interviews, which stand out the most, and why?

I guess this one…the questions are so precise, creative and new. I have never answered them before.  

-End of interview-

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